RIDEGURU
On Sat Dec 7 while working for LYFT I was arrested because I REFUSED to sign a CITATION for Driving in Florida with an out of state license while having a Canceled Florida DL from 2009( I am a legal resident of NY but I snow bird in FL where I used to live back in 2009) It was a horrible night... I lost all my income for the week to this legal theft (BAIL=$500 Tow Charge $275 UBER from JAIL was $25) And now to make matters worse LYFT has temporarily suspended me. This is a very strange case. It is not really a LYFT Issue since I was not given a citation for operating a rideshare in FL with an out of state license. But LYFT said it was ok to drive with an out of state license in FL which is WHY I was doing this in the first place. My 10 year old FL License should have been NULL and VOID in FL records. After all, It expired in 2009! Still the officer used his flawed discretion to subjugate me - a hard worker who was an ambassador to this city in over 50 rides that week earning a 4.9 star rating with over 2k rides. I need some good legal advice. If anyone has suggestions for a lawyer and such please let me know. Thanks.
LYFT driver bogus arrest by MB Police, Suspended by LYFT! Help!
Posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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jlc3d
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Ride Apprentice
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I'll talk with the lawyers and see if we can help!
Jaredhoffa
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Well things got worse! NOW Lyft has "temporarily suspended" my account supposedly until I am cleared of this idiotic "crime"! I have hired an attorney. After realizing that Toyota of North Miami was to blame for taking it upon themselves to register my car under an OLD, NULL and VOID License that they happened to find on the web (from 2009) instead of my valid legal NY Driver's license - I explored my legal options. I will be bringing this case to them in some way. Because of their error - I effectively drove off the lot in violation of Florida law. However - it is still such a sissy law and the MB Cop could have used better discretion and NOT arrested me for this petty paper crime. What is worse is that after feeling like I was robbed for all the money I lost just before Christmas - now Lyft has shut me down during a time that is mad busy here! I signed on to UBer but that background check is holding everything up and I'm pretty sure it is because of this arrest. Apparently in Florida - and in the world of Ride Shares - you are GUILTY until proven innocent!.
Whoa. That is super sketch. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out...
So Sorry to hear this JLC, if Lyft was a standup company they would pay all of your expenses and compensate you for their telling you that you were okay to drive in Florida! But knowing what I do about Lyft (Uber is no better!),I wouldn’t count on them for any help. If you start a Gofundme, let us know, I will contribute and I am sure, so would many more! Good Luck JLC!
This whole situation is super weird, to be honest, the only reason that I can come up with is that you had a previous record or license problems. But I saw your comment saying that you had none so I'm absolutely out of ideas
This is super weird. Was there some problem with your old license before it expired? Was it ever suspended or anything?
no not at all. The old license (Florida) was canceled in in 2009 when I got my NY driver's license that I had with me the evening of the arrest. But about a week ago I realized the dealer I purchased my Prius from, TOYOTA of NORTH MIAMI, created this whole mess by fishing the OLD Fl license from the FL archives and putting that number on the registration. Of course - I did not catch that. I did NOT recognize the DL number and the print is so small on the registration. When I handed the cop the registration after being stopped the CANCELED FL license was right there in fron of him- unbenkwnst to me!
That is nuts. Glad to see that you have a lawyer. You should sue that dealership.
What was the purpose of Toyota doing this? Have you talked to them? I am trying to understand WTH they did that. Were they up to illegal stuff at the time? Has anyone questioned them? When signing paperwork at dealership they want the paperwork in perfect order signed in blood:) Wouldnt all of your paperwork have had the wrong info on it then? Didnt you notice that your yearly registration (if you have that in NY or FL) was wrong? How do you purchase a car with an expired license? I know you had a valid one in NY but you said they used the invalid FL license. Did you pay cash (dont expect you to answer this)? If you didnt why didnt the bank question this? How did any of the paperwork go through with an expired license? You cant even buy a pack of cigarettes with an expired license among many other simple things. People, places, companies will not take an expired license for ID. This all makes no sense. What am I missing?
No "purpose", It was a mistake by Toyota. At least I can't imagine or I cannot prove a purpose.
Of course I am on it. Civil lawyer said my best bet is small claims which at least would help to pay for some of my expenses
caused by this mess. Look as I mentioned I did not recognize the OLD FL License number on my application or on my registration.
I hadn't used that number in over 10 years. Print next to it was small so I didn't even realize it said DL next to it. It could have happened to anyone. I was happy to get the car and get to work. I took a chance by buying a car after renting from Lyft and other expensive temp cars. I was actually making it work. I made near 4k in a month an a half.(seriously busting my butt providing extremely good service to people) No I did not pay cash. Down payment and finance. No one caught this except the cop when he stopped me. My lawyer says it will probably be thrown out of court since I did get the license switc…
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No "purpose", It was a mistake by Toyota. At least I can't imagine or I cannot prove a purpose.
Of course I am on it. Civil lawyer said my best bet is small claims which at least would help to pay for some of my expenses
caused by this mess. Look as I mentioned I did not recognize the OLD FL License number on my application or on my registration.
I hadn't used that number in over 10 years. Print next to it was small so I didn't even realize it said DL next to it. It could have happened to anyone. I was happy to get the car and get to work. I took a chance by buying a car after renting from Lyft and other expensive temp cars. I was actually making it work. I made near 4k in a month an a half.(seriously busting my butt providing extremely good service to people) No I did not pay cash. Down payment and finance. No one caught this except the cop when he stopped me. My lawyer says it will probably be thrown out of court since I did get the license switched 20 days after the arrest from NY to Florida so that old canceled number/DL is actually now valid. It is just taking as long as it will take.
Of course I am NOT allowed to work while this is in "pending" mode (LYFT has temprarily suspended me!!!)
It is ok Im doing other work. But I would like to be at least partially compensated. This was a dumb error on the dealer's part and after working 55 hour week it pretty much ruined my night and all of December. The tension was horrible too. I will for sure be reading contracts fully and searching for mistakes like this in the future. I really can't believe I did not catch this from the git.....
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