Can you be jailed for using someone else’s disabled parking pass? This woman was
If you ever wondered what could happen if you use a disabled placard that wasn’t issued to you, here’s a cautionary tale.
A Central Florida woman was jailed for using her mother’s parking permit on her car while she dashed into a Wawa.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Selena Yvonne Palmer, 39, hung a blue disabled placard on the rear view window of her Hyundai utility vehicle and parked in a handicapped space on Sunday afternoon.
That’s when Deputy Chris Rafferty saw Palmer go into the Wawa store. Rafferty ran the tag and noted that she was not assigned to use a disabled placard. The pass was assigned to Rose Sullivan, her mother.
But Sullivan was not in the car.
A 2019 Florida statute says the disabled person to whom the placard is assigned must be a “traveler” in the car. In other words, you can’t borrow, use or lend a disabled placard that has been assigned to someone else if they’re not in the car.
After Palmer drove off, the Sumter County deputy pulled her over. According to the arrest report, she told the deputy the placard was registered to her mother.
Palmer, who lives in Wildwood, was arrested and charged under Florida statute 320.0848.7 with fraudulent display of a handicap placard. She was booked into Sumter County Detention Center on a $500 bond.
Though it seems uncommon for someone to be jailed for misusing a disabled permit — and Palmer’s court records in Sumter County show a few recent traffic offenses but nothing for which she was wanted — the law in Florida provides for up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine, or both, for fraudulently obtaining a disabled parking permit.
Palmer was released early Sunday evening after paying the $500 bond.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 11:13 AM.
