Paraplegic dad's clever move leaves police officer regretting parking in a disabled spot

The government’s primary responsibility is to create rules that benefit citizens and to implement them for effective governance, ensuring that everything runs smoothly. But what happens when the very protectors of the law start acting as the culprits? No one wants to witness such a worst-case scenario, yet every now and then, we come across stories of corruption, misuse of power and betrayal of trust. An individual who goes by u/hmsdexter on Reddit shared one such instance in which they and their physically challenged father confronted a cop for parking in a disabled spot. The incident happened years ago in the late '90s when the law-abiding citizens went to a mall in South Africa.

“My dad is a paraplegic, but he is able to drive a specially modified car,” the individual wrote. They explained that their father, who has a mobility disability, relies on handicapped parking, as it provides the necessary space for maneuvering his wheelchair. One day, the duo headed to the local mall to watch a movie, only to find a police car occupying the spot reserved for disabled visitors.

"My dad decided the best alternative spot would be right behind the offender. He wouldn't be blocking the road, only that one spot," they explained. The two went inside the mall to watch the movie before heading to a restaurant for a nice meal together, taking their “sweet time” with the family outing.

“About five hours later, we decided it was time to go back home,” they shared of the duo’s departure from the local shopping mall. As they approached their vehicle to open it, their dad hung back to pay for parking. “When I approached the car, I was immediately confronted by a steaming buffalo of a man. He kept asking me whether it was my car," they wrote. The person confirmed that it was indeed their car.

“He went off like an exploding rotten whale carcass. He called me every possible expletive his pea-sized brain could summon,” they revealed. "As I walked around the car, I saw that he had plastered about 20 parking tickets to the windscreen." At the time, there were no formal handicapped signs placed in the window. “I just calmly let him finish his tirade as I waited for my dad to join me,” they recounted in the post. Their dad joined them about a minute later, leaving the furious cop visibly embarrassed.

The officer immediately began backtracking and apologizing to the individual’s father. However, he couldn’t effectively cover up his actions, as the damage was done. To compensate, he started ripping the tickets off the windscreen, but the person’s father stopped him, asking him what he was doing. “The policeman tried to play it off, but my dad insisted that he would be delighted to have his day in court for this one. In the end, after some truly pathetic groveling, we decided to let him off with a warning,” the post concluded, sparking widespread reactions.

“My dad was a paraplegic and would do the same. He would park right behind them, and then we’d go off and do whatever. When we came back and there was an angry person waiting on him, he would just pull out his badge and then get in the car and off we would go,” u/Incontinento commented. u/the_greek_italian added, “Man, I wish this was taken to court so badly, only because I would’ve loved to have heard the officer making his plea to the judge for this.”