Grandparents are being demanded to pay $5,000 in tickets racked up by thieves who stole their car.

In one of the worst cases of government incompetence we've seen, an elderly couple is being extorted by the city over traffic infractions they didn't commit.

Their car was stolen and used to commit multiple crimes and despite the fact that they have proof in the form of a police report, the city says they are still liable for the crimes committed by the ones who stole their vehicle.

Doug Nelson, 73, is a Vietnam veteran who has never been in trouble with the law before.

Last November, after arriving home from his job at the U.S. Postal Service, two thugs came up to him with guns and demanded his car.

However, after getting back their car, they began getting red light camera tickets in the mail because the criminals who carjacked them went on a dangerous joy ride, racking up over $2,000 in fines.

Again, they were wrong.

Nancy said she then sent them a police report the second time, proving the car was stolen an hour before the first citation was ever issued.

"Only for the guy to not even look at the information and say, 'Your tag number is not on the report,'" said Nancy.

The Nelsons had one last hope to get their situation handled.

Since it was the police who didn't put the tag number on the report, they could fix it.

So, they went back to the police station one more time.

"He [the police officer] said, 'I can't put the tag number on your report, but it's in the system,'" said Nancy.

They were out of luck.

Because the system lacks the ability to apply reason and common sense, the Nelson's were told they were on the hook for the fines.

During this entire ordeal, they were unable to renew their registration because of the unpaid citations and so they've been unable to even use the car.

And this is exactly what's happening.

Now, the Nelsons are told the only way to rid themselves of the fines is to first pay the $5,000 and this will give them access to a special appeals board to plead their case.

But they don't feel like they should have to pay anything.

Luckily, when local media began asking questions, D.C. officials finally responded and claimed they were going to dismiss the tickets.

However, as WHAM reported, as of the airing of the original story, that has yet to happen.