Toronto man charged with assaulting parking enforcement officer who questioned permit
A Toronto man has been charged with assaulting a parking enforcement officer who questioned the validity of a permit on his windshield.
Toronto police said the man was displaying an expired accessible parking permit on his car before the assault occurred on Armoury Street, near Chestnut Street, at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The alleged assault is the second such incident in the past two months.
The man, 46, is due in court on March 15. He is charged with assaulting a peace officer.
Confrontation began with ticket
Police said the confrontation began when the parking enforcement officer, working in 52 Division, placed a ticket on the windshield of the man's car. As the officer continued to check other cars, the man, who was still in his car, questioned the ticket.
The officer asked to inspect the permit displayed on his car. The permit is one issued to people with certain health conditions. The officer decided to keep the permit to investigate it later.
The man then got out of his car, began to swear at the officer and demanded that the permit be given back. At that point, the man assaulted the officer as he tried to get the permit back.
2nd incident in 2 months
In a similar incident last year, police said a parking enforcement officer was assaulted after placing a ticket on the windshield of a car on Vaughan Road near St. Clair Avenue West on Dec. 1 at about 2 p.m.
The officer was enforcing the pay-and-display regulations when a man, upset about the ticket, approached and assaulted him.
A 68-year-old Toronto man, who surrendered to police on Dec. 29, was charged with assaulting a peace officer in that incident. He is due to appear in court on Jan. 27.
