A Florida mayor accused of using the handicapped identification of dead people to get better parking spots has resigned, the Bradenton Herald reported.
Authorities earlier this month arrested Teresa Bradley, 60, and she later pleaded no contest to a second-degree misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of a handicap placard, the newspaper reported. Authorities charged that she stole the identities of dead people to obtain their handicap parking placards that hang from the rear view mirror.
"We expect our elected officials to set the proper example," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, per the Bradenton Herald. "She not only violated the law, she embarrassed the citizens of Davenport with her illegal conduct."
Assistant State Attorney Jacob Orr told Bay News 9 that Bradley's resignation and six months of probation were part of her plea deal. The Polk County Sheriff's Office told the broadcaster that it had received information that Bradley was parking in reserved spots in Davenport City Hall but was not known to be disabled or have a permit issued to her.
Authorities said that while executing a search warrant at Bradley's home, deputies allegedly found two parking permits issued to two different people, one of whom died in 2012 and the other in 2015, the station reported.
Judd told Bay 9 News that the ex-mayor offered a motive for her alleged action.
"She said apparently sometime in the past, years ago, she was kidnapped. Now, she is afraid to park in the parking lot at night, and she wanted to be as close to the building as possible," Judd told the broadcaster.
Judd said, though, she had the power to solve her problem without allegedly going through illegal means, Bay News 9 reported.
"The irony is as mayor, she could have gone before the (Polk County) commission or may have had the independent authority to designate her own parking spot," Judd told Bay News 9.
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