A 40-year-old Wildwood woman who used her mother’s handicapped placard at Wawa in Oxford won’t be prosecuted in the case.
Selena Yvonne Palmer had been arrested Nov. 17 after she pulled into a handicapped parking spot at Wawa at U.S. 301 and County Road 466, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
After Palmer left Wawa and drove away on County Road 466, she was pulled over by a deputy. During the traffic stop, Palmer was asked if she had been issued a handicapped placard. She admitted the one she was using had been issued to her mother.
A 2019 Florida statute says the disabled person to whom the placard is assigned must be a “traveler” in the car. Palmer could have faced up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
However, last week the prosecutor’s office announced that the case was being dropped because, the “case does not warrant prosecution.” Palmer also had been issued a traffic ticket for illegally parking in a handicapped spot. She could have faced an a $186 fine for the ticket. The ticket also has been dismissed.
Earlier this year, a Brooklyn native paid a $771 fine after using his wife’s handicapped license plate to park in a handicapped spot at Lowe’s in Lady Lake. His wife was not along for the ride. That case also was handled in Sumter County Court.
Last year, Palmer was ticketed on a charge of speeding. Palmer submitted proof on Oct. 28 that she had completed traffic school, according to Sumter County Court records. In 2018, Palmer was ticketed on a charge of failure to yield. She also provided proof in that case that she completed traffic school.
In the handicapped parking case, Palmer had retained the legal services of attorney Michael J. Gourley of Ferro & Gourley PA in Ocala.
