Mixup leads to car getting towed in San Fernando Valley

[NOTE: During an Aug. 14 newscast, FOX 11 reported that a family had their car towed by a repo man. We are now learning from the Los Angeles Police Department that the car getting towed to the family's surprise WILL NOT be investigated as theft. The current owner did have the car paid off, but the previous owner apparently still owed money – which is why the car was being towed away by what turned out to be a real repo company. The misunderstanding has since been cleared up and the car is back with the current owner.]

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. – The owner of a silver 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-500 was left stunned.

The Sylmar family says the car had been paid off and was shocked that their Mercedes-Benz got towed by a repo man.

The shocked prompted LAPD to jump in and investigate as a possible crime – before police eventually dismissed the case as a possible theft.

Come to find out, the owner before the Sylmar family had not finished paying for the car – prompting the repo person to take the Mercedes-Benz.

As mentioned in the update, the family now has the car back following the series of confusion.

The car confusion comes as vehicle thefts have exploded in the San Fernando Valley. 

LAPD's Valley Bureau posted over 2,300 as of April of this year in areas like Sylmar, Pacoima, Sun Valley, Tujunga and North Hollywood.

In North Hollywood alone, there was a 39% increase compared to last year.

Initially, there were a lot of reports of young people stealing Prius models after a Tik Tok challenge, say investigators.