Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/14/1477.asp

12/3/2006

UK: Police Charge Motorist for Illegally Seized Car
West Yorkshire, UK police seized the car belonging to an innocent man then attempted to charge him $200 for its return.

West Yorkshire, UK Police seized the Vauxhall Astra belonging to an innocent man at 1:30am on November 24 and then attempted to charge the owner £105 (US $205) to get his own car back. Police claim that they towed the vehicle because it was parked near a house that had been burgled. The car's owner, Andrew Thwaites, 22, was across the street at the time. He had done nothing wrong.

"My first thought was 'Somebody's stealing my blooming car,'" Thwaites told the Bradford Telegraph and Argus newspaper. "The lights were on in the house, so you would have thought the police would have come over and asked some questions before towing away a car."

Police computer records incorrectly showed Thwaites' car -- purchased just three days earlier -- as unregistered. After putting Thwaites through what he called "a big inconvenience," police dropped their demand for cash and returned his Vauxhall.

Source: Police Took Car In Error And Asked Me To Pay (Bradford Telegraph and Argus (UK), 11/28/2006)

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