Car stolen from Maryland racks up $2,000 in fees at DC impound lot

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Washington DC
Car stolen from Maryland racks up $2,000 in fees at DC impound lot
"Nobody called me." A man's car was stolen from Seat Pleasant and found days later in D.C. But he says no one told him and he racked up $2,040 in impound lot fees. The cost grows by the day, and he's still without his car

Published February 26, 2025 • Updated 4 hours ago

A Maryland man’s stolen car has been accruing $20 per day in impound fees for months after it was recovered in D.C., but the owner said no one ever contacted him to tell him it had been found. News4’s Mark Segraves reports. ... A Maryland man’s stolen car has been accruing $20 per day in impound fees for months after it was recovered in D.C., but the owner said no one ever contacted him to tell him it had been found.

Andrew Passie had just paid off the car he uses to take his kids to school and get himself to work when it was stolen from outside his Seat Pleasant home Nov. 15. ... “Yeah, I saw him get in the car when I was running towards my car,” he said. “He was going, we were running away with the car. So, I called the police.”

Passie waited for months hoping his car would be found. Then in late January, he called Seat Pleasant police to see if there was any update, and to his delight, they told him D.C. police found his car and he could pick it up at an impound lot in Northeast. ... When he got there, he was told he would have to pay the storage fees. The car having been found Nov. 24, it had been at the lot for 97 days. At $20 per day in impound fees and the $100 tow fee, Passie owes $2,040 to get his car back.

But Passie said D.C. police never notified him they had the car. ... “I never received a letter; nobody called me,” he said. “I feel that the police were unfair to me and they delayed the time. You gotta go tell me in a week’s time. I would kind of pay for my car and carry it. But it was there for two to three months.”

{snip}

[rurallib]

1. I had a car stolen once back in the '60s

I found it parked in a street parking meter in front of the police station with two parking tickets on it.
The city forgave the tickets when I told them where it was

[intheflow]

2. The impoundment costs for towed vehicles that were stolen is a racket.

This just happened to my housemate last week. Someone stole her car and took it joyriding, banged it all up, then ditched it across town. Because it was the same city, she got a call within 24 hours after it was towed. It was in the impoundment lot for two days, and the ransom she was forced to pay was $230! Yes! Impoundment was $115 a day!! I can see charging people who did the wrong thing, like parking in front of a hydrant or whatever illegal thing got the car towed, but my housemate did nothing wrong and she had to fork over 1/3 of her weekly pay because why? The police should have a deal with the tow companies that people recovering stolen property only have to pay mileage to the tow companies.

[pansypoo53219]

3. but hey! tax cuts. fees make up the difference.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

4. unfair