The Board of Police Commissioners of the Town
may designate tow-away zones, properly marked, in any area in which
parking of motor vehicles is prohibited.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be found parked illegally in
an area designated as a tow-away zone by the Board of Police Commissioners,
or whenever a motor vehicle shall be found abandoned thereby constituting
a menace to traffic, such vehicle may be removed at the direction
of the officer in charge of the Police Department to any motor vehicle
pound established hereunder.
The Board of Police Commissioners may create
one or more motor vehicle pounds to which motor vehicles may be removed
as provided herein. Such pound shall be a public storage garage or
such other appropriate place as shall be designated by such Board.
Before any garage or other place of storage
shall be designated by the Board of Police Commissioners as a motor
vehicle pound, the operator thereof shall furnish the Town with evidence
of insurance coverage which shall be adequate to protect the Town
against any liability for any claim for damages arising out of the
towing or storage of any impounded vehicles.
The officer directing the impounding of a motor
vehicle and the operator of the motor vehicle pound in which the same
shall be impounded shall make such prompt report at police headquarters
as shall be required by the Board of Police Commissioners. This report
will enable the owner or person in charge of such vehicle to be informed
as to the nature and circumstances of the violation on account of
which such vehicle has been impounded and the place in which it is
impounded and from which it may be repossessed by the person legally
entitled to possession thereof.
No impounded vehicle shall be released until
the person claiming such vehicle shall establish with the Police Department
such person's identity and right to possession of the vehicle and
until such person shall have signed and delivered a receipt thereof
to the operator of the pound.
Before the owner or person in charge of such
vehicle shall be entitled to repossess the same, such person shall
pay to the pound a towing charge, which shall not exceed an amount
designated by the Board of Police Commissioners, plus the cost of
storage, which shall not exceed an amount designated by the Board
of Police Commissioners. The towing and storage charges shall be a
lien upon such a vehicle. Payment of such charges shall not release
any person from prosecution for any violation of law which resulted
in impounding the vehicle.
If protest shall be made against payment of
the towing charge or cost of storage, the pound to which payment is
made shall mark upon the receipt evidencing protested payment the
words "Paid Under Protest." In such cases it shall be the duty of
the Police Department to investigate the matter upon being apprised
of such protest and to institute proper proceedings in the Superior
Court charging the owner or operator of such vehicle with the violation
on account of which the vehicle was impounded, if necessary; provided,
however, that as to abandoned motor vehicles which constitute a menace
to traffic, the procedure set out in § 14-150 of the General
Statutes shall be followed.