A parking enforcement officer apparently lacked the ability to distinguish between the sleeping and the dead after she gave a ticket to a man who had shuffled off this mortal coil hours earlier.

Yesterday morning, the officer was making her rounds when she spotted a car that had gone over the 2-hour limit for the spot in which it was parked. When she approached to ticket the vehicle, she noticed the driver inside and thought he was asleep.

Explains a rep for the police:

The PEO rapped on the window twice in an attempt to wake the man… When she was unsuccessful she concluded that the individual was simply a sound sleeper. The PEO left the ticket on the windshield and continued her patrol.

Around 40 minutes after the $42 ticket had been placed on the car, the driver’s girlfriend located the vehicle using GPS and calling for help.

Police officials defend the parking enforcement officer, pointing out that it’s not uncommon to see someone asleep in a parked car.

At least his family won’t have to worry about being stuck with the tab for the ticket; it was voided 90 minutes after he was declared dead.

Dead man ticketed for Seattle parking violation [SeattlePI.com]

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