Unissued parking tickets found

Records made public by the city of Chicago show a police officer was fired last month after deputy sheriffs evicting him from his home in August 2005 found foil packets with cocaine residue and nearly 300 unissued parking tickets.

The traffic tickets had been filled out by the officer, Sal Mungia, between September 2003 and February 2005, and turned into the department but never given to drivers.

The department stripped Mungia of his police powers in October and recommended his firing to the Chicago Police Board, which acted on April 17. He has never been criminally charged with wrongdoing.

According to transcripts released Tuesday, Mungia told a police board hearing he kept the parking tickets after motorists drove away or were being verbally abusive to him. He said he believed the drivers would receive notices in the mail from the Department of Revenue.