Salinas PD investigates officer for parking in handicapped spot

UPDATE 04/12/2017: A Salinas cop is under internal investigation after pictures of his police vehicle parked in a handicapped spot surfaced on social media Wednesday morning.

“We do want to extend an apology to the community because this is clearly not the image we want to present,” deputy police chief Dave Shaw said.

Employees at the restaurant wouldn’t talk about what they saw, but some online are defending the cop saying, “give him a break” or “…what if he only has 6 minutes to get lunch?”

But that’s not the reaction of everyone.

“I know police in an emergency can park wherever they want, but to take a space just so he can pick up his food is a little over the top,” Salinas resident Lori Mack said. “I have family members that are handicapped, and they really need those parking spaces. And I think that there are plenty of parking here, and he could have parked somewhere else.”

That is exactly how Stephanie Colmnero felt, she got her handicap placard because of her arthritis and said those spots are there for a reason.

“Unless he had a handicapped child that might have needed it, or you know, that he was taking somebody that use the handicap. I feel bad that sometimes, the law (being) over (abused),” Colmnero said.

Salinas Police aren’t giving any information about the officer, but they are investigating and said they’re taking this seriously.

“We are expected to set the example for people to follow the law and it appears at this time, that the officer did not set that example,” Shaw said.

PREVIOUS: A Salinas police officer is the subject of an internal investigation after pictures of his police vehicle parked in a handicapped spot showed up on social media Wednesday morning, according to police.

Dep. Chief Dave Shaw issued this statement on behalf of the department:

“This is not acceptable for any non-handicapped person to do, and certainly not acceptable for a Salinas Police Officer to do unless it’s part of an emergency response. We have started an Internal Affairs inquiry into this incident. Once that’s concluded, we’ll determine what the consequences will be.

“I want to assure the public that we take this matter seriously, and that we hold each other to the standard of setting an example of respect for the law.”

As of 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, more than 240 people reacted to the Facebook post on the Salinas Crime & News & community events page and 114 people had commented

KION will have more on this developing story.