BALTIMORE — It’s been over two years since Aixa-Allynn Jaxx's daughter was carjacked at gunpoint. The suspect then took off with her car blowing past speed and red-light cameras and racking up citations. Despite many efforts to get one of the tickets removed from her record, Jaxx said the Baltimore City Finance Department failed to assist her.
“The one word to describe this whole situation is just powerlessness,” said Jaxx.
A carjacking is traumatic, but the aftermath is what's kept her awake at night.
“I just woke up and first thing that crossed my mind was that stupid ticket,” Jaxx said.
She sent WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii an email at 3:10 a.m. detailing everything she’s done to get the ticket removed. The citation goes all the way back to September 2, 2020, two days after the carjacking.
“Eventually we got the traffic tickets coming to the house and there were two of them,” said Jaxx.
She requested a court date. The judge dismissed one, but not the other.
“I put both ticket numbers on the one form and the lady that was helping me didn’t let me know that I had to have two separate forms for each ticket to request a court date,” Jaxx said.
Jaxx then contacted the Baltimore City Finance Department and submitted the requested paperwork on August 9, 2021.
“So I thought, okay, just trust the system to work and it’ll work. Well, a few months later, maybe nine months later, I got a notice for my car registration. It said your car registration is expiring but you also have these flags and traffic tickets against it, so you need to clear that before you can renew your registration,” said Jaxx.
She called the Finance Department again and sent over the paperwork once again.
“Another person answered the phone and said, ‘Oh yah, we have everything we need.’ So, I did that a couple more times trying to call and then eventually I emailed the mayor,” Jaxx said.
Around two weeks later, someone from the city called her.
“She says, ‘Oh, the form you submitted that’s not what we want. We need the police report.’ I was like two years, two years, I sent you this document over and over again and you’re the only one to tell me that was not the right document?” Jaxx asked.
This was on December 9, 2022. That same day Jaxx sent over the police report, but when she didn’t hear anything within a few weeks, she contacted Sofastaii.
“It just feels like being victimized all over again. To watch my daughter go through all that and then for me to be trying to fight this ticket two years after the fact is just unacceptable,” said Jaxx.
Sofastaii immediately got in touch with the city. Monica Lewis, senior director of communications with the Mayor’s Office, confirmed the citation was removed from their system. In an email, she wrote:
“After further review, it appears that, as the Bureau of Revenue Collections was returning to in-person work in the summer of 2021, the already-complex matter was not properly handled at that time. When the driver reached out to us last fall for an update, the mishandling of the citation created more confusion around the matter, ultimately delaying a proper resolution. While such a situation is rare, the Scott Administration finds its unacceptable and we will use this as an opportunity to review and, where necessary, make changes to our customer service procedures so that we meet the goal of providing the best service possible to the people of Baltimore.”
The flag was also lifted from Jaxx’s record allowing her to renew her car registration without any additional fees.
Recently, the Baltimore Police Department and FBI Baltimore held a news conference on the increase in carjackings.
READ MORE: Police make 6 arrests tied to 12 separate rideshare robbery cases
On December 21, 2022, Commissioner Michael Harrison said there had been 39 carjackings or robberies associated with rideshare apps. Of those, detectives made at least six arrests tied to 12 separate cases. And a majority of the suspects were reportedly between the ages of 15 and 18-years old.
