Michigan man fined $128 for leaving his car running in the driveway

Like many others do during the winter's coldest months, Michigan native Nick Taylor decided to leave his car running in the driveway of his girlfriend's house when he went inside to pick her and her 2-year-old son up.

Likely thinking nothing of the decision, Taylor was certainly surprised when he walked back out into the cold to find a ticket for $128 tucked under his windshield, penalizing him for leaving his car unattended.

"I was there for maybe seven or eight minutes before I noticed the ticket," he told CBS Detroit, noting that he was at his girlfriend's house to drop off diapers for her young son.

Taylor took to Facebook to post a photo of the ticket, writing, "Let's all take a moment to thank officer dips**t K. Keary for wasting the taxpayer's money and giving me a ticket for warming up my car in my own damn driveway."

At the time of publication, Taylor's post had been "liked" more than 5,000 times and shared more than 13,800 times.

"That is by far the stupidest thing I have ever heard," one commenter wrote.

"Just another way for the city to keep their hands in your pockets," another person wrote. "Check the laws in your city and state, they have come up with some ingenious ways to take all your money."

However, despite several people raising questions about the legitimacy of the ticket, the Roseville Police Department is standing by the decision.

"I encourage our officers to write this ticket," Police Chief James Berlin told CBS Detroit, raising concerns about auto theft. "All it takes is someone to hop in this car and take off. Then there’s a chase often at a high rate of speed and all that could have been prevented."

Taylor has since said he regrets personally attacking the officer who issued the ticket: "I was upset. I appreciate what they do, but don’t they have better things to do?"

The Michigan driver said he plans to fight the ticket once it reaches the court.