Ex-Cleveland reporter red-faced over parking move

[June 03, 2009]  CLEVELAND (AP) -- A former TV investigative reporter in Cleveland has found himself on the other end of embarrassing questions after he tried to grab free parking he wasn't entitled to.

Tom Merriman is now an attorney with a Cleveland law firm, but acknowledges he put an old press pass on his dashboard recently to use a parking spot reserved for the media across from the courts building downtown.

When he went back to his car later, his window was sporting an official green sticker from authorities, with a note that read: "If you no longer work at Channel 8, you can't park here."

Someone from a competing station had blown the whistle.

Merriman says it's only fair that he was held accountable, the way he held people accountable for years.

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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com/

[Associated Press]

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