A disabled veteran was roughed up by Park Ranger for parking in a disabled spot? Seriously? Yes, because she wanted to save that space for a coworker! He sued and won!
Disabled veteran was arrested at Sequoia National Park. He sued the U.S. government and won
Sacramento Bee
Robert Rodriguez
April 1, 2019
Esquibel parked in a nearby handicap space so he could use the restroom while the line of traffic went down. He placed his handicap placard on his rear-view mirror and began walking from his vehicle when the park employee at the entrance booth yelled at him: “You can’t park there.”
Dominic Esquibel of San Diego sued the Department of Interior and the National Park Service, among others, for assault, false arrest and false imprisonment over the 2012 incident at Sequoia National Park east of Fresno, California. The civil rights case was scheduled to go to trial last week in U.S. District Court but was recently settled.
Esquibel, who received the Navy Cross for heroism during Operation Iraqi Freedom, was satisfied with the settlement, said his Fresno attorney, Nicholas “Butch” Wagner.
“He feels vindicated,” Wagner said. “And he is glad this is over.”
Court records show that the park employee later admitted to trying to stop Esquibel because she wanted to save the parking space for a co-worker who was coming to replace her at the end of her shift. read more here
DOI & NPS ought to be thanking their lucky stars! Absolutely disgraceful on their part, & they tried to cover their brain-pans by taking this hero to court to get the apology he most certainly deserved. This settlement could have been much worse. Mr. Esquibel exemplifies everything we expect from a US Marine & the Corps.
ReplyDeleteThis story made me come close to smashing my computer. We have a disabled plate because my husband is 100%, but we never park in disabled parking...unless it is at one of the Disney Parks in here in Florida. There are gazillion of them so we know we are not taking one away from someone with a physical disability, like my Dad was. He was 100% because his body did not work right. When I read this story all I could think of was him and what he went through because he could walk...WITH A CANE!
DeleteThey give these "Ranger Rick" cop wanna be's a firearm and it goes to their head. Why do park rangers need a firearm and why do they have the authority to make an arrest, I'm disabled but if you look at me I look healthy as can be. 250K sounds like this loser park patrolman got off cheap.
ReplyDeleteThank you and I totally agree!
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