A woman has been left riddled with guilt after accidentally having her neighbour's car towed because she didn't recognise its number plate. She explained how she woke up one day to see an SUV parked directly opposite her driveway - but didn't do anything about it assuming it was a visitor.
But after seven long weeks, the woman decided to take matters into her own hands, reporting the "abandoned" vehicle to the police. Taking to Reddit, she said: "It caught my attention because it had a flat tyre. We've had several stolen vehicles get ditched in our neighbourhood, so my first instinct was that this seemed like a potential abandoned car.
"Seven weeks later, the car still hadn't moved. It wasn't harming anything or in our way, but we found it odd. The laws in our neighbourhood are that cars must be moved at least every three days. On Friday, my partner mentioned it again and I finally decided to call the police department.
"I reported a possible abandoned vehicle and gave them the license plate number, and they said they would come out and take a look.
"To our surprise, within an hour a tow truck arrived and took it."
But just a few hours later, a neighbour turned up at her door asking whether she has any CCTV footage of their shared street as their car has gone missing.
The woman, who lives on the West Coast of the United States, added: "We told them the truth, that we had reported it, and they were pretty upset. We apologised.
"We learned that the vehicle was a family member's in the city, and they had given them permission to park it there because it was no longer operational.
"The registration had lapsed and they were no longer carrying insurance on the car.
"My suspicion is that all contributed to why the vehicle was towed instead of being tagged."
Despite living on the street for seven years, the woman says she doesn't know many of her neighbours by name.
"They said we should have just knocked on their door instead of calling the police," she added.
"In hindsight, I agree, but by that logic that would have meant knocking on nearly a dozen residences, most of whom we don't know.
"Since Friday, the neighbours have knocked on our door twice asking for money to pay for the towing and impound fees, vehicle release, registration, and insurance for the car.
"They claim they wouldn't have had any of those expenses if it weren't for us.
"While I understand their point of view, I feel like the car wouldn't have been towed if they had followed the street parking laws and paid their registration fees.
"They have a large driveway and garage, but they chose to park the car on the street.
"I went to their house this afternoon and offered to contribute $350 (£275) toward their expenses.
"I feel like that is generous, and I don't feel legal obligation to do so.
"They refused, and said they want to wait to see what the total costs are. I suspect they will ask for more."
Wanting to know whether she is in the wrong for calling the police, she has taken to Reddit to ask users for their thoughts.
In response, one user said: "Stop talking to them, don't give them any money, they will come back for more.
"Make sure your cars are safe. Chances are they will either try to get them towed or damage them as revenge."
Another user added: "Take back your offer of money, treat it as a 1 time offer that they turned down."
A third user said: "Parking an unregistered/non operational vehicle on the street is illegal in many jurisdictions."
One more user added: "Pay nothing. That car was illegally parked and not licensed or roadworthy. Abandoned, in fact, just as you'd suspected. Calling it in was perfectly appropriate."
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