303.06 IMPOUNDING OF VEHICLES; REDEMPTION.
(a) The Chief of Police or any designated party, which may include a private towing company, is authorized to provide for the removal of a vehicle under the following circumstances:
(1) When any vehicle is left unattended upon any street, bridge or causeway and is so illegally parked so as to constitute a hazard or obstruction to the normal movement of traffic, or so as to unreasonably interfere with street cleaning or snow removal operations;
(2) When any motor vehicle, other than an abandoned junk motor vehicle, as defined in Ohio R.C. 4513.63, is left on private residential property, as defined in Section 351.05(d), or on private agricultural property, for at least four 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 upon or within the right of way of any road or highway, for forty-eight consecutive hours or longer, without notification to the Police Chief of the reasons for leaving such vehicle in such place;
(3) When any abandoned junk motor vehicle is left on private property for more than seventy-two 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 consecutive hours or longer, without notification to the Police Chief of the reasons for leaving such vehicle in such place;
(4) When any vehicle has been stolen or operated without the consent of the owner;
(5) When any vehicle displays illegal license plates or fails to display the current lawfully required license plates;
(6) When any vehicle has been used in or connected with the commission of a felony;
(7) When any vehicle has been damaged or wrecked so as to be inoperable or violates equipment provisions of this Traffic Code whereby its continued operation would constitute a condition hazardous to life, limb or property;
(8) When any vehicle is left unattended due to the removal of an ill, injured or arrested operator;
(9) When any vehicle has been operated by any person who has failed to stop in case of an accident or collision;
(10) When any vehicle has been operated by any person who is driving without a lawful license or while his or her license has been suspended or revoked;
(11) When any vehicle constitutes an unreasonable hazard to persons or property at the scene of a fire, accident, disaster, riot or emergency of any kind; or
(b) Any vehicle removed under authority of paragraphs (a)(2) and (3) hereof shall be ordered into storage and/or disposed of as provided under Ohio R.C. 4513.60 et seq.
(c) The owner or other person lawfully entitled to possession of any other impounded vehicle shall have the following options with respect to such vehicle:
(1) The owner or other person lawfully entitled to possession of such vehicle shall pay a towing charge for an ordinary tow or a dolly tow, shall pay all outstanding fines for violating any provision of this Traffic Code, and a storage fee for each day or part thereof the vehicle is impounded after the first twenty-four hours. Upon such payment, the vehicle shall be released.
(2) The owner or other person lawfully entitled to possession of such vehicle shall furnish a bond in an amount as set by the Court. Such bond shall be upon condition that such owner or other person appear in the Mayor's Court to answer the violation which caused the vehicle to be impounded. The date for such appearance shall be scheduled when the bond is posted. Upon the posting of such bond, the vehicle shall be released.
(d) If at the trial on the merits of the traffic citation the Court finds the defendant not guilty, the vehicle, if impounded, shall be released without charge. If the Court finds the defendant guilty, the defendant shall pay a towing charge for an ordinary tow or for a dolly tow, a storage fee for each day or part thereof the vehicle is impounded after the first twenty-four hours, court costs and any sentence on the traffic citation. Upon payment of all of the foregoing sums, the vehicle shall be released.
(e) No vehicle shall be released pursuant to this section unless the person claiming ownership or lawful possession produces proof of identity and ownership.
(f) No owner or operator shall remove an impounded vehicle from the place of storage without complying with the procedure set forth in this section. Possession of a vehicle which has been impounded and unlawfully taken from the place of storage by the owner or operator shall constitute prima-facie evidence that it was so removed by the owner or operator.
(g) Whoever violates any provision of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on a second offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree; on each subsequent offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.