The strangest thing that has ever happened to me....

[AlliMo]

I had to share this because I do believe it is one of the weirdest things that I have ever heard. Sorry if this is long but I am hoping someone can shed some light on this.
I live in a city and have a car that I park in a "parking permit area" It's about a 7 block area that I am allowed to park my car in for endless ammounts of time for a yearly fee. I usually use my car about once a week since I work in the city as well.
I parked my car in a typical spot about a week and half ago. There were no signs posted anywhere regarding construction or temporary no stopping. I went to use my car yesterday only to find out that it was gone.
I searched the area for awhile with no luck. I ended up called the parking authority to see if the car had been towed. There is no record of it being towed however, she told me that I have about 4 parking tickets within the last week. I asked her when and where they were issued for so that I could maybe locate my car. They were all in the last week or so for a location way out of my area. I pretty much ran to this exact location and found my car parked right there. It had no signs of being broken into...no damage, nothing was missing or altered. But it was parked pretty far away in a not so great area. I was issued multiple tickets for this because it was simply parked at a meter on the street.
So...I am obviously going to fight these tickets (they apparently total around $400!) My question is...does anyone know how this could have happened??? Does anyone have any ideas to help prove that I did not move my car??? I know this is a tough one but if anyone has had a similar experience...I welcome any advice. Thank you for letting me share.

[BrerGnat]

Well, I'd start with the police dept. Someone obviously stole your car, took it for a drive, and re-parked it, perhaps thinking that is where it was when they got it (they probably forgot where it was originally).

Police can make an official report, perhaps dust for fingerprints or other evidence. Your car could have been left unlocked by accident (not blaming you, just saying) and someone could have hotwired it to start it up. Without a report, I'm afraid you'd have nothing to contest the tickets.

[AlliMo]

thanks for the advice. I thought about going to the police dept. but I thought maybe it wasn't serious enough to file a report. But now that you say that, that's what I am going to do tomorrow. I just walk into the police dept and file a report? Just like that? (i've luckily never been to the police dept.)

[crazypoohbear]

thanks for the advice. I thought about going to the police dept. but I thought maybe it wasn't serious enough to file a report. But now that you say that, that's what I am going to do tomorrow. I just walk into the police dept and file a report? Just like that? (i've luckily never been to the police dept.)

You should call the police right now!
You do not know if your car was used in the commission of a crime and that could come back to bite you in the behind.

call them now, tell them about the conversation you had with the parking authority, (did you get the woman's name?)
This could be just the beginning of a very long and painful nightmare. Call the police now so you have it on record before going down there. Better yet, have them come to you.
Please do not wait.

[meldan98]

First off, all I have to say is That is indeed one of the funniest, and oddest things I've ever heard.

2nd, do you have any friends that would play a sick, but rather humerous joke on you?

If not, then I agree with the pp's that you should contact the police immediately. You may also want to check with the businesses in the area to see if they have any surveilance tape of your car.

Best of luck to in fighting the tickets. You are probably going to need it.

[2Epcot]

I agree with doing a police report. I remember many years ago my dad had a car and one of his friends has a similar car and the keys were exactly the same. I know if things like that happen anymore now that most people have remotes and keyless entries to their cars. Probably a long shot, more likely it was stolen, but your story made me think of that.

[tinkerbellybutton]

How odd... I also agree with reporting it ASAP. Thank Goodness nothing was missing or damaged. Now let's just hope you can get those tickets taken care of (I think the idea of asking businesses about security cameras is wonderful, I never would have thought of that ) Here's some Bye-Bye parking ticket pixie dust and a little extra magic to find out what happened.

[AlliMo]

I just wanted to say thank you for all the great advice. I went to the police department today (because of all your suggestions) and explained what happened with my car. The lady told me that a random towing company has been moving cars to alternate locations the last two weeks. There was construction going on on the street where I was originally parked. She made a copy of the list of vehicles that were moved (mine was on there) from the towing company. She said that I will not be responsible for any of the tickets if I show them this paper. I was sooooo relieved to find out what had actually happened and that there were others that were in the same situation. Thank you all again for your help!

[WDWFanatic]

So glad you were able to figure it out and won't have to pay the tickets.

[pink]

That was wierd- I'm glad that you figured it out.

[rnin02]

How weird! But glad you got it figured out. That would definitely qualify as "the strangest thing that has ever happened to me" too. Fortunately I don't live in a big city, so I don't see it happening to me!

[KineGirl]

wow.. even the explanation is wierd. So the towing company was moving cars due to construction and not even leaving a note or anything?? Seems like there would be a posted sign or something to let you know that during this construction cars will be towed to an alternate ticket prone space or SOMETHING! Were they towing the cars back as well? Car-azy!! Glad everything is ok though and you wont be held responsible.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

This was a weird one! I'm glad everything turned out ok for you.