FL Motorist Illegally Detained

**Five-0** · 03-07-11, 06:54 PM

Imagine if cops were doing this:

Motorists illegally detained at Florida tolls - for using large bills! | Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota | WTSP.com 10 News

Motorists illegally detained
at Florida tolls - for using
large bills!

Mike Deeson 1 day ago

Tampa, Florida -- Meet Joel Chandler, who just paid
his $1.00 toll on the Polk Parkway with a $100 bill,
he is not allowed to leave unless he provides
personal info to the toll taker. The toll taker tells
Chandler this is what happens when they get large
bills. She says this is what they have to do.

Chandler says to the toll taker, "So I'm being
detained?" She says yes sir.

It is a policy the Florida Turnpike authority
instituted for people who paid with $20, $50 or
$100 bills. After it happened once, Chandler kept
testing the system and taped his encounters as he
went through the toll booths.

One time a toll taker told him, she wouldn't give him
his change unless he gave her the information.
Chandler replied, "So I'm being detained." He asked
why he was being detained but never got an answer.

Chandler says this is a serious criminal offense, to
detain someone without proper legal authority. He
says that is exactly what the department is doing.
When Chandler called and e-mailed the Florida
Department of Transportation to complain about the
policy, he was told there is no policy to detain
people who give large bills. He says that made him
more concerned, because that meant there were
individual rogue toll takers detaining people.

The practice continued at toll booth after toll booth
and, if someone refused to provide the information,
they were threatened with arrest. One toll taker told
Chandler's brother Robert, "I could call FHP. Would
you like me to do that, sir?" Robert Chandler asked
why she would call the Florida Highway Patrol when
he was being illegally detained and the toll taker
said he could come up with another form of tender.

Chandler continued to complain and on July 21st at
7:19 p.m., he received an email from the assistant
General Counsel of FDOT saying essentially the
department didn't know what he was talking about
and they don't have sufficient information to
investigate. However, earlier that same day, there
were a flurry of e-mails going back and forth in the
department saying shut the program down,
temporarily suspend it and who should call
Chandler and what should they say.

According to Chandler, not only was the D.O.T. not
being truthful about the policy existing, but he also
says they made a concerted effort to cover it up.

One reason the department might not have wanted
the public to know about the program is because of
whom was being detained.

Chandler says he thinks it clear from their own
documents there was a lot of racial profiling going on.
And when you look at the documents from the
Florida Department of Transportation you see there
was a policy change about detaining people who
gave a 20 dollar bill. The Department decided to
leave it up to the discretion of the toll takers to
decide who was suspicious.

The courts have ruled that is unconstitutional,
because it allows the preferences and prejudices of
an individual to make the decision.

Chandler says 87 percent of the times toll takers
took the time to fill out the form as to why they
stopped someone. It was a racial description like,
young black male, young black male, young
Hispanic male.

Although FDOT refused to comment because the
Department expects to be sued, internal e-mail
justify the program because of counterfeit bills.
However, in a 2 and a half year period the DOT got
$16,000 in counterfeit bills, while at the same time
it collected close to $2 billion in tolls
($1,523,825,404).

The Department also spent $32,000 on forms used
to catch the $16,000 in funny money. The
department also says in e-mails, the program will
help law enforcement catch counterfeiters.

However, as Chandler discovered, in the 885 times
the D.O.T. claims it received counterfeit money, not
one time was it referred to any law enforcement
agency of any description.
Click the link for the rest of the story please.

**MacLean** · 03-07-11, 07:55 PM

Assholes.

They're trying to do tolls here, so they can waste more money figuring out how to get people to stop driving.

**tweakerseeker** · 03-07-11, 07:56 PM

Were they sworn law enforcement, this would be the front page of every major newspaper around and some cops would have their asses in a vice.

**Five-0** · 03-07-11, 09:31 PM

Hell I get pissed about businesses saying they don't accept bills larger than such and such. That little print on our currency that says:

**MacLean** · 03-07-11, 10:35 PM

Big difference between a business choosing what they will accept and a government, though....

If a business wants to accept shiny rocks it's up to them in my opinion.

A government trapping you on a bridge is a different sort of problem.

**Five-0** · 03-07-11, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by MacLean

Big difference between a business choosing what they will accept and a government, though....

If a business wants to accept shiny rocks it's up to them in my opinion.

A government trapping you on a bridge is a different sort of problem.

Funny thing, the place this happened the most was gas stations for me. It really isn't a problem anymore.

**Jks9199** · 03-07-11, 10:55 PM

Of course it's not a problem at gas stations... You need $100 bills to by a tank of gas any more now!

Seriously -- I'd say if they're refusing to take legal tender for the toll, we're looking at various offense, from larceny (if they don't provide change) or kidnapping/abduction.

It's bullshit. They've got no grounds to detain anybody like that.

**Five-0** · 03-07-11, 11:01 PM

It very much is bullshit, but what is going to be interesting is how the attempted cover up is handled.

**McCrackhd** · 03-08-11, 02:00 PM

I can kinda understand the rule. However, it should not be left up to discretion. Either let them pay with large bills, or not. The smart thing to say is that they are not detained, but, they can not go through the toll booth without payment.

That being said, it sounds like this guy is just looking for a payday.

**Five-0** · 03-08-11, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by McCrackhd

That being said, it sounds like this guy is just looking for a payday.

I think he is looking to stop a BS practice, but even if he is looking to get paid I think it is justified. Then again, I absolutely hate toll roads so I have a bias.

**BigDawg** · 03-08-11, 06:45 PM

Ive never heard of this and I live in FL. Then again this is up in the Tampa area and not down here in stupid ville surprisingly enough. This does remind me about a business in Massachusetts or Connecticut several years ago that wouldnt acept cash, credit cards only. They were sued by someone and the courts forced them to accept cash as it is for all debts...etc.