Public Outraged After Mayor’s Exploitation of Dead People Comes to Light

The mayor of a Florida town has been arrested in a bizarre case that involves the alleged exploitation of dead people.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday arrested Davenport Mayor Teresa Darlene Bradley, 60, and charged her with using a deceased person’s identification and possessing a doctored decal on a handicapped placard, both felonies that carry a prison term of up to five years.

Bradley was also charged with unlawful use of a handicapped placard, a misdemeanor.

The arrest came after Polk County deputies received a tip that Bradley was parking in a handicapped space at Davenport City Hall although she was not handicapped, WPTV reported.

Deputies obtained surveillance video of Bradley, which revealed the mayor parking in a handicapped spot and placing the placard on her mirror before exiting her car. When she returned to her car, she removed the placard, the Bradenton Herald reported.

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Further investigation revealed Bradley had additional placards, including one belonging to someone who died in 2015, according to the arrest affidavit.

Bradley was booked into the Polk County Jail and later released after posting $2,250 bond.

City Manager Kelly Callahan told the Florida Lakeland Ledger that residents had been calling City Hall asking about the arrest.

According to the Ledger, the arrest affadavit states that deputies searching Bradley’s home found a handicapped placard issued to an Evelyn Klinger Letterman, a Davenport resident who died in August 2012. The Ledger reported that the placard expired in October 2013, “but had been altered to reflect a 2018 expiration date, records show.”

The news was not well received in Bradley’s community.

“We expect our elected officials to set the proper example. She not only violated the law, she embarrassed the citizens of Davenport with her illegal conduct,” Sheriff Grady Judd said, according to the Herald.

It is easy to see why citizens would voice concern.

City Commissioner Tom Fellows said he was shocked.

“I can’t imagine this happening,” he told the Ledger. “I’m just really surprised that anybody would do that.”

No kidding. Bradley risked an awful lot just to get a parking space that was a little bit closer to the building.

It remains unclear how this arrest would affect Bradley’s position, but it doesn’t look good. On Thursday, Davenport commissioners voted unanimously to ask Gov. Rick Scott to suspend the mayor, the Ledger reported.

Bradly’s lawyer, Rafael Echemendia, said the arrest was politically motivated, explaining that Bradley was confused about how placards were used and said the matter could have been handed with a civil citation.

Handicapped parking spaces touch a raw nerve in the lives of Americans since almost every adult drives, and just about no one wants to see them abused.

It would seem that Bradley might not be the best, or brightest, person to lead the citizens of Davenport.

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