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Special magistrate waives fines for two Oviedo motorists after valid placards are produced
Summary
In an April 23, 2026 hearing, the City of Oviedo special magistrate found two motorists guilty of parking in handicapped spaces without visible placards but waived fines after each produced or demonstrated possession of valid placards; officers had submitted photographs as evidence.
The special magistrate for the City of Oviedo waived fines for two motorists found to have parked in marked handicapped spaces without visible placards during a hearing on April 23, 2026.
Officer Frank Franz of the Oviedo Police Department testified that on March 4, 2026, he observed a blue Lincoln (Becker case) and a white Nissan Rogue (Hedrick case) parked in marked handicapped spaces at the Oviedo Mall, each without a visible placard. Franz said he took photographs of the vehicles, the dashboards, and the placement of the citations and offered those photographs as the city's composite exhibit 1. "I could not see any information on the placard," Franz said while describing the dashboard images.
Respondent George Becker told the magistrate he had spoken by phone with Officer Franz and that a placard was hanging above the mirror but not fully readable; Becker said he had received the placard about two to three weeks before the citation and produced it in court. The magistrate inspected Becker's placard, noted the expiration date, and said that because Becker could prove he had a placard the magistrate would "technically find you guilty, but I will waive the fines."
In the second case, Robert Shane Hedrick said he had a doctor's appointment at Oviedo Orthopedic, was running late, and "forgot to put the card out." Hedrick told the magistrate he had the placard with him and that it was valid; the magistrate inspected the placard and noted it expires Oct. 26. The magistrate again waived the fine and advised Hedrick to keep the placard visible to avoid future enforcement actions.
During the Becker hearing, Officer Franz also told the magistrate that the vehicle appeared to be registered to a business, which limited his ability to verify by phone whether the placard belonged to the driver; Becker disputed that assertion and said the car was registered in his name. The magistrate said an order would be prepared and given to the respondents by Miss Acosta.
The hearing record shows the incidents occurred on March 4, 2026, at approximately 2:22 p.m. (Becker) and 2:01 p.m. (Hedrick) at 1700 Oviedo Mall Boulevard. The session concluded after the magistrate processed both matters and stated there was nothing else on the agenda.
What happens next: the magistrate said court orders documenting the findings and waivers would be prepared and provided to the respondents; no fines were collected at the hearing.
