West Seattle Blog...

WSB Forum » West Seattle Rants & Raves

(22 posts)

RANT - Hooptie old cop cars

Started 3 years ago by bangles
Latest reply from bangles

bangles
Member Profile

Someone in WS owns at least 7 old cop cars (Chevy Impala, Caprice, Crown Vic) - most still with search light on the driver's side and clubs on the steering wheel. They look awful and are frequently parked around California and Bartlet. We almost didn't buy our house because the streets nearby were lined with ones filled with junk. Is it legal to have a ton of cars that you never park on your own property? Any way to get this person to move their vehicles permanently?

Posted 3 years ago #
sohonyusa
Member Profile

Bangles,
Good luck in trying to get these cars removed. This guy has been parking his junk cars around for years and it seems his "collection" just keeps growing. I lived on 42nd and Bradford for a while and at least three of his cars were parked in front of our house "permanently". I got so fed up one day I walked around the neighborhood and wrote every license plate number, color and make of these cars down and called the abandoned car hotline every day for months. The result, the city would tag the cars, the owner would remove the tags, and nothing was to come of it. This was my daily ritual for a year and a half until we moved from the area. The city seems to really not care and the owner seems to care even less. Maybe if everyone in the neighborhood reported this guy the city would finally do something. Here is the link to report the cars. http://www.seattle.gov/police/forms/Abandoned_Vehicles.htm
Sorry you have to deal with this and I hope who ever does own these cars will eventually get a clue and stop using the street as a storage facility.

Posted 3 years ago #
What The
Member Profile

I hear ya Bangles....I see these cars parked all the time in the neighborhood. Pretty sure it's Ivaronalki that owns all of them...

Posted 3 years ago #
MrJT
Member Profile

This issue comes up about every other week ! Why don't we all just start blasting the City with complaints about it, Im sure if everyone that has complained here were to turn the list in on a daily basis, they MAY get the hint downtown. The first thing to figure out is who owns them, becuse they seem to have some "in" with parking enforcement... he has one parked as far East as 37th and Charlestown.

Posted 3 years ago #
mellaw6565
Member Profile

This is why I think "community based policing" in Seattle is a joke. In my hometown in Florida, each neighborhood is assigned an officer who deals with all types of complaints and even grumblings between neighbors. They patrol your streets regularly when people are around and stop to talk with you. They were invaluable to me when I had a neighbor who revved his loud motorcycles at all hours of the night with his biker buddies. And they would handle the removal of cars such as this and coordinate it with the City.

I know I'm going to hear about how resource/$$ poor our police system is, but if they really want "community" based policing they need to handle these types of things that cause bigger problems between neighbors later on. IMO.

Posted 3 years ago #
MrJT
Member Profile

How about instead of wasting our time with the parking enforcement website, we just show up at the SW Precinct and pester them until something is done about it ? I bet if several of us showed up at different times it would get some attention. Who else is willing to make a trip over there ?

Posted 3 years ago #
HunterG
Member Profile

I wish you good luck bangles. I think everyone who lives in West Seattle knows exactly the cars in question, and I understand your frustration.

Is there a psychological mental condition relating to "collecting things"? This guys may have a mental condition (in all seriousness).

Posted 3 years ago #
angelescrest
Member Profile

Down here on 64th, there are three cars that haven't budged for a long time: two--with flat tires--for months; the other, the guy moves it around the neighborhood until...? They are eyesores all, but the silver lining is it makes speeding a real challenge. What is the psychology behind it? Too much of a hassle to deal with these schlumpy-looking dinosaurs? Let them rot?

Posted 3 years ago #
Traci
Member Profile

I share your frustrations with another car owner next to me. Good luck!!

Posted 3 years ago #
Cait
Member Profile

Amen to all the above posts! I complain about this EVERY TIME I go to the Charlestown. They should complain too because their lot is small and those cars take up a LOT of the available on street parking. I encourage everyone to complain. I'm going to be mad when I get a glimpse of one of those things on my way to vote at Tibbetts on Tuesday.

Posted 3 years ago #
ellenater
Member Profile

How illegal is it to move the cars? I mean really, what are they going to do to you? You're not stealing them. We did this once in Ashland and it worked! The guy moved the cars off our block.

Posted 3 years ago #
Jeannie
Member Profile

Aha, Bangles! Based on your complaint, I see where your hostility toward selling cars on Admiral originates. These are two totally different issues.

Posted 3 years ago #
WSB
Member Profile

if someone would like to talk with me on the record about these (I have seen this complaint before but have not had a formal e-mail communication from anyone about it to my recollection) I would be interested in doing a story. gonna have to be after Election Day though. home page would get some traction.
editor@westseattleblog.com

Posted 3 years ago #
What The
Member Profile

I drove past 4 of the cars in question tonight. These aren't "Patches Pals" friends...

Posted 3 years ago #
What The
Member Profile

Mellaw6565...did they give concealed weapons permits in Florida for these "officers" to patrol the neighborhoods?

Posted 3 years ago #
mellaw6565
Member Profile

WT? Huh? Why would police officers have to carry concealed weapons permits? You must have misunderstood my post.

Posted 3 years ago #
smikes
Member Profile

I've had my own ongoing battle with a so-called neighbor who has wanted to store one of his cars in front of my house. I've made numerous calls to parking authority. They tag, he moves for a day or two, then he returns the car to my curb, then the cycle starts all over again. Less than a year ago, I think it was, KING5(?) did a report about 'car ranchers' around the city. When the city changed the rules to 72 hour (instead of 24hr) parking a number of years ago, some of these self-serving cretins just move the cars around or wait for the orange tags. One of Seattle's parking people even had the audacity to say on camera "we don't want to tow anyone". This whole parking enforcement is a farce. I finally found a SW seattle patrol officer who would talk to me at length about my problem with my so-called neighbor. The officer admitted she has the same problem and that the people causing it know that nothing substantial will come of it. She was frustrated as well, and understood my frustration. It's a real treat to have parking rules/laws on the books that aren't/can't-be enforced. I consider these actions maliscious and there should be recourse for these types of actions. Used to be, in a good community, you didn't inconvenience your neighbor. In Seattle, it seems to be inconvenience others, before inconveniencing yourself.

Posted 3 years ago #
bangles
Member Profile

The bummer is that this hurts all our property values at a time when we need to fight to keep them strong. This person clearly has an "in" with the city - heck, they've been buying hoopties from them since at least the 70's:-). WSB - happy to talk with you after the elections. Please let me know what you need from me and other posters on this thread. It'd be awesome to get this on the homepage and hopefully get some traction.

Posted 3 years ago #
WSratsinacage
Member Profile

As some of know I have complained about this here too. I've called the city and filed the online forms.. Maybe we should all blast the city with the online form as JT suggessts? I can't think of a better idea.

It is a real problem but I don't want the solution to be pushing the cars a few blocks away so that someone else has top deal with it. I don't know what the solution is but I and many others didn't spend 500k - 750k for a house to have to deal with this. I would expect to find abandoned vehicles in some depressed inner city. I think the reason we are all so upset about this issue is that we don't want that for our fair city. It's esier to turn a blind eye than to care. Thanks for caring. "Nothing worthwhile comes easy."

Posted 3 years ago #
Cait
Member Profile

I'm surprised this guy hasn't experienced any vandalism! I leave my car on my street for 12 hours and it gets stolen. This guy has em out for weeks and nothing?!

Posted 3 years ago #
thee
Member Profile

"Hooptie old cop cars"

Wow. This is the best topic title in the history of thee WSB forum. Poetry.

Hearty congrats,

thee
decides such things...

Posted 3 years ago #
bangles
Member Profile

Thee, thanks for the compliment. Let's just say I was inspired!

Posted 3 years ago #