[sketchygirl]

This is a rough draft of a letter I am writing to my car insurance company. All the details are in it, and it is an incredibly stupid story. Sorry for the length, but I'm just really at a loss here.

In September of 2005 I was involved in an incident in the parking lot (Shell station). It was around dusk, in an area that is high in crime. When leaving the gas station I pulled backwards, felt a slight bump, and realized I had backed up into the left front bumper of a car parked behind me.

Within seconds, a large, shirtless, tattooed man with a shaved head jumped from the vehicle. I identified some of the tattoos as skinhead in nature. I could not hear what he was saying, but he was visibly upset, more upset than one should be in a situation like that. Scared, I (foolishly) left the scene.

When I felt safe I inspected my back passenger side bumper where the impact took place. There was no visible damage of any kind.

Months later in early October, my boyfriend was driving my car in an area we were unfamiliar with. We went the wrong way down a one-way alley and, almost immediately, we were pulled over. The officers informed me that the vehicle we were driving had a warrant out for it. They said it had been involved in a "hit and run" accident.

They proceeded to have the vehicle towed away and informed me that I needed to go downtown to be booked for the crime.

After having prints taken and paying bail, I was able to get my car out of impound. At this point I checked with Farmers Insurance of Springfield, my insurance company at the time, to see if any claims had been made. The man who I "hit" had not made a single claim on his vehicle. He had, however, filed a needless report to the St. Louis police department.

Feeling that I had a solid case, I hired a lawyer, Mr. Dale Zepp to represent me in court. He agreed that "leaving the scene of an accident" was very harsh for what actually occurred.

I put all of my faith in Mr. Zepp and took him on his word that he could get the mess sorted out. Finally, in February, 2006 he was finally able to tell me that my case was closed for good. He told me that he had gotten the charge reduced to "illegal backing". I even got some money back from the St. Louis circuit court, from what I originally had paid in bail. I assumed that the whole thing was behind me.

Never did any of this show up on our insurance in Springfield, so imagine my surprise when I applied for a new insurance policy in MO to find out that Mr. Zepp had not, in fact, reduced any charges or even APPEARED IN COURT for me.

After further investigation, I have found out that Mr. Zepp was disbarred in September of 2006. He was also sentenced in July of 2006 to 18 months in prison for mail fraud. I realize this is not about Dale Zepp, and about my own traffic ticket. However, in lieu of the circumstances I feel I should be granted some leniency. I was never given a fair opportunity to plead my case, because Mr. Zepp told me I did not have to appear in court. Had I gone, I am 100% certain that no judge would have charged me with a "hit-and-run." I am unable to provide you with any solid proof other than:

The other person involved in the incident filed no insurance claims, thus there was no increase in my insurance rate.

My lawyer was deemed unfit to practice law in the state of MO and I have a pending request with the Missouri Bar Association Client Compensation Fund.

This case is also currently being submitted to the Missouri State Disciplinary Council to be put on Mr. Zepp's record in case he ever files for reinstatement.

I hope you will consider reevaluating my "high risk" driving status. I am not a high risk driver at all. I simply made an error where the only person affected was myself. Now, it appears, I am paying for it still.