Towing marathon catches hundreds of drivers off guard

By Andrew Ramos

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — A pre-Pride Parade towing marathon in Chicago caught hundreds of drivers off guard. It happened overnight Saturday, stretching along at least three neighborhoods on the North Side along the route for Sunday’s parade.

But many of the car owners say the city put up “no parking” signs without enough notice.

It wasn’t exactly a banner Sunday for more than 400 car owners who woke up to find their cars gone. They later learned they were impounded by the city. Many of them now want answers after they say signs were not only confusing but also were not posted in advance.

“My Sunday was completely taken by this,” said Daniel Hoffman.

The Wrigleyville man spent a good part of his Sunday at the city impound lot. He also spent $175 to get this car back after it was towed just before 5 a.m. off North Halsted.

“No one has told us anything,” he said. “There has been no explanation at all.”

According to him, there were no notices posted anywhere warning of being towed due to Sunday’s pride parade, which kicked off in the Uptown neighborhood and ended in Lincoln Park.

It turns out Hoffman was not alone.

“Like, they were no signs last night,” said one resident.

“There were no signs, no signs,” said another.

“I think they should’ve put more signs up that were more clear of what was going on or maybe signs that caught your attention,” said Dana Ankony.

The line at the city’s impound lot told a similar story as car owners blindsided by parking rules say were not publicized when they parked their cars Saturday night. It was a seemingly never-ending shuffle that didn’t even let rain slow it down.

“For a lot of Chicago residents this really really messes up their life,” said Gabriela Shurblock.

While CBS 2 did come across signs that warned of impounds due to the parade, photos provided by some towing victims show what may have led to confusion. One sign said “No parking on Friday and Saturday” but did not mention Sunday.

It’s unclear when the Streets and Sanitation Department, which is responsible for announcing parking rules, posted the signs and whether the old signs were ever updated. A spokesperson for the department did not respond to a request for comment.

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