DA's non-disabled staff parking for free

it's illegal you can't do it you absolutely positively cannot use somebody else's handicap parking sticker to get a parking spot for yourself but some people who just should especially be aware of what's legal and what's not have been breaking that law and guess what news 13 investigative reporter Larry Barker caught them it's a label you can't do that let's face it there isn't one of us who hasn't violated New Mexico's traffic laws at one time or the other whether it be speeding or any improper turn but there's one law most of us respect it wouldn't dare violate in fact it's the holy grail of traffic infractions parking for the disabled get a speeding ticket and the fine is 15 bucks but park improperly in a handicapped zone and the judge will throw the book at you with a $500 fine apparently some folks working at this downtown Albuquerque office never got the message our investigation found able-bodied public employees illegally using borrowed handicapped placards apparently to get free parking for these guys good afternoon district attorney's office welcome to the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office the same people responsible for prosecuting disabled parking violators are offenders themselves for example da Metro Division program assistant Gloria laboux T on March 12 Gloria parked on the street displaying a handicap placard issued to an 84 year old female we caught Gloria again using the same borrowed placard on March 29th and April 17th Metro Division trials secretary Rose drain uses a placard borrowed from a 53 year old female our undercover camera caught her deception on three separate occasions Metro division assistant supervisor Patricia glass P gets free parking courtesy of this placard issued to her son we documented her misuse on March 7 20 six 30th and April 16 and when DEA employee David Chavez borrowed glass B's car to pick up lunch he broke the law by displaying a placard that did not belong to him assistant district attorney Anthony Griego repeatedly breaks the law by using a placard issued to a 16 year old female and although Griego does sometimes have a disabled passenger the placard displayed was not issued to either Griego or his passenger de Mesilla Padilla is cabinet secretary over the motor vehicle department bothers me tremendously because they're gaming the system and anytime somebody is trying to gain the system it means someone else is being harmed and that's just not right it's illegal you're not supposed to use somebody else's placard period Jim Parker heads up the governor's Commission on disability it's a huge deal because you still have people that think and act like they're above the law that this kind of law doesn't pertain to them just because somebody has a disability and can't use a space it means nothing to us it means a heck of a lot why would anyone borrow a handicap placard well we don't know but there is a clue you see if you are disabled or have mobility problems state law exempts you from paying parking meter fees display a handicap placard you park here for free these individuals are government employees they work for the DA's office should know better she's no sympathy at all absolutely none if they're caught I think that they should be fine the absolute maximum they work in the justice system they're not average citizens they're supposed to know better so do they know better was that handicapped placard issued to you maybe well it it doesn't appear to be yeah it was issued to you yeah at your placard are you 84 years old now hi Patricia I'm Larry Barker from channel 13 oh you know me yes ma'am that the red car the the handicap placard that's in the vehicle was that an issue to you it was issued for my son okay but you're using it and your son's not in the car no but he could have been in the car I know but he's not you've been using somebody elses placard no well that placard wasn't issued to you wasn't you don't want to talk to me about it no I don't Rose drain did not return our call for comment and then there's assistant DA Anthony Griego I pick up this man from the train station he's hobbled right here have you been using that placard when he's not in the car cool I'm always with him I pick him up in the train station always always in the train station you know we've got we got pictures of you using the placard when he's not in the car I don't take that I use a placard he's with me all the time I picked them up all the time on this day Griego passenger did have a valid placard however our surveillance caught the assistant DA routinely displaying a different disabled permit belonging to a female teenager I found out about it Wednesday evening by Thursday morning we had already launched an investigation da Kari Brandenburg says there will be consequences for employee misuse of handicapped placards we should be parked in those parking spaces because that's being very insensitive and violating the law and I think it's a good wake-up call sometimes we get lazy and we don't always appreciate things as we should and so this is a wake-up call for individuals in our office and and I think this story will be a good wake-up call for everyone in the community secretary padilla says her department will launch its own investigation we'd like to be able to accommodate people who have mobility problems and we need to make those spaces available for them so let's not put an additional burden on them by misusing the placards these are accessible spaces for people with disabilities please don't abuse them it affects our lives Larry Barker KRQE news 13 the state Motor Vehicles division and the Albuquerque Police Department are investigating the placard misuse uncovered by Larry

Channel: KRQE

Views: 1,059,311

Keywords: DA's, non-disabled, staff, parking, for, free

Id: Z5Rzs1tTlXA

Length: 6min 45sec (405 seconds)

Published: Fri May 11 2012