Car Impounded After Driver's License Suspension Due to Court Error

[Ashley00]

My question involves a driver's license issued by the State of: Arkansas

I was pulled over in March driving a car that belongs to my father. Upon running my DL number, the police officer informed me that it was suspended. I had no knowledge of this, and was only told the county that the suspension came from. I was booked and transported to the county that the suspension originated from. The car, of course, was towed. I was, however, told that if I could get someone to pick up the car within 5 minutes, the cop would let it go. I could not find anyone, so it was impounded.

Nearly $1,000 later, I was released, and the next day, started making some phone calls. Driver Control informed me that it would cost $100 to reinstate my license, but that they would need a release from the court clerk in the county that it was supended by. At this point, I still was not aware of why it was suspended, so I called the court clerk. She told me it was due to a warrant for unpaid tickets, and that the warrant would have to be handled. At this point, I was not only confused, but irate. I called the police station, spoke to a detective, and was told there was no warrant for me. She offered to call the court clerk and get to the bottom of the issue, and call me back. I agreed.

A few minutes later, the detective called me back and said that the court had me confused with someone else with my name. The next day, I traveled 3 hours to that county and was given a release that says: Reason for Release: Error Correction, and written under the clerks signature are the words: License Suspended in Error Per Court. I still had to pay Driver Control, and my license is now back in the good standing it never should have veered from.

Now, the car is still impounded until I pay the massive storage fees plus all the other fees they charge ($150 to open the gate, $50 for gas to travel 2 miles?!). The thing is, though, I feel that I shouldn't be liable for them. I've spent a small fortune on this whole issue, and due to no car, I haven't been able to work. I'm only 22 years old, and pretty much live paycheck-to-paycheck. My parents are unable to assist me financially, so unless I can convince them to release the car, I will lose it. This would be bad enough, but it belongs to my father. Even though no direct payments are made on it, it's tied up in a consolidated loan package at his bank, who calls him every day basically threatening to sue him. I pled not guilty to the charge of Driving on a Supsended or Revoked License, but my trial is not until May 19th.

How do I proceed? Any help would be incredible!

[Mr. Knowitall]

The tow was by a private company under contract with the municipality? The storage as well?

Why didn't you recover the car immediately after you cleared up the error?

If in fact you have resolved your license suspension as resulting from a court error, why are you still scheduled for trial on the DWLS?

[Evan]

Hello,

I am replying to your request for help based on what you wrote. Please read the entire reply as I have (I believe) answered all your questions.

1) The police arrested you based on the status of your driver’s license. Revoked, suspended etc.

a. The police rely on Department of Motor Vehicles records to determine the status of a driver’s license. If the driver has no proof his license has been restored, they will charge the driver with operating with a suspended driver’s license.

2) You were unaware you had a suspended license.

a. Since the courts mixed your name up with the guilty person, you could not have know it was suspended because the court / D M V never notified you

3) Your car was towed because you could not find anyone to drive it

a. It was actually nice of the officers to allow you the chance to have someone come and get the car but otherwise, cars in these cases almost always get towed since the police do not want to be responsible for vandalism and or theft to your car if they leave it there.

4) You eventually found out the reason your license was suspended and cleared up the matter

a. You need to bring all such documentation to your court date. The reason you still have to go to court is that you were charged with a bondable offense and a mandatory court appearance. The court expects you to show up and answer the suspension charges against you. You also still have to answer to the original reason your were stopped in the first place.

5) You went to get your car from the towing business and learned the bill accumulated to an exorbitant amount of money.
a. I would venture to say that most states have Department of Motor Vehicle regulations that regulate how much a towing company can charge. For instance, in Connecticut, the initial tow charge is $88.00 and the first two miles are free. After that, the tow charge per mile is $4.75.

b. The towing company has to allow you to remove belongings from your vehicle even after it is towed.

c. The tow company (in Connecticut) can not charge extra fees like an “open gate” charge and gasoline charge. You should ask for a bill with the gate fee and the gasoline fee printed on the bill. Then go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and file a complaint. Watch how fast it gets resolved by the towing company.

d. You should also contact the local police department and document the problem. Sometimes the officer will be able to resolve the problem and get the fees back where they should be. you are STILL going to have to pay for the initial towing fees since your car, based on the information they had, was legally towed by the police.

e. You should also look into the state laws which may cover examples such as yours where your car was towed as a result of a government error. You might be entitled to a refund from the state.

Good luck

[DavidForthoffer]

3) Your car was towed because you could not find anyone to drive it

a. It was actually nice of the officers to allow you the chance to have someone come and get the car but otherwise, cars in these cases almost always get towed since the police do not want to be responsible for vandalism and or theft to your car if they leave it there.

It was actually not nice of the officer to allow 5 minutes to get someone to drive it away (probably).

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects "persons, houses, papers, and effects" from unreasonable seizures without a warrant. A car is an "effect" (movable personal property). The courts have recognized that "community caretaking" is a rationale that makes seizing vehicles "reasonable" and hence constitutional.

But police or local laws cannot simply announce the magic words "community caretaking" and tow the car away. The police must have a reasonable expectation that the vehicle will remain there long enough to become a nuisance or hazard to the community, or illegally parked.

If the vehicle was pulled over into a 2-hour parking space then not until after two hours have passed that the vehicle may constitutionally be towed.

In this case, unless his car was parked in an illegal spot, 5 minutes sounds waaaay to short to justify a constitutional towing.