Cheyenne's Speeding Numbers of Abandoned Cars.
March 10, 2010
Reported by Catherine Bilkey
It’s no secret; anyone in the Cheyenne area sees abandoned cars lining the streets. They're a problem that city officials are trying to handle. Over the last week, there have been more than 35 calls to police regarding abandoned vehicles.
"These thing start collecting dirt,” Bob Bradshaw, with the City Parking Division, said. “They start collecting debris."
In other words, it creates an eyesore for the community that in some areas is difficult to remove.
"Vehicles in the downtown area, although they're not rare, they get reported much more quickly than others because they're in a time zone,” Bradshaw said. “Often times you see abandoned vehicles stay in residential areas for quite some time probably by virtue of the fact that it's difficult to discern, in many cases, what an abandoned motor vehicle is."
"Typically, we'll get a call from someone in the neighborhood that says this car has been parked there for...it could be weeks, months, even years," Lt. Mark Munari, of the Cheyenne Police Department, said.
Community service officers handle the calls.
"One of those officers will tag that vehicle as abandoned,” Munari said. “Then after 72 hours, it will be towed and taken to the county impound lot."
The AMV Impound lot is hardly empty. Cars range in condition from good to awful as officials wait for them to be claimed. Some don't stand a chance.
"If the owner doesn't claim that car and pay the tow bill, typically those cars are auctioned off," Munari said.
While some cars will fetch a good price, most will go to whoever is the highest bidder
;)
