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Posted: Saturday, 02 September 2006 8:52AM

Parking Codes Used to Cite Day Laborers in San Mateo


San Mateo, Calif. (KCBS) -- Undercover sting operations in San Mateo County are using the parking code to nab day laborers soliciting work in unauthorized areas, but the technique is getting criticism.

KCBS reporter Margie Shafer looked into it and found that in San Mateo, it is illegal to get into a car parked more than a foot-and-half parked away from the curb. As part of a sting operation, undercover officers are using that law to nab day laborers.

"He parked his car six to ten-feet from the curb and he asked Mr. Ramirez-Lopez 'Do you work?' And my client said, 'Yes. I do.' And he offered him a job of gardening at $15 an hour," said attorney Tanya O'Malley. Her client accepted the offer, got into the car and then was driven around the corner and charged with entering an illegally parked vehicle. "The jurors returned a not guilty verdict within ten minutes because they believed it was entrapment."

Several day laborers have received such citations but few fight them, opting instead to pay a fine instead of returning to court.

San Mateo city attorney Sean Mason said the parking ordinances are enforced to have people get day laborers at work centers rather than soliciting off the street.