UPDATE: Augusta Police Respond To Facebook Handicap Parking Controversy 

The Augusta Police have issued a response on their Facebook page regarding a photo that has circulated on Facebook regarding a car with Maine Legislative plates being parked at Hannaford on Whitten Road in Augusta.

The photo sparked quite a debate among local Facebook users, since the car was parked in a handicapped spot without a visible handicapped parking permit.

Now the police have weighed in on the matter, saying that a ticket wasn't issued in this case because the owner had a valid permit and any ticket issued would have likely been dismissed.

As a result of this private message an investigation was conducted and it was learned the owner/driver has a legal handicap placard, it was just not visible to the photo taker. Maine law is clear that if someone parks in a properly marked handicap spot that a law enforcement officer may issue a summons. In this case due to the circumstances no ticket was issued as it was very likely had it gone to court it would have been dismissed since the owner/driver had a legal handicap placard at the time.

 

Here is the Augusta police's entire Facebook post:

The post that you see above was shared over 320 times since yesterday. A local Facebook user took the photo at the Hannaford on Whitten Rd. This blew up because clearly the vehicle has no handicapped plate or placard but is still parked in a spot designated for such. This vehicle clearly has 'Maine House' plates on it.

As I read down through the comments of those who took an interest in berating this person I was completely appalled. There were people (whose names I'll leave out) who were encouraging others to wait for him and "take him out at the knees". People were using very vulgar language as well.

Now, we cannot completely confirm, but a very reliable source has indicated to us that this car belongs to an Independent representative from Newfield who, we were told, happens to be a senior citizen and physically handicapped. It was expressed to us that the gentleman had accidentally forgotten to hang his placard before entering the store.

So please, before you being lashing out at fellow members of our community, and in this case a PUBLIC SERVANT, make sure you know the whole story. This could be someone's dad, grandfather, brother, husband or uncle. You just never know.

This post went viral and in a very negative fashion. My only goal now is to get people to think before they post. In a world of seemingly endless virtual shaming, you never really know who you're going to hurt.