Any person with disabilities, or his/her caregiver, who does not voluntarily return the removable parking placard to the Secretary within ten (10) working days after the conditions under which said placard was issued no longer exist or displays in his/her vehicle a removable parking placard without being duly authorized to do so, shall be guilty of an administrative fault and be punished by a five hundred dollar ($500)-fine.
The removable placard shall be revoked and confiscated when a person with physical disabilities lends or gives his/her removable placard to another person for the purpose of parking in the space designated for persons with disabilities. Any person with disabilities whose removable placard is revoked and confiscated shall not be able to file another application until five (5) years have elapsed from the time it was revoked.
Any person who parks or obstructs an area designated as a parking space for persons with disabilities, without proper authorization, as provided in §§ 5022, 5022a and 5023 of this title, shall be guilty of an administrative fault and shall be punished by a five hundred dollar ($500)-fine. Ten percent (10%) of the funds collected through this fine shall be set aside for DISCO. For purposes of this administrative fault, parking or obstructing shall mean placing or stopping a vehicle to wait for or leave any person, or blocking a parking space designated for persons with disabilities. The fact that a sign indicates a fine other than the fine established herein shall not be deemed to be an impairment or excuse for the imposition of said administrative fine.
Any natural or juridical person who duplicates, reproduces, or alters the contents of the removable parking placard, in whole or in part, by any means, whether manually, or by the use of any technology, shall be guilty of a fourth- degree felony for forging a license, certificate, or any other instrument, as provided in § 4850 of Title 33.
Any specialist who certifies or makes false statements or misrepresentations of an inexistent medical condition, for purposes of issuing a removable placard for persons with disabilities, as well as any person with disabilities not covered under §§ 5022, 5022a and 5023 of this title, or the caregiver of such person who makes false statements or misrepresentation to obtain for him/herself or for another person the privilege to use such removable placard, shall commit a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fixed fine of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for his/her first conviction. For subsequent convictions, the fine shall be over three thousand dollars ($3,000) and up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment, which shall not exceed six (6) months, or both penalties, at the discretion of the court.
Nothing provided in this paragraph shall preclude, for such conduct, the initiation of administrative procedures and the imposition of such sanctions for violations of the statutes that govern the ethical conduct of the medical profession of Puerto Rico. Furthermore, if applicable, it will be subject to the penal procedures and sanctions when such conduct constitutes an offense as provided in any other special law and/or the Penal Code.
Provided, further, That another ten percent (10%) of the funds collected through the fine shall be set aside for the Department of Health to acquire assistive technology or medical supplies or equipment used by medically indigent persons with physical disabilities.
History —Jan. 7, 2000, No. 22, § 2.25; Sept. 11, 2002, No. 227, § 5; July 30, 2007, No. 82, § 1; July 29, 2010, No. 104, § 1; July 29, 2010, No. 105, § 1; July 12, 2011, No. 123, § 2; Dec. 17, 2014, No. 227, § 1.