Posted on 05/10/2008 10:27:46 PM PDT by Lusis
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- A man who said he thought he was just helping a woman in need is accused of running an illegal taxi service.
Miami-Dade County's Consumer Services Department has slapped Rosco O'Neil with $2,000 worth of fines, but O'Neil claims he is falsely accused.
"I ain't running nothing illegal," O’Neil said.
The 78-year-old said he was walking into a Winn-Dixie to get some groceries when he was approached by a woman who said she needed a ride.
(Excerpt) Read more at local10.com ...
What a waste of tax papers money.
It is just plain stupid.
Too many damn government employees. This one needs to go collect garbage and find out what a real job is like.
This is stupid, but he didn’t help his case when he took money, especially when he let the woman talk him into setting a price.
On the other hand, I remember sharing rides from college, and we’d pay for gas.
My guess is the desire of government to prosecute competition with taxi services is directly related to the amount of taxes and fees the government gets licensing taxis.
At least this story is on the local TV news. The arrest should be laughed out of court.
Quite likely he has good grounds for a false arrest suit.
This is beyond preposterous.
Real criminals are running loose and the government is arresting a good Samaritan, for doing a good deed.
I’d love to sit on his jury!
An unchangeable not-guilty vote.
There are several possibilities here for the “real” which the city has yet to tell. Perhaps a taxi “mafia” which controls things in town? A town is that going bankrupt because their revenue collection isn’t effective?
If I were the guy....I’d round up 40 friends and visit the next town council meeting. I’d demand an accounting on how many employees are on the city’s payroll and what their true functions are. When they come to the taxi inspector...you’ll find that its a cousin of someone on the city council (my bet). They invited a job for the guy.
When the rates for murder, rape, theft, car jacking, kid napping, and gun running go down in this part of Florida I MIGHT entertain the idea of this kind of policing. Since it never will due to democrat leadership thwarting real policing I won’t hold my breath.
This is an insulting waste of time and assets and is a punch int he face of those who are SET UP simply for being kind to their fellow man.
Who knew there was such a thing?? Good grief! The gestapo is everywhere - even your neighborhood grocery store! :~(
This is BS, I don’t care if he accepted money or not, this is BS. There can be no legitimate reason for this kind of utter BS. They can teach terrorists to fly jets and not land, but this poor old guy just does someone a favor and they are all over it.
Let’s see if I understand this...a 78yr old gentleman out for groceries is approached by a woman who says she needs a ride...He did not approach her....then SHE offers him money, SHE asks him to state a price...HE did not ask her for money...
WHERE IS THE CRIME!!!!
And we wonder why there are no good samaratains anymore...
They would have a point if this man was taxing people back and forth from Winn Dixie all the time for pay without a permit. This kind man was doing a good deed. He wanted to help this woman get home. To fine this man for being a good samaritan is outrageous. Heck, I give him credit. These days I just wouldn’t feel safe letting a stranger in my car.
...and a wide stance.
The 78-year-old said he was walking into a Winn-Dixie to get some groceries when he was approached by a woman who said she needed a ride.
...She said, 'I need help getting home.'"...
...As it turned out, the woman was an undercover employee with the consumer services department targeting people providing illegal taxi services...
...After O'Neil dropped off the woman, police surrounded him, issued him two citations and impounded his minivan. On top of the fees, it cost O'Neil an additional $400 to retrieve his minivan from the impound lot...
"It's not entrapment because she didn't expect him to provide her transportation," said Sonya Perez, a spokeswoman for the consumer services department.
O'Neil claims he was just being kind and providing a ride to a lady in need...
"She asked me, 'How much you charging?'" O'Neil said. "I said, 'Anything you give me....
No good deed goes unpunished these days.
/End lawyer mode. ;^)
But it would be interesting if he was asking for gas money or the price a taxi would charge.
“There’s all kinds of possibilities, but the fact of this particular case, what our enforcement officers witnessed — because we had several on the scene, plus a Miami-Dade police officer — and all the information came back the same, that this was a business transaction,” Perez said.
So every officer backed up each other’s story? I’m shocked.
No good deed goes unpunished.
A business transaction???
Did he say that he’d give her a ride home only if she would agree to pay him?? Did he request any type of payment?? From what I read..SHE offered to pay him for what I’m assuming he thought was an act of kindness....this whole situation is just sickening!
It is entrapment.
Every auto insurance in the state of Florida has an exception clause; you ride someone for hire and your insurance is null and void.
So. What do you think of your poor old guy now?
How would anyone know, in this case, that she was planning to pay him? It just looks like someone is giving her a ride.
The insurance company kept asking me who he was and why he was riding in the car. Because they sued. I told them who they were. I know the insurance company in the end paid for it but it was a big ordeal.
Obscene waste of time and energy. Miami residents can confidently vote themselves a tax break because they clearly have way too many public employees.
I have helped give a person a ride home, and I am not a taxi service. It is my right to let anyone ride with me if I choose. I do not expect money, but if the other person insist, I may take something to cover the gas, but that is rare.
So picking up someone who is stranded on the side of the road, because their car broke down, can get you arrested, especially if you take something in return, whether it be a couple of dollars for your gas, or a nice cold can of Coca-Cola? Either way, you were paid for your services.
Look at the guy. He’s an older black guy just minding his own business. Then he gets asked for a favor and they’re off to the races.
This kind of thing destroys trust in the government. It angers me.
No good deed goes unpunished.
It is alarming just how many things are taxed, regulated and against the law now.
Everyday there are more and more laws. More laws mean more government, more jails, more lawyers.
If all of the stupid laws were repealed, think of all the people who would be unemployed!
I understand we do need some laws in order to be a civilized society, but I can’t help wondering if it’s gotten to the point where our economy actually depends on excessive laws.
If all of the stupid laws were done away with, would our economy crumble?
>people totally dependent on government.<
Which is why they are trying to destroy the middle class.
It wouldn't bother me a bit if a couple of "Consumer Services" employees turned up missing.
Government robots have now the right to hurt citizens with impunity. People in government responsible for this should go to prison and get a clue. This is how things like runaway freight train bureaucratic lead genocide starts.
"She asked me, 'How much you charging?'" O'Neil said. "I said, 'Anything you give me.' She said, 'No, I need a price.'"
This is where he made a mistake. The article didn’t mention if he quoted a price - but it is assumed. If he had stuck with “Whatever you want to give me” it would have been hard to make a case.
The way the article is written the same charge could apply to many who car pool. I know several people who each kick in $20 a week to the one with the best gas mileage to cover gas. I sometimes give a friend a ride to work, in exchange she gives me $10. It’s a 64 mile round trip and takes over an hour so I’m not making any money from it - am I operating an illegal taxi?
Sure is nice to see police resources being so well used to protect us from ferocious criminals like this. Taxpayer money well spent. /sarc of course/
My guess is the desire of government to prosecute competition with taxi services is directly related to the amount of taxes and fees the government gets licensing taxis.
There’s more to it than just collecting licensing fees.
I drove a cab for several years. Our cars were inspected by the city every year, our meters checked for accuracy. Drivers had to undergo a police criminal background check every time we renewed our permits. Our companies had to have proper insurance coverage. Gypsy cabs are not regulated. I reported one myself - he had no insurance on his car, and no fixed rates. If he had been involved in an injury producing accident the passengers would have had to foot their medical bills themselves. He was also advertising - posting handbills at bus stops and near businesses.
In the case mentioned in the article, there wasn’t enough information given to determine if he was running Gypsy or was an innocent good Samaritan. I’m inclined to believe he was a good Samaritan. A Gypsy would have quoted a price right up front.
Better check your insurance policy. If she's injured in an accident, the insurer may, in fact, claim that you were operating a commericial taxi service, taking passengers in carriage in exchange for money, and refuse to honor any claims.
The Founding Fathers have to be looking down with absolute disgust and loathing on what we’ve allowed their creation to turn into.
Since violent and economic crimes were ended by the Democrat Metro area administration the police no longer have anything to do except march in parades, eat donuts and find ways to extract money from the population.
What a POS liar! I can't see any judge, even a lib one, letting this outright piece of entrapment stand.
BTTT
This kind of thing destroys trust in the government. It angers me.
There are people who trust the government?
A few days ago, someone started pounding on our door. As I was going to the door, realized it was two people, as one of them was cupping his hands to the window trying to look in then banged on the window. I decided first to peer from the blinds to see who it was.
It was our county deputies. So of course I went out to see what the problem was. They were looking for a different house number; ours is posted prominently at the end of the drive and on the house. They gave me a name and I told them the truth, had never heard of the guy. They then proceeded to ask me what he drives. Does that make any sense?
All this, trying to see inside our home, banging on the door and window, it was no mere knock, and they’ve got the wrong house or were too lazy to continue on up the road looking for the correct address.
The current sheriff is a democrat, and from what I’ve seen and heard, it’s run exactly that way. One of his lackeys is running for the sheriff position next. I’ve seen his website, he put a photo of himself in his pseudo-military gear on the site. There are two Republicans in the running. I’m definitely going to lend them some assistance.
Sorry for the rambling, but that was just my latest personal example of why I’m surprised that anyone trusts the government.
I was visiting some people down in Maryland a few years back (2002, maybe), and my rental car broke down out in the sticks of the DelMar Peninsula. I got no help from the rental company. Pissed off, I fried the engine by gunning at top RPM until the engine clanked and stopped running. I left the keys in the ignition, pulled my luggage out and walked about a mile back to a farmhouse I had seen.
The farmer not only let me use his phone, but gave me a little tour of his farm. As some point, a bunch of people showed up to drive him somewhere, so he let me just stay there to wait. Left the front door open for me and everything. Just amazing.
So I called the people I was going to visit (two elderly men) and though they said they would come pick me up, they never did. They were simply confused and could not drive after dark when I called them four hours later asking where they were.
With no other option, I grabbed my luggage, got on the road and began hitchiking, something I had not done since the early Eighties.
I made the rest of the 50 miles through the rural area in two rides. The first half was in the back of a pickup truck, first time I had ridden in the back of one in years.
He left me off in a small town that was having some kind of small town festival and cookout...a marching band and all. I had a burger there and rested for an hour or so, then got back on the road and was immediately picked up by a black guy wearing a Redskins hat. Being a former Redskins fan myself, we had plenty to talk about. The guy was out of a job and had his family living with his brother, and he ended up going ten miles out of his way to deliver me to the doorstop of my destination.
Before I left to go back to the airport, I figured it was going to cost me a lot of money to hire a taxi or limo to take me to the Baltimore airport, I really enjoyed talking to this guy, so called him I told him if he was interested in making some money, I would treat him to lunch and pay him $100 cash for a ride the following Sunday (since he had mentioned he was on hard times).
He readily agreed, he had enjoyed the conversations as well, and he arrived on time when it came time to leave.
When I got home, a month or two later I wrote him a heartfelt thank you letter which bounced back “Addressee Unknown”. The letter I wrote to the farmer to thank him also bounced back. Very odd.
But it was a restorative experience in the goodness of human nature. The only thing that could have ruined it for me was some government agency prosecuting the poor guy for running an illegal taxi service.
angels
...and you were unaware
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