The police stole my car
 

Not quite as exciting as it sounds, but I just learned the hard way that you are legally required to move your car every seven days if it's parked on a public street, or else risk having your car towed away without warning.

I parked my car on the street, across from my apartment building. It was parked in front of a house. There weren't any signs or markings or anything indicating that you can't park there. People park up and down that street all the time!

I hadn't been using my car in a couple of weeks, but it was legally registered, insured, and everything was up to date and on code. I always checked it nearly every day for tickets, too. I don't see what the problem was.

Then, one evening as my boyfriend and I were leaving, we noticed that it was gone. We thought it had been stolen. We called the police and they said that an officer had towed it teh evening prior (I guess I didn't notice that it wasn't there that morning as I left for work, still groggy I suppose) because he or she had assumed it had been abandoned.

Down at the police station the desk lady told me that the owner of the house in front of which I'd been parked had called the cops and said there was an abandoned vehicle in front of her house. So, apparently without investigation, the officer towed it. That's when she informed me about that 7-day parking rule. She even seemed surprised that I didn't get a ticket warning me than they would tow it, giving me a day or two to move it.

I had to pay for the release from the police station, and then to get it out of the towing place the next day. Altogether it was $150 dollars. And I couldn't contest it because the PD's only option for contesting these things is that you can contest a ticket within 12 hours of getting it. I didn't even get a ticket in the first place, I got no warning at all. And they weren't even going to send me notice that the car had been towed after the fact, either. How is that not stealing my car?

I was so peeved, mostly at the police officer, also kind of at the person who called the cops. I bet they had friends at the police station.

Re: The police stole my car
 

i find it incredibly rude to park your car in front of someone else's house

Re: The police stole my car
 

Wow, that sucks. Sorry. I've left my car in the same place on a street for four months before - just not needed to use it. I use my car about once a fortnight so I am glad we don't have that in the UK.

You should break $150's worth of stuff of the person who called the cops - self-karma

Re: The police stole my car
 

She said she lived in a apartment.

Re: The police stole my car
 

word to the terd. I totally agree.

Re: The police stole my car
 

firebomb your neighbor's house

Re: The police stole my car
 

I wasn't blocking the person's driveway or walkway or anything. Other people park in front of their house, just not for such long periods of time. Obviously they got tired of looking at my car. I think I should park it there again, and move it only every 7 days, about 5 feet, then move it back.

Re: The police stole my car
 

Yeah. I was out of work in Chicago for a month or two. I had to keep moving my car to different spots...I ended up making up reasons to drive places just so I could park somewhere slightly different.

Re: The police stole my car
 

I shove dog shit under the car door handle of people like you.

Re: The police stole my car
 

Well that's pretty rude I think.

Re: The police stole my car
 

what if THEY need to put THEIR car in front of THEIR house

Re: The police stole my car
 

You park your car in front of their house because you probably feel like it's in a safe place, a residential street where people are around and vandilism is less likely.
It's not parked in some dimly lit, desolate parking lot where it's likely to be stolen or fucked with.

Meanwhile, the person's home you're parked in front of now can't park their own car there and enjoy the benefit of having their car in a residential area.
You're forcing them to park in the dimly lit parking lot down the street.


Also, coming home with a car full of groceries and having to park down the street and lug the groceries down the block can be pretty annoying.



You really can't get much more self-centered.

Re: The police stole my car
 

^ :confused: Um:

If the street's not their private property and there's not a "no parking sign" I don't see the problem.

Re: The police stole my car
 

perhaps some sort of note would be more effective?

Re: The police stole my car
 

Duran Duran stole my bike

Re: The police stole my car
 

Which would get your attention more?

Re: The police stole my car
 

parking your car in front of one of your neighbor's houses is one of my pet peeves

I think it was understandable to call the police, but no warning and no research into the ownership of the car sucks.

Re: The police stole my car
 

they would both get my attention, but only the note would explain your grievance and it would be more likely to cause me to move my car

i mean, you make a very reasonable point about why parking in front of a person's house is a dickish thing to do, but all of those points are lost in translation when you choose to express it by smearing shit under the door handle.

like if you said "hey, do you mind not parking your car in front of my house, it forces me to park in a bad neighborhood" or something but the person just said "lol fuck you gaydick i'll park where i want" then alright yeah, do whatever you want, but immediately resorting to the dog poo, i dunno it doesn't seem like it would do anything

Re: The police stole my car
 

ha, holy shit, there's so many assumptions in this thread.

that sucks about your car, nuzz. you should smear poop on the people who called the police.


ah, I understand that having a car parked in front of your house is kinda weird if you're in the suburbs. I forgot what that was like because in the city everyone parks on the street in front of each other's houses. hardly anybody has a driveway. where I used to live, I didn't drive my car for months and it was parked on the street. my steering was fucked up and the car was an overall piece of shit, so I was going to donate it and have it towed, but I couldn't find my title and kept putting it off. one day, someone stole one of my tires. I noticed it, but I was on my way to work and couldn't do anything about it. when I got home, the car was gone. the city took it. it woulda cost like 700 bucks to get it back. so I just gave it to the city. I took the time to officially relinquish ownership, of course, which negated all the tickets I would've gotten. so everything turned out. (y)

Re: The police stole my car
 

Ha, awesome.

Nuzz, will you tow my heart please?

Re: The police stole my car
 

Agreed w/DW. Around here it's a free for all, you just park where you can find a spot. It's a matter of course that you may not be able to park in front of your house. In fact, in some neighborhoods if you find a spot within two blocks of your house you can count yourself lucky.

Also around here you can only park for 3 days at a time before you are vulnerable to being towed.

Re: The police stole my car
 

There is a very small parking lot for my apartment building and usually it's full. I thought I would do the nice thing for my apartment neighbors by not taking one of those spaces since I wasn't driving very often. As for the street, everyone who parks there has to park in front of someone's house. There's nowhere else to park, legally.

Be that as it may, I see where my supporters are and I've got you would-be condemners in my book.