Price Of Cigarettes By State 2011

I parked in a handicapped spot at my local shopping center....?
My placard is broken and will not hang on the mirror any longer so I placed it on the dash. After I returned from the store a few minutes later, my vehicle was already on a tow hook. The tow driver said security called them because I was parked illegally. I showed both the tow truck driver and security that I do have a valid and unexpired handicapped permit however, he stated since he was already hooked to my car, I only had two only options at that point. The options were to either pay for the price of the tow, which was $139 and have him release it there or If I was not able to come up with the CASH and only cash within the next 10 minutes, he would tow it to the impound lot and I would not only have to pay the $139, but in addition would need to pay whatever fees associated with having it in the impound lot as well.. This was Dec 20th 2011, and I was just about broke from all my xmas shopping. Thankfully I was able to find enough cash to avoid it getting towed to the impound lot. I felt like I was getting shook down.. After the tow dropped my car and they both left, the lady which was parked next to pulled me to the side and told me something that boiled my blood even more.. She said, she had seen me park my car and start making my way to the store. As I was walking away she noticed the security guard start walking towards my car simultaneously but, suddenly stopped at the same time when I turned around and head back to my car because I forgot my wallet. When I continued going back to the store, the guard then again continued to approach my car to see if I had a permit. It's almost as if he wanted to make sure I was not around to move my car if I had no permit so it would get towed with no interference. A GUARANTEED TOW! It makes it look like the guard and the tow truck driver had an arrangement. I think the guard was getting kickbacks for throwing business towards the tow truck driver. Furthermore, I was gone less than 5 minutes. I only went to get cigarettes. There is NO WAY they could have gotten there that fast unless they were looking for cars to tow and the tow was laying in wait, because the tow was on scene, backed up and hooked up to my vehicle in less than 5 minutes.. One more thing, The tow truck driver slim jimmed my drivers side front door. It was wide open when I walked up on the scene.. Why in the world would he have needed to open my door?? Secondly, since he had my door open, it was impossible for him not to see the placard, however he continued to hook my car up.. Also, he had the hook attached to the front of my car. My car is a front wheel drive vehicle. If he would have started to tow my car with the azz end up, he would have done some major damage to my front end.. I'm not sure exactly what damage he would have done (I'm not a mechanic) but nothing good would have come out of it. Afterwards, I called NYS DOT about this and the damaged placard. They said they can't do anything about the tow truck fines and I still have not received a new placard I still continue placing it on my dash in fear of this happening again. I am sorry for the long post but, there were a lot of details I felt I had to share (or vent, lol) so you will see the full picture of what happened to me. If this happens again, What should I do??
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Few things, you were supposed to properly identify your handicap sticker by hanging it from the mirror. You know that im sure, Putting on the dash was a good alternative since its busted, but it's still technically illegal.



Secondly, You should have just called the police. usually in a case like this where you have the tag sitting on the dash and the security guard and tow truck driver could not have missed it, they would tell the tow truck driver to let your car loose. In which case the store you were at would be responsible for paying the tow truck driver, not you.



finally, i'd highly recommend writing manager of this shopping center and let him know that you're looking into pursuing a civil dispute. Security guards arent exactly the smartest and and most talented people (thats why they are security guards) and he made a bad decision by calling a tow truck.



There is a chance the manager will refund your 139 dollars. There is also a VERY good chance no matter what happens that this security guard is going to have a nice little talk with his boss. Managers dont like getting these kind of letters and emails.



If he disagrees, take em to court and sue em man. You'll win.









Also to answer your question about why he had to slim jim your lock. You risk damaging a vehicle when you pull it in the "park" gear. And he'd be liable for those damages. He needed to open your vehicle and place it in neutral so he didnt damage your car.



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