A DRIVER has claimed he was forced to pay out $225 to get his keys back after his car was towed following a traffic stop.
The motorist was handed a ticket by officers but then had to wait for five days before he could recover his beloved muscle car.
David Harris, from Memphis, TN, claims that he was pulled over for swerving after moving out of his lane to try and avoid hitting a police car in front of him.
The cops then allegedly seized his vehicle and told him to “find a ride home” as it would be towed away to an impound.
But that was just the start of Mr Harris’ troubles as, when he went to pick up the car the next day, he claimed nobody was able to locate the keys.
His mother, Donna, told WREG News: “We went out there to get the keys.
“It was locked and the keys weren’t there.
“Nobody knew where the keys were.
“They couldn’t pull it up in the system.
“But then [the attendant] went ‘my bad’ and he went straight to a drawer and pulled the keys out.”
According to the impound lot, the keys should be left in the car with the doors unlocked and any which are found out of the car should be given to a supervisor and logged in the system.
However, this does not appear to have happened in Mr Harris’ case.
Amid all the confusion, he was left without his keys for five days and had to pay a $225 release fee to get them back.
Mr Harris was also given a ticket for reckless driving.
His mother added: “He’s a very responsible young man.
“He works hard for what he’s trying to accomplish in life.
“He does what a young man’s supposed to do.
“And if he chooses to drive a nice car then he worked for it, he deserves it.”
SunMotors has contacted the Memphis Police Department for comment.
It comes after a number of drivers attending a North Carolina homecoming event where left with $1,000 charges after being towed, despite buying permits for their parking bays.
