Downtown Detective: The Case of the Dumped Z28

By Eric Richardson
Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2008, at 09:44PM

Ed Fuentes

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Pay attention, it’s time to play Downtown Detective.

Sometime between 3 and 4pm this afternoon, February 27th, a black Z28 with a crumpled front end was dumped on Main street outside the Jalisco Inn. The vehicle was covered in a thick layer of dirt, and a note under the windshield read “No Free Parking. Your car will be towed.” The vehicle was left facing the wrong direction in the westside curb lane.

I happened upon the scene around 4:45pm. Suzanne and Anika from Gilmore Associates were there, and Suzanne had just finished calling in the scene to Central Division. Between us, we came up with a pretty plausible hypothesis. Read on to get our take and help solve the Case of the Dumped Z28.

As an aside, did you ever read the Encyclopedia Brown books growing up? I did, and were this a case like that I'd be pointing my finger straight at Bugs Meany and his gang. They're always up to no good.

Anyway, here's what Suzanne, Anika and I came to think:

The owner of the Z28 has an accident. The cost to repair is more than the vehicle's worth, so he parks it in a garage and walks away. The garage owner eventually gets fed up, has a worthless, abandoned vehicle on his hands, and decides to make it the city's problem and not his. He has the car towed and dumped on Main street.

Some points:

Why does it have to be a garage and not a lot? The car's too dirty to have been out in the rain. It had to have been covered, but exposed enough to get dirty.
The car was likely towed in reverse, hence it facing the wrong direction on Main.
A patron who had been at the Jalisco Inn for a few hours came out as LADOT was getting set to tow the car. He claimed that it was a licensed tow truck (with the OPG sticker) that had dropped the car there.

Here's where you come in: Have you seen this car sitting in a garage around Downtown? Let's figure out where it was last, so that we can figure who's responsible. Did the garage operator indeed tow it, or did the car owner?

Ed Fuentes also contributed to this report.

Comments

Winston writes:

I love it. Reeks of Knight Rider conspiracy all over.

# on Feb.28.2008 AT 09:48 AM

spinsLPs writes:

I haven't seen this vehicle before but I know the garage I park in (833 S Flower St, across from the Gas Co Lofts) has about five abandoned vehicles. One of which is a brand new 7 series BMW with the dealer's cardboard plates still on it!

# on Feb.28.2008 AT 01:12 PM

RT writes:

Eric, I am a bit dubious about parts of your collaborated hypothesis – this based on some of your photos. Looking at photo, “Main3” it appears that the vehicle may have been subjected to the elements and more then just some morning dew. Look at the rear bumper and you can see the water run-off.

Although I didn’t get to examine the car, what I gleaned from your photos was that:

The vehicle was parked in an unsecured P-Lot or in an open and unsecured parking facility.
The vehicle was parked close to a construction zone where there is considerable excavation.
The owner of said lot knows the owner and/or possibly gave the owner permission to park (originally).
The vehicle has been parked in the lot or facility for at least seven months or more.
The vehicle may possibly have been involved in a hit-n-run traffic accident.
The vehicle was an abandoned stolen – maybe your LAPD friends can confirm??

Well that's my take on this felonious caper!

# on Feb.28.2008 AT 04:33 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

RT: The car looked even dirtier in person than it does in the pictures, but I hadn't really looked at the rear bumper. Given how much rain we've had, though, I would tend to think the whole thing would be streakier if it had really just been in a lot, but I could buy it somehow still ending up like that.

I don't know that you actually need excavation for a vehicle to get that dirty in L.A. I've seen some filthy ones sitting around garages.

# on Feb.28.2008 AT 04:45 PM

hmmm writes:

there was one in the "SB [not so] Grand" loft's pking structure for a year or two...

# on Feb.28.2008 AT 11:56 PM

bret blaze writes:

The guy wrecked. Probably a hit and run. Reported the car stolen. The hid the car somewhere - prob a backyard or lot where it wouldn't be spotted for a while. Then had it towed/dumped in the city of LA where abandoned cars don't get a whole lot of attention. Viola - not responsible for the H&R and insurance pays to have the car fixed and painted or replaces the vehicle.

# on Feb.29.2008 AT 11:59 AM

Metro Local writes:

Impossible to deduct anything without a search of the interior of the car for evidence of ownership, theft, or for that matter being able to inspect the exterior for evidence of a collision.

Could be the owner landed in jail and reclaiming that vehicle is the least of his/her worries. Could be the owner dropped dead of a heart attack and no one knew where s/he parked their ride. Could be the owner is stuffed in the trunk.

If it's stolen or wanted in a hit and run, it'll pop up when it ends up in an OPG impound yard. It's perfectly plausible one tow truck pulled it out of the parking spot so another could collect it later after it was ticketed by LADOT.

# on Mar.01.2008 AT 12:41 AM

LAURA writes:

that same car was in our building's garage for a LONG time. i always wondered who it belonged to because it was so dirty and looked un-used. i have no doubt it came from our building the shybarry grand. its unbelievable that they would tow it and put on the street and on the wrong lane as if downtown needs any more abandoned things on the street.

# on Mar.02.2008 AT 03:20 PM

BusTard writes:

I remember this same kinda thing happening in 1974, in New York. A year later, someone named Ford clearly stated "Drop Dead." I believe some little rag named the New York Post had his statement as a headline, round the same time that America's then-greatest city was believed to be not in a recession.

A year later there were all kinda Hollywood movies based on broken down cars and people. There was one from Columbia about a taxi driver, or was it some french connection, or some tale about Brooklyn? I forget, but perhaps the present predicament—thanks to the city council of Los Angeles—will soon remind us all what I mean.

# on Mar.03.2008 AT 12:50 AM

Downtown Detective: The Case of the Dumped Z28

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