Seattle Man Builds Fence Around Illegally Parked Car-Share Vehicle On His Property

A Seattle man got to work when a car-share vehicle that was parked without permission at his duplex wasn’t being moved. Dan Smith decided his course of action would be to build a fence around it. Smith told KIRO-TV that he doesn’t know who parked the car2go Mercedes on his lot earlier this month but it wasn’t one of his tenants. He contacted Share Now, the company that operates car2go, and gave them two hours to move the vehicle. After a few hours, he put up the fence, stopping others from using the car. Now, he wants the company to pay $65 a day in storage fees, $300 for the fence and up to $500 for “harassment fees.”

Share Now spokesman Tim Krebs told The Associated Press that the company is seeking help from the police since the company has been unable to remove the sedan because of the fence.

“We will not allow anyone acting with ulterior motives, including anyone attempting to extort our business by holding our property illegally, to prevent us from providing transportation to the citizens of Seattle,” the company’s statement said. “We would like to avoid taking legal action and hope for a quick resolution.”

The company policy requires customers who park in unapproved areas to pay any towing and ticketing fees and repeat offenders are banned from the service.

Smith says he put up the barricade to make a point about respecting private property and because he was worried about liability if a customer was injured on his property. He said his first decision was to have the car towed, but three tow companies declined, noting that Smith had not posted signs warning that the spots were on private property and that violators could be towed.

Smith says that if the police tell him he’s in the wrong, he’ll cooperate.