2nd wreck again nets no ticket
Council member’s wife again backs into stationary vehicle
Staff writer
For the second time in seven weeks, the wife of a Marion City Council member has backed into a stationary car and not been ticketed.
Kari Collett, 36, wife of councilman Zach Collett, backed into a parked car Nov. 30 and left the scene but was not cited. Then, on Jan. 13, she backed out of a parking stall in the 1400 block of Denver St., struck a car that had stopped because she was backing out, and once again did not get a citation.
According to an accident report provided by Marion police, Collett was backing a 2013 Toyota Sienna out of its parking stall near Marion Elementary School when it hit the left front of the bumper on a 2013 Dodge Durango driven by Morgan Makovec, 29, Marion.
Makovec, driving east on Denver, had stopped when she noticed Collett backing out.
The two exchanged insurance information, interim police chief Zach Hudlin said, but police were not notified of the accident until the following day after Makovec talked to someone who told her an accident report should be made.
Hudlin said he considered the amount of damage to Makovec’s car too small to require a citation.
Another factor in not writing a citation was that the accident was not reported until the next day, Hudlin said.
Collett, providing hot chocolate during Marion’s Holly Jolly Christmas event Nov. 30, was backing into a parking stall when she struck a parked 2012 Nissan Maxima in the 300 block of E. Main St.
Collett then went to CB Baked Goods, owned by her mother-in-law, about a block away.
In his report on the Nov. 30 accident, Hudlin said the Toyota was parked illegally over the stall line, which is why he didn’t write a ticket. A photograph taken by the driver of the other car indicated that one tire was hardly touching the line.