Melissa McQuade, 25, had her car booted by Huntington, West Virginia parking board officials on Thursday at 4:23 pm. As a direct result of the booting, thieves were able to break into the 2004 Mazda and make off with McQuade's belongings. In the morning, meter maids placed additional parking tickets on the vandalized car.

McQuade saw that her car was booted as she was about to leave downtown for her night job at Amazon.com. It was past 5pm, and the parking office had closed for the day, leaving her no means of retrieving the use of car. She had her mother drive nearly 100 miles to pick her up from work at 2am. When they went to check on her car, they found the Mazda's rear side window shattered and school books stolen. Worse, at 9:08am meter maids put another parking ticket on her car claiming the parking meter must be fed until the boot is removed.

"I don't think it's fair," McQuade told the Herald-Dispatch newspaper. "I understand it's my fault that I had the unpaid tickets, but if I could have moved the car last night, none of this would have happened."

McQuade was forced to pay $180 in parking tickets and other fees, plus the cost of new books, a book bag, and a new window for her automobile.