(a) Officers may legally impound motor vehicles:
(2) Containing evidence of a crime that needs to be collected.
(3) In accordance with Section 303.09(a) - No person shall willfully leave any vehicle or an "abandoned junk motor vehicle" as defined in Ohio R.C. 4513.63 on private property for more than seventy-two (72) consecutive hours without the permission of the person having the right to the possession of the property or on a public street or other property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel or parking, or upon or within the right of way of any road or highway, for forty-eight (48) consecutive hours or longer, without notification to the Police Chief of the reasons for leaving the vehicle in such place.
(b) Releasing Vehicles Without Payment of Fees. A vehicle may be released without payment of fees if it was impounded for evidence or if it was impounded for investigation of being stolen and was then determined not to be a stolen vehicle.
(c) Enforcement Options.
(1) When a motor vehicle may be legally impounded and is not reported stolen, the officer may either:
A. Impound the vehicle.
B. Release the vehicle to the owner, operator, or to another person with the consent of the owner or operator, given there are no legal requirements or need to impound the vehicle, and there are no overdue unpaid fines held against the vehicle.
(2) Officers shall take any reasonable actions necessary to ensure the safety of any occupant of a vehicle left stranded in an unsafe location due to an impoundment. This may include providing a ride to a safe location or standing by until a taxicab or a friend of the occupant arrives.
(3) The consent to release the vehicle, to whom the vehicle was released, and the status of that person's driving privileges shall be documented in the appropriate form or report (such as an Incident Report, or OH-1 Traffic Crash Report).
(4) Officers may use discretion whether to release or impound a vehicle when a contracted wrecker is at the scene at the same time as the owner or operator.
(5) Unless arrangements have been made by the owner or operator to move the vehicle in a timely manner, any disabled or abandoned vehicle creating a traffic hazard or any vehicle on the highway disabled from a traffic crash or that has been abandoned for a period of forty-eight (48) hours, shall be impounded as soon as practical. Officers shall remain with the vehicle until it is removed.
(d) Use of Contracted Wreckers.
(1) Only contracted wreckers may be used to tow vehicles for impoundment, or to move vehicles to an unrestricted parking space.
(2) All vehicles impounded by police department personnel shall be transported to the Ashville Police Department Impound Lot, unless otherwise directed by investigative personnel and only for evidence processing.
(3) To maintain the chain of custody for vehicles being impounded as evidence of a felony crime, or to be processed for evidence or fingerprints, sworn personnel shall maintain visual contact with the vehicle until it is released by the wrecker at the appropriate storage facility. This does not apply to vehicles impounded only as a recovered stolen vehicle.
(Ord. 2022-05. Passed 2-28-22.)