Gainesville, Florda (The Weekly Vice) -- Gainsville city officials have had some explaining to do after a man reported missing over two weeks ago was found dead inside his car......a car that was ticket by officers 7 times as it sat unattended.
According to police, authorities became aware of the man’s death when a College Park resident complained Monday about a suspicious vehicle with multiple parking tickets piled on the windshield.
Inside the vehicle, officers found 42-year-old John Waldo.
Waldo, an engineer employed by AvMed, was reported missing on February 11th. He was last seen leaving Calico Jack's Oyster Bar, in Gainesville.
Although the autopsy was inconclusive, coroners have not identified an obvious cause of death. Police also do not believe the death to be a result of foul play, according to Gainesville Police spokesman, Keith Kameg.
Waldo's body was found seated in the backseat of his 2001 BMW 330i.
Gainesville police blamed the vehicle’s dark window tint for the city’s failure to notice a dead man inside the car - even after visiting it seven times to issue tickets.
“Even the person who called this in was not real sure if they had seen him clearly,” said Kameg.
City Spokesman, Bob Woods, joined in the excuse making by pointing out that city workers “are not trained police officers - but work out of the city’s public works department.” Responsibility for issuing parking tickets was transferred from law enforcement to the city’s public works department in January, 2008.
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
The Weekly Vice is calling Gainesville city officials out on the carpet on this case. A man is missing for over two weeks while you pile 7 parking tickets on his car? Is anyone else seeing the obvious disconnect here?
Well I'll spell it out for Bob and Keith. The key issue isn't the window tint, it's the failure to handle a missing person's report properly. Those little details are obvious to someone who isn't busy making excuses.
When a person turns up missing, the vehicle they drive is a primary clue in finding them. Missing person cases rely heavily on cops who run routine checks on abandoned cars. Especially one that has 7 parking tickets on it.
Ticketing that car without having the foggiest clue that it belongs to a missing man is inexcusable. It’s not just an oversight, it’s irresponsible government and misappropriated authority.
Had this been a beautiful college girl who was missing, would finding her vehicle have raised an alert?
Every time the city takes over an issue of law enforcement, stupidity is bound to follow.
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://www.theweeklyvice.com
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14 comments:
Mr. Vice, I have recently start visiting your site, and I rarely if ever post, usually only on the funny stuff. But you are absolutely correct to call these officals out, reguardless of whom is writing the ticket they should have at least run the plate number, hello!!! It woulde have come back to his name and they could have found him 7 parking tickets earlier. This is just a shame!! I hope the employees and their superiors learn a harsh lesson from this unabashed imcompotence, and I hope that some proper training is put into place so that this travisty NEVER EVER happens again. (hopefully everthing is spelled correctly)... camom1978
Wow, I live here in Gatorville and have to say this is exactly right. The issue of 'disconnect' did come up in the news here, but the city basically said something about doing a better job of towing a car after three tickets.
They completely missed the bigger, more important problem which you presented so well. Thank you.
Danny,
I first found out about your site thru craigslist and have been a reader since. I share and talk about your site with others. I am impressed and fascinated with how well you write, especially covering as much detail as possible and finding the information and time. Also, for calling it like it is. Can't help but love it. Brutally blunt and to the point. A majority of the time I can't help but agree with you. Black and white, no grey areas. Unfortunately you do have alot of sad stories but because of the blunt way you put it, you can't help but laugh.
Did you grow up watching Dragnet? Just reporting the facts, maam?
Out of curisousity, how do you manage to find out so much? It makes me wonder if you are not in law enforcement to have so much background information. Do you actually get on the phone and call these people?
I am not exactly sure of how you manage to keep this up,, stay employed (or married if you are) because this appears to be a full-time job.
When a person does not proof read or spell check and finds out that they misspelled a word, is possible to go back and correct your 1st response? I know I should not freak out about making errors.
*curiousity
Vice, I am in law enforcement and you're right on target. Parking citations should not be handed over to PW employees because they don't have the resources on board to run the checks you mentioned. This essentially renders us blind to potential leads in an investigation.
It's okay for the city to oversee routine parking citations, but if that vehicle appears to be abandoned for a number of days, they should contact the P.D before taking any further action.
justmyopinion, Thank you.
No, I'm not in law enforcement, and yes, it takes time to gather information. I try to post arrest reports, jail booking reports and other information as often as possible. This way the reader is more connected to the story instead of relying 100% on my translation of it.
No, I can't say I feel a strong need to beat around the bush on some of these stories. The mainstream media does an exceedingly good job of that already. =)
Take the poor joe and jane in the photo above for example. There they are staring at the tint on this car, determining if it's darker than the legal limit (it was). What the hell does that have to do with anything?
The car's license plate is on the BACK of the car, and checking it should have revealed the missing person's report.
Someone will pop on eventually and explain all the reasons why it's not the city's fault. Or they'll state that no one knows the whole story. Or they'll just rant about how everyone is being too judgmental.
That's why I stick as closely to the black and white details as I can. Besides, shades of gray would clash with my wardrobe. =)
oh...and by the way... when you create a Google account (like you have), that should enable you to delete an old comment you posted. Look for the trash can.
Anonymous users cant delete old comments, but registered users can.
Justmyopinion, I kind of wondered the same things. I like the free exchange of opinion here. The opinion is strong, but the debate is usually very civil. That's sort of a rare find these days unfortunately.
if this story came from any other place besides Florida, i would be horrified.
What a story. Is it fair to say that many police men are incompetent?
JFS, I bet even the cop with the mullet would agree that's a fair statement.
Talk about a new twist to the old game of: "Where's Waldo?" Now we know!!!!!
I agree, it's a pretty sad way to go. Didn't we just repeal the death tax?
Amy Waldo, writes....
I am still saddened by the loss of John. We didn't get to say goodbye with even a viewing, due to the time he was left in his car. It hurts that we cannot even get an attorney to take the case against the city for not doing a decent job, nor does the boys whom left him there in the car knowingly, no one pays in this situation. The two young men who purposely left him there, knew he was dead, and ran away scared, they could have also called 911 anonymously about a man i a car, no morals!!! at all. I blame the city for no closure and being able to see him one last time, due to the time he was left in the car he couldn't be imbalmed, so no viewing, and the boys should be held accountable for gross neglegence or something. Wheres justice? There isn't any here. Forensics shows he was only dead a few days, not the whole time, so MAYBE if found the first time he was ticketed, MAYBE he was in a coma at first, and MAYBE he could have been saved, at least long enough for us to see him. He was my husband, and I miss him dearly, and always will.
Amy Waldo/West Virginia.
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