Philadelphia man accuses police of losing his car after an accident. It's still missing nearly a year later.
A man says Philadelphia Police lost his car after he was in an accident last summer and taken by ambulance to the hospital. Now, nearly a year later, the car is still missing.
Anthony LaBarge says it's been a rough year. He's out of work and living in a motel in South Jersey, awaiting a housing voucher. He's also trying to figure out how to get his car back.
Last July, LaBarge said he experienced a medical episode while driving his car in Philadelphia and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. When he was released a few hours later, he said he called police to find out where his car was.
"They said we have it as being towed, but they could have towed it on one of the side streets," LaBarge told CBS News Philadelphia.
He said he walked up and down the streets of Olde Richmond looking for his car, but never found it. Two weeks later, LaBarge said police told him to report the car as stolen. Police wrote in the report that his car was towed by "rotational tow," a city-run program that ensures tow companies are regulated and approved by police on scene.
The report said: "Vehicle not in tow file. Unknown where vehicle currently is."
Now, nearly one year later, he's suing the city and seeking monetary damages.
"The city hasn't yet understood that when you lose someone's most valuable asset, in many instances their vehicle, the most expensive item they own, you are in many ways wrecking their life," said Elias Kohn, who is LaBarge's attorney.
Kohn says the city of Philadelphia needs a better system for tracking vehicles once they are towed.
"Other cities have systems that work. When they tow a vehicle, they know where they put it," Kohn said.
A spokesperson with Philadelphia's law department said, " We do not have a comment at this time."
Police said there was a mistake on the report and the car was not towed by one of the approved companies in the city's rotational tow program. Police also said the original accident report said, "no tow" so they don't know what happened to the car after LaBarge was taken to the hospital.
