Posted on 12/07/2017 10:27:48 AM PST by Gamecock
BARTOW — Davenport Mayor Darlene Bradley was arrested Tuesday on allegations she used dead people’s handicapped placards to park in designated spaces at City Hall.
Bradley, 60, faces felony charges of using a deceased person’s identification and possessing an altered or counterfeit decal on a handicapped placard, both of which carry a prison term up to five years if she’s convicted. She also was arrested for unlawful use of a handicapped placard, which is a misdemeanor.
“The governor has the right to suspend her until she is acquitted,” he said, “but that request will have to come from the commission. That’s something they will discuss.” Bradley couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
Based on a tip, Polk County sheriff’s deputies obtained surveillance video of Bradley parking in a handicapped space at Davenport City Hall on Monday night. She was seen lifting an oversized, wheeled briefcase from the trunk of her car and walking inside to attend a City Commission meeting, according to the arrest affidavit.
During a subsequent search warrant at her home, deputies found a handicapped placard issued to Evelyn Klinger Letterman, who died in August 2012, the affidavit states. The placard expired in October 2013, but had been altered to reflect a 2018 expiration date, records show.
The other placard had been issued to someone who died in 2015, though that person isn’t named in the affidavit.
Bradley, who was arrested under her legal first name of Teresa, was taken into custody when deputies served the search warrant, according to Sheriff’s officials. She was booked into the Polk County Jail on Tuesday and later released after posting $2,250 bail.
Callihan said residents had been calling City Hall on Wednesday asking about the arrest. Commissioner Tom Fellows said he anticipates the incident will have a significant impact on the community.
“I can’t imagine this happening,” he said. “I’m just really surprised that anybody would do that.”
He said he’s uncertain what will happen at the commission’s special meeting.
“The best thing to do is to wait and see, when all the facts are in, and go from there,” he said.
Bradley marks the second commissioner in an East Polk city to be arrested this year. Lake Wales Commissioner Curtis Gibson, who took office in April, was charged in July with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony, on allegations he held a knife to his girlfriend’s throat. He has pleaded not guilty and his charges are still pending in Circuit Court.
Commissioners in Lake Wales voted 3-1 not to seek Gibson’s suspension from office.
Gloria Allred has been MIA for a few weeks now!
Since the book was called a fraud.
Don’t know her party, but a possible clue is the absence of any mention in the article. And if she is a democrat, she can be excused for exploiting the dead, since it’s accepted practice in elections.
Walmart routinely tells LE not to police HP at their stores. Ever wonder why all the HP spots are filled yet rarely see anyone with a real disability? If you can walk into a facility and shop or other wise conduct business and then walk back to your ride then you don’t need HP.
In her defense the dead person was not using the placards. /s
What? 5 years in prison? A felony? Improper use of a handicap sticker is a felony? What a barbarism we live in.
I wonder if those same “dead” people are voting?
Good point. No party affiliation in the article, I’m sure that’s just an oversight.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3611591/posts?page=10#10
She looks drunk
The idea of “honor” is being really mangled by this criminal loser politician.
Well, this DIM moron apparently felt she deserved close parking where ever she was. I hope they park her fat a** in a jail cell...and, then, the unemployment line.
Well again, the dead people are not using their votes so the Libs will use them............
Jailed for a parking violation? You’re harsh!
Sheriff Judd was talking about it. Davenport is a nice small town when I last visited my grandparents in the 70s...Polk County is nice...
Jailed for a parking violation? You’re harsh!
Yeah—up to five years for using a handicapped parking space with an invalid placard. Does that really rise to the level of identify fraud? Bad judgement I know, but five years?
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