More than 100 complaints of abandoned cars, boats lead to towing operation

By Michelle Bandur

Click here for updates on this story

    FAIRFIELD, California (KCRA) — As part of an enforcement operation, Fairfield police have been towing abandoned cars, boats and trailers, along with vehicles with expired tags of more than six months.

The police department calls it restoring safety and pride to the neighborhoods, but some residents call it targeting the homeless community.

Rachel Brockman let her son park his two cars in front of her house on Broadway Street.

“Both cars were registered,” she said.

Brockman said the city towed them as part of the recent operation.

“They just pulled up with two tow trucks and one white unmarked car and got out pointing to the two cars, and boom, they were gone,” she said.

Fairfield police said traffic officers are working with code enforcement units for dedicated operations targeting abandoned vehicles, boats and trailers parked in the area of streets with the names of states and presidents.

During an operation on April 1, officers towed 20 vehicles and issued 24 parking tickets.

On April 4, a follow-up operation resulted in 21 more towed vehicles and 39 parking tickets.

Police said it’s about more than citations and tows; it’s about “building a stronger, safer community together.”

“They already don’t have nowhere to go,” said Larry Lee Jackson, Jr. He said police are taking apart the community by towing people’s homes and belongings.

“To take the cars and where they live in, it’s making it harder on them. It’s not really making it easy,” said Jackson. “They had to combat the more trauma that they already going through.”

Police said they’ve received 35 more complaints after the two operations, with a total of 101 neighbors making complaints so far this year.

“We unequivocally did not target the unhoused population, and have repeatedly demonstrated our dedication to connecting those community members to much-needed resources,” said police spokesperson Jennifer Brantley.

Police call the abandoned cars eyesores that create hazards and bring more neglect and illegal dumping to the neighborhoods.

“But as a city, we should be more compassionate towards the people that’s coming in. I think they come here to be rescued,” said Jackson.

Brockman said her son still doesn’t have his cars and said they shouldn’t have been towed in the first place.

“They were going down the whole street, like it was crazy,” said Brockman.

Police said they keep detailed records of every car towed and all belongings are tagged to ensure their easy retrieval.

“If a vehicle is erroneously towed, we eschew all fees. To date, we have not received any complaints regarding erroneously towed vehicles, but anyone who feels that might be the case has only to visit our front lobby and confer with our Records department,” said Brantley.

She said the department’s focus is strictly on vehicle code enforcement and maintaining safe, clean streets for all residents.

“We appreciate the community’s help in identifying problem areas and encourage continued use of the MyFairfieldCA app to report abandoned vehicles,” said Brantley.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.