Local Woman Caught Using Dead Mother's Expired Handicap Placard

EAST GREENWICH, RI—A local woman got a warning from police after she was caught using her dead mother's handicapped placard that expired in 2010.

According to a police report, an East Greenwich police officer checking the CVS parking lot on Main Street for parking violations on March 24 noticed a black Jaguar parked in a handicapped space. The placard was "turned down so I could not read the date," the officer reported.

The officer radioed dispatch to check the placard's status and it came back expired in 2010 "to a woman that would be 105-years-old" the officer wrote in her report.

A woman approached the car moments later and told police that she used the card because "her leg hurt so she decided to use it," police said.

The woman, a North Kingstown resident, was told that using the permit was illegal and it would need to be seized.

Police said the card would be returned to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The driver was not cited.