Around 200 vehicles marked for tow in Wichita police enforcement effort

A few hundred vehicles sitting on Wichita’s streets will be towed Thursday if their owners don’t move them.

Wichita police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow said officers helping out with Tuesday’s special assignment targeting broken down and nuisance vehicles stuck bright green impound notices on around 200 cars, trucks and trailers across town.

The notices warn owners that they have 48 hours to move the tagged vehicle or it will be towed and impounded at their expense.

Impound fees can rack up fast. One towing company the city and police department uses charges a $95 hook-up fee, $4 per mile to tow it to its lot and $27 per day storage, plus other fees.

Woodrow has said moving a marked vehicle a few feet or to a space on the same side of the street isn’t enough to avoid tow. Impounding starts Thursday.

A city ordinance gives the Wichita Police Department and other city employees the authority to tow or impound vehicles without giving notice to the owner under certain circumstances, including when they are left continuously on a city street for 48 hours or longer.

The enforcement effort is aimed at fighting blight in neighborhoods and other Wichita city streets, Woodrow said.

Anyone who has a vehicle impounded can find out where it was towed by calling the Police Department.

This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Around 200 vehicles marked for tow in Wichita police enforcement effort."