# Can a block a car parked illegally on my propery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2006, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-block-a-car-parked-illegally-on-my-propery/372933 "2006-09-16T05:38:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-block-a-car-parked-illegally-on-my-propery/372933/41 "2006-09-18T17:01:48Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] How about you read what I actually type next time before _you_ come off snippy. I can call the police. . . _then_ I can have you towed. See how that works? I’m obliged by law to _first_ contact the local traffic law enforcement agency, _then_ I can have cars parked illegally on my private property (since I own a single family dwelling) towed. Not to mention, I specifically said **Thalion** would be wrong _in my jurisdiction_, so there was really no reason for you to point out what I’d already acknowledged in my post. [/QUOTE] OK I will. [QUOTE=Shayna] I don’t know what beach community you’re a cop in, but I sure hope it’s not mine… [/QUOTE] Why would I think that’s snippy? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-block-a-car-parked-illegally-on-my-propery/372933/42 "2006-09-18T20:09:20Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] How about you read what I actually type next time before _you_ come off snippy. I can call the police. . . _then_ I can have you towed. See how that works? I’m obliged by law to _first_ contact the local traffic law enforcement agency, _then_ I can have cars parked illegally on my private property (since I own a single family dwelling) towed. [/QUOTE] He, and I the first time I read it, assumed you meant a slightly different thing: 1. First you call the police, then 2. You have the police do the towing. This fits in with the way the issue had come up on previous posts. You might try being a bit less ambiguous if you wish to avoid misunderstandings. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-block-a-car-parked-illegally-on-my-propery/372933/43 "2006-09-18T20:41:46Z")
Very interesting… Suppose Svetlana is at home napping at the time of the offense and she wakes up at 4pm to go collect little Natalia from daycare (an upscale facility that charges $500 for every fifteen minutes a parent is late). She opens her garage door, only to find Jeb’s car in her driveway, blocking her exit. He is nowhere to be found. What would happen if she called the police? Are the cops going to say “Sorry, not much we can do. Have you considered a taxi?” ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-block-a-car-parked-illegally-on-my-propery/372933/44 "2006-09-18T22:53:24Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] He, and I the first time I read it, assumed you meant a slightly different thing: 1. First you call the police, then 2. You have the police do the towing. This fits in with the way the issue had come up on previous posts. You might try being a bit less ambiguous if you wish to avoid misunderstandings. 🙂 [/QUOTE] There are only two posts prior to mine where having the uninvited parker’s car towed was either mentioned or alluded to. The first was in post #3, which said, “she could have his car towed.” There’s no mention of it being done by the police. Then post #6 (The same post in which **Thalion** acknowledged his location, which I also missed – my apologies for the oversight. Clearly I could do a better job of reading for comprehension at times, myself!) says, “She could have had it impounded.” Again, nothing about the police doing so. The only person who mentioned the police doing the towing, was **Northern Piper** , who was incredulous that the police wouldn’t do anything (including towing) to someone who is uninvited on someone else’s property. It was then cleared up that they’d mixed up the relationships in the OP’s hypothetical. Therefore, your contention that your misunderstanding of my first post was due to the alleged fact that it fit in with the way it had come up in previous posts doesn’t hold up to the evidence. I guess I _could_ have said, “I can call the police and then I can have you towed,” but the insertion of the additional ‘I can’ seemed redundant, first of all because it’s grammatically unnecessary, but especially seeing as how I was trying to simplify the very thing I had just quoted, which quite clearly spells out in more detail that the property owner must first notify local law enforcement and then _they_ can have the vehicle removed. If I said that next time I’ll try to be more loquacious so as to be more likely to avoid misunderstandings, would you consider this post evidence of my intent? 😉 Though I’d like to bring this unfortunate hijack to an end, there is one more issue I should clear up. . . **Thalion** also correctly pointed out that although the statute I quoted allows for me to have the offending party towed from my property, it doesn’t define their actions as trespass. So here’s the relevant statute that does: [ > [@](#): > > **California Penal Code Section 602** > > Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (v), subdivision (x), and Section 602.8, every person who willfully commits a trespass by any of the following acts is guilty of a misdemeanor: > > \ > > (n) Driving any vehicle, as defined in Section 670 of the Vehicle Code, upon real property belonging to, or lawfully occupied by, another and known not to be open to the general public, without the consent of the owner, the owner’s agent, or the person in lawful possession. This subdivision shall not apply to any person described in Section 22350 of the Business and Professions Code who is making a lawful service of process, provided that upon exiting the vehicle, the person proceeds immediately to attempt the service of process, and leaves immediately upon completing the service of process or upon the request of the owner, the owner’s agent, or the person in lawful possession. ]([California Penal Code Section 602 - California Attorney Resources - California Laws](http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/602.html)) I _think_ it’s pretty clear that the driveways to private residences are “known not to be open to the general public,” but I’m open to being corrected on that interpretation if I’m wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-block-a-car-parked-illegally-on-my-propery/372933.md?page=2)