Sex Offender Cabbie Drives Again!

[XLFD]

Back on October 24, 2018, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) issued an announcement stating they "issued a cease and desist order against Town & Country Taxicab and Delivery Service LLC, in Ludington for operating as a taxicab carrier without having registered with LARA, as required under Michigan’s Limousine, Taxicab, and Transportation Network Company Act; and from allowing an individual who is listed on the national sex offender registry database to operate a taxicab, contrary to the Act. The order is effective immediately. LARA has also made a criminal referral to appropriate law enforcement authorities."

The individual operator that was a registered sex offender (RSO) happened to be the owner of the taxi service, Tom Teague, as noted in the Mason County Press the next day.  State law, specifically MCL 257.2107, subsection 2(c) says "a taxicab carrier shall not allow an individual to operate a taxicab  if the individual is listed on the national sex offender registry database."   Teague was effectively doing two things wrong by operating a taxicab himself, and allowing himself to do that act.  The latter is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 per violation or imprisonment for not more than 90 days or both.

Teague's conviction in California of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old back in 1989, makes him a lifetime member of the RSO club, even after his move to Michigan.  It is not clear whether Mr. Teague suffered fines or other discipline for his October 2018 violation, but what is clear is that whatever happened, he was able to get his 2019 LARA registration a few months later.

He made it through that year without problems, and one year later he registered once again as business owner (2020 LARA).  One has to believe that he was given the go-ahead from the state and law enforcement by agreeing that he would not be an operator of a taxicab for his business, just an owner or owner/dispatcher.  

Besides being registered, he advertises in the yellow pages, in the newspaper, and on-line, these have been updated since his problems in 2018.  Being caught and highlighted in local and TV news in 2018 would make one think that he may have learned a lesson, but that doesn't appear to be the case as he is out and about being a taxicab driver, here he is waiting by his vehicle in Wal-Mart's parking lot after dropping off a customer. 

And while one could say that he has served his time and hasn't had any known recidivism since 1989, one could also say that he should know better than to operate a taxicab for his own taxicab service after he has already been caught and disciplined-- which was probably little more than a slap on his wrist that first time.

If Mr. Teague runs his service so brazenly so as to defy laws that he was caught red-handed less than two years ago, one wonders what he might do in privacy, given his history.

I have learned that other individuals have reported Mr. Teague's infractions to various law enforcement organizations serving the area.  Reportedly, they are not interested in deterring Teague from breaking the law until and unless they do a traffic stop on him for violating some other state law.  

It's rather unfortunate that police and LARA cannot take a more proactive stance, since there are multiple times every year that taxicabs are dispatched to pick up unaccompanied minors, some less than 14 years old.  Most people around our town and county might not understand that there is a taxicab service in the area with not only a registered sex offender as a driver, but also as the owner, who has been convicted of doing bad things with such children.  An offender that shows his disrespect for the law and law enforcement by continuing to be a cabbie when he knows darn well that it is not lawful.  

[Lake Dude]

Is it just me, or does it seem like crime is on the rise in our fair town? Perusing the police blotter in the LDN suggests there is a revolving door separating the county prosecutor, the judge of the 79th district court, and our neighborhood streets. I read of third and fourth offenses routinely. Given this as a backdrop, it hardly seems surprising that a registered sex offender would be treated to a blind eye by law enforcement. The current political state of affairs must be extremely demotivating for many in law enforcement. The tragedy is that it will be the members of the silent majority who will all too often be the ones to suffer. Looking at the data, crime had generally been trending down between 2005 and 2018 (http://www.city-data.com/city/Ludington-Michigan.html). Anecdotally, it does feel like it's creeping back up over the past two years.  One thing for sure, in the context of this discussion about sex offenders, Ludington sure does have a lot of them -- roughly 3x the state percapita average. In Ludington, for every 93 residents, there is a RSO compared to the statewide average of one per 300. Perhaps Mr. Teague operates his livery service here because he knows that, from an RSO perspective, this seems to be a lax and welcoming legal community. Tragic if you ask me.

  -- LD 

[Freedom Seeker]

Good question, Lake Dude. It seems like the crime rate is increasing hometown, and it seems to me that a lot of it is from transients or recent transplants from larger cities. It just seems like we don't have enough quality jobs to provide a decent quality of living and keep idle hands busy. The drug problem isn't getting any better anywhere in the nation. Seems like same problems breed nationwide where there are not enough quality jobs.