Legal to tow your vehicle when there is no sighn???

[gf2020]

How did the police department get your cell phone number?

[cheferson]

my registration??

[cheferson]

SO tonight was my trial for the parking in a tow zone ticket.They had me talk to the prosecutor first. I told him i shouldn't have been towed, he said i was illegally parked in 12 min Post office parking. I said ,nope i wasn't because there was no sign and i had pictures. He said they had pictures too. He offered to drop it to just $35 court fees, i said nope , i want a trial. Prosecutor talked to a few more defendants, then want to stairwell to talk to the police captain. He came out and called me in. They showed me their pictures that also showed no 12 min sign, heh. Then they tried to say i was still parked illegally because it was 2 hour parking. I said nope, i have my time card right here. That said i punched in at 2:07 and was a 100 ft walk from where i parked. They said it was still over 2 hours . I told them it wasn't because the 2 hr parking times were 9-4 and that i parked there qt 2:05. Then they tried to say that my truck was endangering the public and they could tow it any way. I told them of the town ordinance that said an officer could tow an ILLEGALLY parked car if it endanged the public, and that my car was legally parked. They said go sit down. I heard the prosecutor asking the captain what he wanted to do as the door shut. A minute later the proscutor came out looking pissed saying DISMISSED !!! Never even made it to the judge, because they had no case!! HAh hah !! No onto small claims to get my $125 tow fee back.

[cheferson]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and support. Especially to Toonoc (Bill L ) for finding the link to narragansett town ordinances!!!

[Nebe]

Way to go Chef!!

[UserRemoved1]

I applaud you Chef! STICK IT TO THE MAN! WAY TO GO!

Originally Posted by Nebe

Way to go Chef!!

[Bill L]

Excellent Chef, thats the way to stick to your guns! Hope you get the tow fee back too

[fishaholic18]

Good for you Chef...Don't take NO for an answer attitude...Nice...

[Raven]

i'm proud of ya.. good job!

[spence]

Nice work, that must feel good.

But I'd just let the tow drop and get on with your life. It's not worth the time, nor do I think it would be easy to get back. If I'm way off on this someone please say so.

-spence

[PaulS]

Glad to hear that. I would have said that I wanted to talk to the judge and told him how the prosecuter repeatedly lied to you. I'd also write a letter to his supervisor.

[cheferson]

Originally Posted by spence

But I'd just let the tow drop and get on with your life. It's not worth the time, nor do I think it would be easy to get back. If I'm way off on this someone please say so.

-spence

Why would i let the $125 go?? I did nothing wrong! Maybe after this they will post signs up when they want to close the road.
I'm gonna ask my lawyer for advice on it. Should be cut and dry. I was legally parked. They can only tow a car that is endangering the public ( road race) if its parked illegally. Ive wasted 4 hours of my time at court, and all the aggro the night i was towed. I want my $125. The dismissal of the parking in a tow zone should be more then enough in small claims.

[spence]

But the city didn't fine you the 125, that was the fee charged by a company contracted to tow the vehicle. Seriously, you may just be wasting your time.

-spence

[cheferson]

I'm not gonna go after the contracted tow operator, the town should pay. The town had my truck that was legally parked, towed illegally on the town polices orders. The town is liable , no?? A lot of towns citys have laws that if your towed , you can request a hearing within 24-48 hours of the tow. Im gonna look into it. No fish and only 4 work days, i have plenty of time. An extra $125 + would go a long way for me.

[spence]

I'll be surprised if you get it, but more power to ya if you do

The problem is, for the town to pay you the $125 they'll have to take it out of a budget. This is a lot different than writing off a ticket that isn't real money until it's collected.

-spence

[FishermanTim]

Heck, if you don't mind wasting the time, you could go after the towing charge as well as "pain and suffering", or just "inconvenience".
I would also check on the possibility of going after "treble damages"
(not hook-related) but you'll probably just get back your towing cost. Then it will be a matter of WHEN you would receive the payment.

[fishaholic18]

Go gettem Chef....I admire people who go thru all the BS to fight for their rights...More of us need to stop just letting sh!t go...

[OLD GOAT]

When your wrong your wrong, BUT when your right your RIGHT. Go for the tow.Have your lawyer contact the police station for the tow money. When they come up with a story,have him askfor the certificate of insurance on file. If they don,t have one ,ASK WHY then insist on the tow money.

[Swimmer]

Chef,
Find out who the claims person is for the municipality. Go to him first and show him the dismissed ticket and ask for the money. They may cut you a check. Most cities have a checkbook for claims like this and for potholes damage to cars and such. Way to go though. If he doesn't want to do that go to the newspapers and embarass them some more. Never would have happened where I work.. It is a shame that captain thinks he could tow your car like that. The arrogance he showed just coming to your ticket hearing to push for a guilty finding is incredible. It is beyond the pale as some might say. File a formal complaint with the chief and the city council. He should be slapped.

[cheferson]

Swimmer the kicker is the captain even had the balls to say i called him a f---ing as-hole!! I told him no , after you gave me 3 bs reasons why i was towed and i explained why they weren't true then you told me lesson learned , I then said that was BULL SH_T!!! After all that they still were trying to tell me they could tow my car. I told them my car was illegally towed. The town ordinance states that an ILLEGALLY parked car can be towed if it endangers the public! I was 100% legally parked. Then to top it all off the prosecutor is trying to tell me how they had problems with parking and the owner of the building my corporation leases. I was like wtf??? That has absolutley nothing to do with me or my truck. I also told them how when newport has events/parades, they post no parking sighns 24+ hrs in advance. His responce, Well this aint newport, i said no %$%$%$%$!! lesson learned

[UserRemoved1]

I think Swimmer is right, I think if you approached your local paper with this they would have a FIELD day with your story Chef. I'd do it if nothing more than to slap the slimey capt who thinks he's God. I bet they'd be running down the street to catch up to you waving a check too...

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by cheferson

Then to top it all off the prosecutor is trying to tell me how they had problems with parking and the owner of the building my corporation leases.

I TOLD YOU SO!!!! Gansett is a very corrupt town.

Screw em and go for the jugular.

[spence]

Originally Posted by #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&

I think Swimmer is right, I think if you approached your local paper with this they would have a FIELD day with your story Chef. I'd do it if nothing more than to slap the slimey capt who thinks he's God. I bet they'd be running down the street to catch up to you waving a check too...

A field day? Wow, talk about a small town scandal

-spence

[cheferson]

[Swimmer]

Why don't you go to court and try to swear out a criminal complaint for larceny of a motor vehicle against the captain?