I’m nosy. I admit it. I try to stay out of other people’s business, but I’m also a journalist so I’m always looking for a story.
So when I kept seeing the same car in the exact same spot on a Burnaby street with its window open for weeks on end, I decided to look into it.
I figured the car (pictured with this blog) was abandoned. Nobody leaves their window open day after day unless it’s abandoned or, I guess, if the window is broken, but that doesn’t explain it staying in the same spot.
No, this looks and feels like an abandoned vehicle.
So, what do you do in this situation?
First, I tweeted the City of Burnaby about it. A few people who follow me said I should call the police.
So I did that. I called the Burnaby RCMP’s non-emergency line (604-646-9999). I spoke with someone and explained the situation and they said they would take the information and deal with it, but then put me on hold.
An hour later, I was still on hold listening to a recorded message telling me to not call 911 to ask questions about the weather and other non-emergency things. Good to know.
I ended up having to hang up because work demanded it.
I emailed the City of Burnaby’s communications department and they said I should call 604-570-3660. Someone would take down the information and a city crew would be dispatched. The licence plate number would be run to see if the vehicle was stolen.
I didn’t have a chance yesterday, but when I arrived home, I saw a city crew had already dropped by and left stickers on the vehicle saying that if the vehicle wasn’t moved within 72 hours, it would be towed away.
The city obviously had reacted to my tweet, which was an awesome response. I love it.
So there you go. Three options available to you.
I should add that this vehicle has been parked in a two-hour zone for weeks and never received a single ticket so I guess the city’s ticketing staff have been ignoring this street.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
