Residents' cars getting towed in El Sereno; LA City says it is cleaning streets to stop illegal RV parking
LOS ANGELES - "We didn't get any notices, and out of nowhere, people's cars are getting towed," said El Sereno resident Charles Anthony.
The same complaint is coming from residents of the 5200 block of Huntington Dr. North. They say parking enforcement officers arrived early Wednesday morning, issuing tickets and towing cars without adequate notice.
"Every single person in here has lost a car. I know a neighbor; they came and took his car," Daniel Hernandez said.
Residents who contacted the office of Kevin de León, the City Council member representing the area, were told that the action is part of a city plan to remove people living in RVs parked along Huntington Drive North. Because the city cannot specifically target RVs, a blanket ban on parking along the street has been put in place for one month.
"I'm disabled; I need parking in front of my house. I can't walk two or three blocks," said Elsa Castillo, a resident affected by the impoundment.
The move is causing significant disruption and financial hardship for the community.
"It's hurting all the working people here," said Amador Lopez. "We're all poor, just scraping by… we can't afford gas or food, and now they're taking the only means of transportation away from us."
Lucio Brito witnessed his vehicle being towed and rushed to negotiate with the driver.
"I had to pay $275 to get it off the truck," he explained.
Daniel Hernandez voiced his frustration, "If you want to do something about the RVs, do something, but instead, you're burdening us."
Despite the operation's goal to target RVs, the vehicles moved only a short distance away from Huntington Drive North.
"How does that make sense?" asked Deanna Sullivan. "Not only are we getting $70 tickets, but our vehicles are impounded, and people are coming home to find their cars gone."
When Sullivan contacted de León's office, she felt dismissed.
"He was so rude and was just like… 'Listen to me, I'm telling you, we've done this before, it works, and we're going to do this again in other places," Sullivan said.
Joel Calderon, another resident, stated, "Something is going on… and we'd like to hire an attorney to sue the city because this is unfair."
In response, Kevin de León's office issued the following statement:
"Los Angeles is committed to maintaining safe and clean streets for all residents. Following persistent community feedback, the city reinstated temporary parking restrictions in El Sereno to address various concerns about dangerous criminal activities related to parked RVs in this residential neighborhood."
Communications Director Pete Brown added that there were parking notices posted, but some were illegally removed. He encouraged anyone who did not see the signs to contact Kevin de León's office for assistance.
On Friday, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation sent a statement to FOX 11, reiterating the fact that signs warning residents about the parking restrictions, and that the cars that were impounded were found in violation of those restrictions.