EATONVILLE, Fla. — Eatonville has a strict and unusual ordinance that could get your vehicle seized and leave you with big fines all before your day in court, Channel 9's Lori Brown learned on Thursday.
The ordinance is one reason Willie Hamilton, 69, had to fork over hundreds of dollars after getting pulled over a few feet away from his girlfriend's home.
An Eatonville police officer using a new license plate scanner pulled Hamilton over because a glitch had caused his license to be suspended, something Hamilton said he didn’t know about.
He was just about to enter the parking garage at his girlfriend's complex when the cop pulled him over. And even though his girlfriend came outside and could have driven his truck into a parking spot, the city towed it instead.
Raw: Man upset cop towed car 10 feet from home
Raw: Police chief explains controversial ordinance, why truck was towed
Hamilton, who needs his truck to run his lawn business, had to spend $500 to get it back. It would have then cost him another $250 just to get a hearing.
"That's just robbery," he said. "My problem is towing a vehicle that don't have to be towed so you can make money."
Hamilton encountered what Channel 9 learned is a common problem; he canceled his old insurance and got new insurance, but for some reason the state did not get notice of the new insurance.
Hamilton showed Brown a letter that states he never had a gap in coverage.
The problem Hamilton is so common that it even happened to the Eatonville police chief, Brown found.
Brown asked different police departments around town, including Maitland, Winter Park and Orlando, if they would tow a car in the same situation, and each department said they would not.
Brown went directly to Eatonville's police chief, who said, "It's not a racket. It's a violation of law that we enforce.
"But where does innocent until proven guilty come in?" asked Brown.
"That's a question we could debate all day. When you violate our ordinance, you have the right to go in front of a magistrate."
"But people are having to pay $750 to get a hearing. People don't have that kind of money to pay up front to get their car and get a hearing," said Brown.
People need to obey the law," the chief said.
Eatonville has towed 143 cars under the ordinance in the past year, bringing in an estimated $35,000 for the department, which has 12 officers.
Brown asked the chief if Hamilton could get his money back since it turns out he had insurance all along. He said Hamilton could give him a call.
Channel 9 will update this story when we hear back.
WFTV
