Cook County Sheriff's Office/Tim Boyle, Getty Images
COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A blowtorch was Michael Ziemba's weapon of choice against the dreaded parking boot, prosecutors said.
Ziemba, 70, was charged with criminal damage to property after police caught him kneeling at the left front wheel of a car in the 5200 block of West 54th Street, the glowing blue flame of a blowtorch pointed at the parking boot clamped to it, according to court records.
When police confronted Ziemba, he allegedly said, "I had to remove it somehow because I have money problems."
Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. ordered Ziemba released from jail Wednesday on his own recognizance.
