Call Kurtis: Motorcycle Mixup

A Citrus Heights man is racking up tickets for not paying the toll. John Flovin has received 15 citations since January. There's just one problem. The toll is on a freeway he says he's never been on.

John is a passionate motorcycle rider. He's been all over the country, but there's one place he hasn't ridden.

"I've never been on the 91, ever," said Flovin.

The 91 Express Lanes is a 10-mile stretch of toll lanes between Orange and Riverside Counties in Southern California.

In January, John got a $25 ticket in the mail for failing to pay the toll. At first he thought it was for one of his kids in college. "Then I look a little bit closer and I'm going okay, that's a 99 RS, I don't own a 99 RS," said Flovin. "Okay, so that was a mistake. So how did they get my name?"

John noticed the license plate on the citation matched the one for his Honda Shadow Spirit motorcycle, a bike that sitting in the garage and covered by a tarp. "It was not running. It was taken apart," said Flovin. "The fuel system was apart during that period of time."

He called the number on the citation and was told to send in a request for an administrative review. He did exactly that, figuring that was the end of it. But it wasn't.

The citations kept coming; fourteen more in the next three months. Each one was for a toll violation on the 91 Express Lanes, some 400 miles away from John's Citrus Heights home.

"Some of them are ridiculous," said Flovin. "They're 2:00 a.m. in the morning. I'm here asleep. It's absurd to think that it's even close to being real."

John's biggest concern was that his credit would take a hit. "I try not to let it get to me, but it's in the back of my mind now."

CBS13 contacted the Orange County Transportation Agency, which runs the 91 Express Lanes. A spokesperson told us computers that scan the photos will mis-read letters and numbers from time to time, especially on the smaller motorcycle plates.

The O.C.T.A. tells CBS13 that last year they spent $1.8 million to improve the toll system. That includes upgrades to the cameras and software that scans the license plates.

The O.C.T.A. dismissed all of John's violations and flagged his license plate to avoid future tickets. He's happy to put the mix-up behind him and get back on the open road; just not the 91 Express Lanes.

"I have no desire at all to go down there at all," said Flovin.