(A) Members of the Police Department are hereby authorized to remove a vehicle from a street to a garage or other place of safety, or to a garage designated or maintained by the Police Department or by the town under the following circumstances:
(1) When any vehicle is left unattended on any street and the vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic;
(2) When a vehicle upon a street is so disabled as to constitute an obstruction to traffic, or the person or persons in charge of the vehicle are, by reason of physical injury, incapacitated to such an extent as to be unable to provide for its custody and removal;
(3) When a vehicle is found being operated upon the streets and is not in proper condition;
(4) When a vehicle is left unattended on a street and is parked illegally so as to constitute a hazard or obstruction to the normal movement of traffic;
(5) When the driver of the vehicle is taken into custody by the Police Department or other law enforcement officers of this state, and the vehicle would be left unattended on a street;
(6) When removal is necessary in the interest of public safety because of fire, flood, storm, snow, or other emergency;
(7) When any vehicle is left unattended or parked upon any private property without the consent of the owner or person in charge;
(8) If the vehicle has been involved in a hit and run accident;
(9) If the vehicle was the subject of theft;
(10) If the vehicle was being used in the commission of a felony;
(11) If a driver was operating the vehicle without a license, or was under the influence of intoxicating liquors or narcotics; and/or
(12) If the vehicle is improperly registered or if financial responsibility has not been maintained.
(B) No vehicle impounded in an authorized garage as herein provided shall be released until the charges for towing the vehicle into the garage and storage charges have been paid.
(C) Whenever an officer removes a vehicle from a street and the officer knows or is able to ascertain the name and address of the owner, the officer shall give or cause to be given a notice, written or verbal, to the owner or person in charge of the vehicle of the fact of the removal, and the reasons therefore, and the place to which the vehicle has been removed.
(D) Procedures for the removal, storage and disposal of abandoned and junked motor vehicles set forth in § 90.05 through 90.09 of this Code of Ordinances shall apply to vehicles towed pursuant to this section.
(Ord. passed 1-3-2011)