LAPD Stole My Car Today, Held It For Ransom - What Are My Lawsuit Options?

[Lothario]

My car was parked curbside at work today. I moved to Los Angeles from Texas a year or two ago. I never registered my car in California. A motorcycle policeman saw my car today with expired Texas tags, and had it towed away without my knowledge, and held until I provided proof of registration. The tow site was 1 block from where I was parked, and it took me three hours of walking back and forth between LAPD, DMV, and tow site to get the necessary paperwork. The tow company charged me a $110 towing fee (to transport it 1 block without my consent), a $34 storage fee for 3 hours of storage (without my consent), and a $115 "City of Los Angeles Vehicle Release Fee," simply for the act of releasing my property back to me. The grand total came to $262.90.

Needless to say, this whole debacle is an express violation of my rights. I don't know where to look in the law books to determine where/how the LAPD has a legal right to steal personal property in this manner, and for a totally victimless crime, for the sole purpose of revenue generation.

Any ideas?

 

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

nt

 

[Lothario]

Or they stole it... then you registered it because you were coerced to in order to get it back?

It was never registered in California - it was theft. I was forced to pay $270 at the DMV for a temporary registration to show the LAPD in order to pay them $115 for an LAPD release form that authorizes the tow yard to give my car back...

 

[MelissaWV]

Right, but your tags were expired, which gives them cause to tow you at that point.

The tag and registration and licensure merry-go-round was adhered to by the police.

 

[Lothario]

but where in the law books are they allowed to engage in legalized theft, as opposed to paper ticketing?

 

[speciallyblend]

but where in the law books are they allowed to engage in legalized theft, as opposed to paper ticketing?

did you ask them?

 

[CaliforniaMom]

Once my maid's car was towed from in front of my house, even though she was only there for 1 hour. Same thing happened to my grandma's car when she came to visit. Same thing happened to my sister too. Each tow was around $180. It wasn't the cops though, just an awful home owner's association.
I don't think there's anyway to be reimbursed when someone tows you. It sucks.

 

[Lothario]

did you ask them?

No...their service was so terrible and I had been waiting so long, I decided to just get out as quickly as possible.

 

[Indy Vidual]

Your winning Lawsuit would be a major breakthrough for freedom, I don't know how to help you...

 

[liberalrepublican]

I was in Los Angeles until this evening and in the morning I witnessed someone park on a red painted curb, walk into a store, get ticketed by a traffic officer, and return to their car fuming all in 3 minutes as I walked up the block. Haha.

 

[swiftfoxmark2]

First of all, don't bother with the lawsuit. I know I may sound cynical, but the State will demand a pound of flesh from you if you do. In a cash-strapped state like California, you have little chance of winning because the government there wants your money.

Consider yourself lucky. I got my car towed once by a homeowner's association Nazi. When I went to the lot to get it back, my front passenger-side window was completely broken. Sure my insurance company was able to cover the damage, but I had to file a police report (one of the few examples of a decent cop in my opinion) and the insurance company had to spend resources to go after the morons. The funny thing is, when I started walking toward my car, all the tow trucks there mysteriously left immediately.