DALLAS - A Dallas Police officer, just out of the academy and still under supervised training, ticketed a woman recently for leaving her drivers license at home, making an illegal U-turn, and being a "Non-English speaking driver."
"At first I thought it was a joke," said Brenda Mondragon about her mother Ernestina's ticket. "I said 'I can't believe it.' I actually laughed. I said 'Oh my gosh mom, I've never seen this before. We moved from California two years ago so I thought maybe it's a law here."
Ernestina Mondragon got the ticket as she took her youngest daughter Vanessa to elementary school on October 2.
"She was upset and worried," Vanessa, 11, remembered about the traffic stop.
Dallas Policeman Gary Bromley wrote Mrs. Mondragon three citations. The first for not carrying her drivers license. Mrs. Mondragon said she left it at home darting out the door. Ofc. Bromley also cited her for making an illegal U-Turn in the 500 block of Easton in Northeast Dallas.
Finally, the rookie policeman ticketed her for being a non-English speaking driver. The City of Dallas has no such law on its books.
"I'm upset," Brenda added. "I'm really upset. I was really mad."
"We regret this happening and although we believe this is a sincere mistake there's no excuse for it," explained Sgt. Warren Mitchell, Dallas Police spokesman.
Sgt. Mitchell said the department also apologized to the family and believes the rookie policeman was likely confused.
There is a federal law under 49 CFR 391.11 which states drivers must speak English to operate a commercial vehicle. But no such law exists for a private vehicle and Sgt. Mitchell that specific federal law was never adopted by either Dallas or Texas.
Mrs. Mondragon got stopped in her 2004 Toyota Corolla. A court dismissed her charge of not speaking English and having no drivers license after she presented her own.
Brenda Mondragon, Ernestina's daughter, said her mother is still learning the learning English. Brenda also added that she believes Ofc. Bromley who's still in training clearly needs more of it.
Sgt. Mitchell said Ofc. Bromely's commanders will review previous tickets he has written for any other problems. The department also wonders why his trainer, Senior Cpl. Daniel Larkin didn't catch his trainee's mistake.
DPD said Bromley will face more more training.
