HANDICAPPED PARKING AFTER HOURS

I WORK NIGHT SHIFT @ AN ARIZONA HOSPITAL. MY SHIFT STARTS @ 11PM & THE ENTRANCE I GO IN & PARK IN IS ONLY ACCESIBLE BY EMPLOYEES VIA BADGE. THE ER IS THE ONLY ENTRANCE OPEN DURING 8PM-4.30AM. SOMETIMES WHEN I ARRIVE TO WORK THE PARKING LOT IS FULL & THE ONLY SPACE AVAILABLE IS HANDICAPPED (THERE ARE ABOUT 10 HANDICAPPED SPACES) THEY ARE USUALL ALL EMPTY BECAUSE THE ENTRANCE IS LOCKED(LARGE SIGN TELLING PATIENTS TO PARK & USE ER ENTRANCE)ON MY BREAK AROUND 1AM THE PARKING LOT IS EMPTY & I MOVE MY VEHICLE TO A REGULAR SPACE. I HAVE WORKED THEIR ABOUT 7YRS & PARKED IN THE SAME LOT WITH NO PROBLEMS. NEW YEARS EVE I HAD TO PARK IN HANDICAPPED I WENT OUT AROUND 1AM TO MOVE VEHICLE & I HAD A PARKING TICKET ON MY WINDOW. IF A PLACE OF BUSINESS IS CLOSED CAN A TICKET BE VALID?? THERE ARE MANY HANDICAPPED SPACES LOCATED BY THE ER. BECAUSE OF THE NIGHT HOURS THIS IS THE SAFEST LOT FOR ME TO PARK IN. MOST OF THE CARS IN THE LOT ARE GONE BY MIDNIGHT. I THINK THIS WAS A REALLY ROTTEN THING FOR THE COP TO DO. THE POLICE PARK IN THE LOT BECAUSE THEY ARE GETTING FOOD IN OUR CAFETERIA(WHICH GIVES THEM A DISCOUNT). PLEASE ADVISE. THANK YOU

Feel free to explain your story to the person hearing your case. He might be sympathetic and let you go....it is worth a try. However, a posted handicap spot is a posted handicap spot....whether it is in the middle of the desert, 50 miles from any civilization, at 12 midnight, right after a nuclear bomb wiped out the state.....you still need to have a handicap permit/tags to park there.