AKRON, Ohio — An Akron councilwoman is proposing an ordinance that would reimburse carjacking and other auto theft victims for towing and storage fees they incur after vehicles end up in the city's designated impound yards.
The ordinance, which will be discussed at the next council meeting June 26, was the idea of Tara Mosley, who was bothered by a News 5 report last August in which Akron residents who were carjacked expressed their frustrations of feeling victimized twice— first by the crime, and then again, when they faced expensive fees to get their cars back.
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"When listening to some of those victims about how they had to pay exorbitant fees just to get their cars out of poundage, it bothered me," Mosley said. "I didn't realize it had been such a big issue, not just here in Akron but in Northeast Ohio."
Under the proposed ordinance, victims would get reimbursed after providing documentation, including a receipt from the towing company, a police report detailing the crime and proof of residency in Akron.
Mosley said $5,000 from the city budget would be used to pay back carjacking and some auto theft victims up to $575 in storage and towing fees.
While city council sets the rates for tows requested by Akron Police, Mosley feels like it was an unintended consequence for innocent victims to face bills after experiencing a traumatic event.
"I just want the victims to know that I heard them loud and clear, and I'm just doing my small part to answer the need," she said.
In March of 2022, a Doordash driver was carjacked at gunpoint near his East Akron home on Wren Walk.
The victim was ordered to drive to a bank in Green and take out money before he was forced from the car and told to lay down on the pavement in an Akron neighborhood. The man walked home in the middle of the night after the carjacker drove off.
A week later, police recovered the car, and it was towed.
The victim's wife was outraged when she had to pay about $170 in towing and storage fees to get the vehicle back.
"It just makes me feel worse. It's like they don't care. It's like, why should I have to pay money and I'm the victim? Why? That's the big question. Why?" she said.
The victim's wife said her husband quit his Doordash job and still has fear more than a year later.
She realizes it's likely too late for her to be reimbursed for the towing fees but believes Mosley's proposal is a good start to ease the burden on other victims like her and her husband.
"I just hope nobody else don't go through the same experience that I did because it's heartbreaking. It's traumatizing," she said.
According to the Ohio Insurance Institute, some insurance plans cover towing fees, but since many of those plans are subject to deductibles, victims often pay most or all of that money out of pocket.
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