General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOfficer Todd Parmentier leaves a elderly disabled couple on the street at 3am, tows their car over insurance mistake
Investigation now after widespread disgusthttps://www.wtoc.com/2026/05/28/hinesville-police-chief-speaks-wtoc-officer-modified-duty-internal-affairs-investigation-underway/
Hinesville police chief speaks to WTOC: Officer on modified duty, internal affairs investigation underway
https://www.thelangmarine.com/articles/hinesville-sims-insurance-tow/


May 26, 2026
Hinesville, GA
A 3 A.M. Tow on Highway 196 and the Statute Hinesville Police Didn't Fully Quote
Hinesville Police Department defended Officer Todd Parmentier's late-night traffic stop and tow of a disabled veteran and her amputee husband by invoking Georgia's insurance verification law. A review of the statute and the body camera footage finds that the same Code section contains protections the department's public statement does not address.
n April, a Hinesville police officer towed a vehicle off Highway 196 and left a 71-year-old disabled Army veteran and her amputee husband on the side of the road at three in the morning. The reason was a state-database flag that said the vehicle had no insurance. The driver showed him proof it did. On his own body camera, the officer acknowledged the database was wrong about the vehicle. He towed the car anyway.
The Stop
At approximately 2:36 a.m. on April 27, 2026, Hinesville Police Officer Todd Parmentier ran the license plate of a vehicle traveling on Highway 196 in Hinesville, Georgia. The Georgia Crime Information Center database returned a flag for no insurance on the vehicle. Parmentier initiated a traffic stop.
Mrs. Mobley-Sadler told Parmentier she had active coverage through USAA. She offered to show him the policy on her phone and produced her vehicle registration. Parmentier declined to consider either. According to the body-worn camera footage the department released two weeks later, his stated reason was as follows:
We have to go by what the state says and our system says. And our system in the state of Georgia says you do not have insurance.
Within minutes, Parmentier told the couple a tow truck was already en route. He had not yet examined the documentation Mrs. Mobley-Sadler was offering.
The Tow
Parmentier helped Bobby Sims out of the passenger seat and onto his rollator. Mrs. Mobley-Sadler had told Parmentier her husband was an amputee who could not walk under his own power and that she needed to get him home for two morning medical appointments, an 8 a.m. doctor visit and a 9:30 a.m. telehealth appointment, plus a prosthetic-leg fitting at a Hanger Clinic location.
When Mrs. Mobley-Sadler asked how she and her husband were supposed to get home, Parmentier said this:
This is your opportunity to have somebody to call somebody to come get you a ride, Lyft, Uber, something.
The vehicle was loaded onto a tow truck. Parmentier departed the scene. The couple was left in the parking lot
ornotna
(11,597 posts)Hope he gets everything he deserves.
Intractable
(2,544 posts)Chief Howard confirmed Officer Todd Parmentier was initially placed on modified duty for his own protection, after he and his family began receiving death threats following WTOCs coverage of the April 27 traffic stop.
Hes working within the police department, not performing those typical duties of a police officer, Howard said.
ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)dalton99a
(96,103 posts)ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)oasis
(54,253 posts)to put these people of color in a desperate situation.
dalton99a
(96,103 posts)Last edited Fri Jun 12, 2026, 11:59 PM - Edit history (1)
Billsdaughter
(198 posts)Lots and lots of $$$$ and this oinker gets fired. I am so sick of this shit.
Srkdqltr
(10,093 posts)LuvLoogie
(9,025 posts)electric_blue68
(27,815 posts)I'm going back to something happy...
Taking down drumphf 's name
flvegan
(66,634 posts)Asshole cop and little bullshit Georgia town police department, and GEICO. Probably whoever is contracted to tend to the GA insurance reporting database. Good initial batch of defendants to start.
DET
(2,664 posts)How long are we supposed to put up with this crap? He could have killed those people! Its getting harder and harder to contain the anger.
sheshe2
(98,952 posts)I hope they sue that SOB!
chouchou
(3,416 posts)I'm sure they're pissed off also...
niyad
(135,153 posts)ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)AverageOldGuy
(4,332 posts)Its Georgia .
ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(32,917 posts)This officer will face consequences....perhaps he might learn from his callous actions.
ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)Thuggish man who will just feel more aggrieved.
OAITW r.2.0
(32,917 posts)how? Have you passed judgement on this person's life?
ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)a way to mitigate this racist, heartless, cruel act of a man sworn to "protect and serve"? And not to just any citizens; to AN ELDERLY AMPUTEE AND AN OLDER WOMAN VETERAN. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. ON A HIGHWAY. TOLD TO CALL AN UBER.
Frankly, his behavior boggles my mind. And it will boggle the minds of the jurors or the mind of the judge who will eventually award this couple a pretty penny.
So if you're asking should I consider his past before I judge him on his present? Tea, China, and all that.
This is the same defense, in fact, that Tex Watson (Tate-La Bianca) used: Was it "fair" to judge him based solely on such a relatively brief period in his life? 🙄🧐
bobalew
(500 posts)Leaving disabled persons without transportation is a federal Crime. If they are in possession of a handicapped placard or Diabled person
plates, it is illegal to tow the vehicle.
ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)slightlv
(8,157 posts)racism of this administration, and of police lately, in general. But it's not, IMO. It's a war on all minorities... and especially those most vulnerable, the aged and infirm.
This cop was placed on "modified duty?" Find out what his religion is, call in a "pastoral" figure, and have him explain to the cop in very simple language what he did was wrong and why. Obviously, this cop is too dumb and too morally deficient to figure it out himself, as it seems his superiors are.
These are the types of incidents where intervention from the very beginning is necessary for anything to change. Unfortunately for us, the intervention most needed is to delete the entire governmental administration first.
AZLD4Candidate
(7,069 posts)intheflow
(30,297 posts)All things Trump hates. My bet is this guy loves de fürer.
niyad
(135,153 posts)marble falls
(73,385 posts)ColoringFool
(1,368 posts)marble falls
(73,385 posts)Deuxcents
(28,125 posts)For her ad her husband so they never have to worry about getting stranded to get the medical care they need ever again. The police department and the tow company need some accountability for this cruel and unusual situation they put a disabled retired veteran and her husband thru . Would love to hear the follow up to this
EdmondDantes_
(2,252 posts)But it seems like the law lets the officer scan for vehicles without insurance which feels really creepy, especially since the state admits there are inaccuracies in the data (blaming the insurance companies of course). I'm sure there's a racism component to that as well given the demonstrated history of minorities being more likely to get citations for driving without insurance tickets without other citations.
And then even if a driver gets one of these tickets for being uninsured and can prove they had insurance coverage at the time, there's still a potential fine, although it drops from $460 to a max of $25
Having a fine that can apply even in an instance where the driver has done nothing wrong is just insult to injury.
Of course the specific case sucks and the police department knows it, but the overall law seems fundamentally flawed as well.
Vinca
(54,516 posts)Even if she didn't have insurance, you don't leave people on the side of the road in the middle of the night, especially elderly, disabled people.
WhiskeyGrinder
(27,337 posts)orangecrush
(31,759 posts)Passages
(4,643 posts)it will be a stain on them for good.
edhopper
(37,659 posts)WHITE Officer Todd Parmentier leaves a elderly disabled Black couple on the street at 3am, tows their car over insurance mistake