What looked like a quick way to score a prime parking spot has landed a Houston man in serious legal trouble.
Harris County detectives arrested 28-year-old David T. Brown on Tuesday after investigators say he sold altered blue permanent disabled-parking placards online for $150 apiece. According to authorities, the hang-tags were modified with driver’s license numbers and other identifying information to make them look legitimate, even though the seized permits were never issued through the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office. Brown is charged with tampering with a governmental record, a third-degree felony, and records show he is out on a $10,000 bond. Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen warned that buyers who keep using fraudulent placards could be arrested and charged too.
Investigation and arrest
As reported by Click2Houston, investigators say Brown advertised blue permanent-disability placards on social media, then altered some by adding driver’s license numbers and other information to make them appear official. The Precinct 1 Tax Special Investigations Unit seized several of the hang-tags during the probe and arrested Brown on a charge of tampering with a governmental record. Rosen told reporters the placards “came from somewhere in the state of Texas, not the local tax office,” and detectives are now working to trace exactly where they originated.
How permits are supposed to be issued
Permanent blue disabled-parking placards in Texas are issued free of charge through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and local county tax offices. Applicants must submit medical certification on Form VTR-214, according to the TxDMV. State law also authorizes officers to seize and revoke placards suspected of being misused, and the Transportation Code lays out seizure and revocation rules and allows police to destroy and revoke seized tags when probable cause exists, per the Texas Legislature.
Criminal penalties
Tampering with a governmental record can range from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on the type of record and the defendant’s intent. When the record is a license, permit, or similar government-issued document, the offense is often charged as a third-degree felony, punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The same law also criminalizes possessing, selling, or offering to sell governmental records or blank forms with the intent that they be used unlawfully, which tracks with investigators’ description of the online listings, according to FindLaw.
If you saw a listing or bought a placard
Precinct 1 is asking anyone with information about the case, or who may have purchased one of the placards, to contact investigators at (713) 755-5200, the number listed on the precinct’s site (Pct. 1 Constable). Authorities say detectives routinely monitor Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp for similar scams and warn that buyers should destroy or turn in fraudulent placards to avoid possible criminal charges, as reported by Click2Houston. The investigation remains active, and detectives say they are continuing to trace the seized tags back to their source elsewhere in Texas.
