Towing troubles for Bronx woman

NEW YORK (WABC) -- 7 On Your Side spent nearly a month investigating this mystery; going to the NYPD, city agencies and a state assemblyman, trying to help a woman who's car first vanished, then surfaced at a tow yard a month later with a stack of charges.

For the past two months, expectant mother Leslie Parchment's been stuck taking the subway from the Bronx to her job as a Manhattan hospital nurse. She's been riding the rails ever since her car vanished from 235th Street where she says she parked it May 31st.

"I call the police and they look in the system and drove around with me for an hour and they said it's not in the system. So it's a grand larceny the car is gone." Leslie said.

Officers with the 47th Precinct filed a stolen car report on June 4th. But where was her car? The day she parked, it was ticketed (the ticket was later dismissed) and towed by the Bronx-based Crown Towing. But Leslie didn't find this out until she got a letter from Crown more than a month later. By now, the bill ballooned.

"It was already $1,600 dollars. And I said I don't have $1,600," Leslie said.

It wasn't until we investigated that we found the NYPD admitted dropping the ball. They knew that Leslie's car had been ticketed and towed but failed to tell the vehicle owner anything when she reported her car stolen to the police.

So we got involved. We asked for help from the city's Department of Finance, who referred us to the NYPD, they sent us to the Comptroller. We even appealed to the Public Advocate. That's when we threw a "hail Mary" to Mayor de Blasio's office. And just days later...

We were notified that Leslie could pick up her car the next morning. The NYPD stepped up and paid all the storage fees.

It was our calls to Mayor de Blasio that got results.

That made Leslie, very happy, "Thank you 7 On Your Side, anyone out there call Nina she could get it done," she said.