Spring Break
Cars towed off sidewalk
JEREMY CRAIG
"We've tried to deter people for weeks by writing citations," she said. "It's no fun, but we wrote a lot of tickets and didn't see a significant change in parking (in that area)."
Parking Services wrote citations during previous weeks to try to keep people from parking on the Jackson Street sidewalk, she said.
"If you don't tow, there can be risks," she said, adding that cars parked on the sidewalk create hazards for pedestrians, especially those who use wheelchairs.
Some students who were there at about 10:30 p.m., when towing was taking place, said there were female students crying because they had no way to get home from the library.
"There was one who was crying hysterically," said Shelley Hachadorian, a senior from Marietta. "We gave her a ride."
The car of Hachadorian's boyfriend, Michael Crook, a senior from Atlanta, had been towed by Five Points Wrecker, Shuman Towing, she said.
When they tried to retrieve his car, they were told to go to an area on East Campus Road to pay the towing fee, Crook said.
But Crook said they were told to go back to the tow trucks at the library to pay the fee. Then, wrecking personnel at the library told Crook to go back to the East Campus Road lot.
Just minutes after Crook paid the fee, a man came up and tried to get his car, Crook said. Crook could not identify if this man was a student, but said he was mad.
Wrecking company employees prevented the man from paying the fee, and University police were called to the scene.
"He was less belligerent than I was," Crook said. He said that he paid the fee after 11 p.m., when the wreckers closed, but the man was not allowed to do the same.
University police officials were unavailable for comment Wednesday.
"I understand that I shouldn't have been parked there, but there hasn't been enforcement of the rules," Crook said. "People have been parking there for as long as I can remember."
Hale said Parking Services had been issuing tickets, however, but that there was no significant improvement in the problem.
"After two months of school, you should be able to know the regulations, and you should not be parked illegally," she said. "These (students) are adults, and they're able to make choice decisions."
Hale said parking was available at the North Campus Parking Deck free to University permit holders after 5 p.m. Students without permits still will be charged the hourly rate, she said, but can park in non-housing parking lots after 5 p.m.
