The mystery over the whereabouts of a car removed from Baltimore’s impound lot before the rightful owner could claim it deepened Monday, as city officials would not comment on reports that detailed towing records kept at the lot could reveal who towed the car away.
Records obtained by The Examiner show that the license number of all tow trucks leaving the Pulaski Highway impound lot are recorded, as well as vehicle identification numbers of the car being towed. The vehicle also must be signed out by an impound security guard. Impound lot officials also take photos of vehicles exiting and entering the lot.
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But city transportation officials and police said they could not share that information with the car’s owner, Antonio Brown. In an Examiner article published Monday, Brown said his car was removed from the lot without his consent.
“The police are handling this and will continue to do so,” said city Department of Transportation chief Al Foxx. “But I admit it seems very odd.”
Police spokesman Troy Harris said the investigation is ongoing.
Brown first told The Examiner that impound lot employees told him his car was picked up by someone else when he visited the Pulaski Highway lot to retrieve his 2003 Volkswagen Passat after it was towed to the lot for three unpaid parking tickets.
The Passat was claimed by a man named Juan Smith, Brown said. Impound lot officials said Smith had produced a notarized letter with Brown’s signature authorizing Smith to pick up the car. City parking records show that Brown’s outstanding tickets on the Passat have been paid since his car was towed, but it is not clear who paid them.
Impound lot officials denied Brown’s request for a copy of the letter that allegedly authorized release of the car. Brown said he does now know anyone named Juan Smith.
After Brown reported the car stolen on Oct. 31, he said investigators asked him to sign an index card to compare his signature with the signature on the letter given to impound lot officials.
“They asked me to sign my name, so they must be able to see if it was my handwriting on the letter,” Brown said. “But I still haven’t heard anything about it.”
Meanwhile, sources familiar with the investigation said a yet-to-be identified relative of a suspended police officer who worked at the impound was fired from the state Motor Vehicle Administration in connection with the probe of the officer. The police officer was suspended for allegedly tampering with vehicle records towed into the lot, but authorities did not release details of the investigation.
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