DENVER — Norma Robles hasn’t been able to park her car in her north Denver garage for months, after someone abandoned an SUV in her alley driveway.
Robles said she called 311 in October after one of her neighbors spotted the car. The 311 report resulted in nothing, she said. Worried the car was stolen, she said she contacted Denver’s police non-emergency line and was told to file a police report. She did.
Months went by, and still nothing happened.
Robles' report to 311 about an abandoned car was one of 134 abandoned vehicle reports to the city’s complaint line between June 2023 and last month, according to an analysis of 311 data by Steve On Your Side.
“That's the garage, so you can't see it because there's so many weeds,” Robles said, pointing to the vehicle, now surrounded by weeds, blocking her garage. “I'm trying to get somebody out here to cut the weeds, but I can't with this thing in the way.”
The teal Ford Explorer was locked, but Steve On Your Side spotted plumbing supplies in the trunk and noticed the radio had been ripped out of the dashboard and was on the ground outside the car.
Robles’ neighbor, Randy Redd, said he also tried to call the city about the problem but had no luck.
“We call 311 ourselves, just let them know we see it too and left a message a couple of times, and then get no response from them either,” he said.
In early June, Robles said, she tried calling Denver’s non-emergency line again. This time, a dispatcher told her to call Denver’s Right Of Way Enforcement Dispatch to report the vehicle. She called the dispatcher on June 11. But according to a spokeswoman for Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, a city inspector visited the site and reported that the car wasn’t there.
Frustrated, Redd called Steve On Your Side to see if we could help.
Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger called the dispatch line for Right of Way, and within a couple of hours, an enforcement officer was back in Robles’ alley. The officer called a tow truck. The tow truck driver hauled the vehicle away to a nearby street parking spot. Nancy Kuhn with DOTI said the department will now report the vehicle as abandoned to the Denver Sheriff's Department.
What to do if you have an abandoned vehicle on your block
Kuhn told Steve On Your Side that Robles and Redd did the right thing when they contacted 311 about the problem, and she wasn’t sure where the disconnect happened.
She said people should report abandoned vehicles to the Denver Sheriff Department by using this form.
> To report abandoned vehicles in Denver: fill out this form for the Denver Sheriff's Department.
“People can also contact 311 and DOTI,” Kuhn said. “DOTI will have an agent check it out and address as needed. In the case of an abandoned vehicle, we will refer those to the Denver Sheriff’s Department for handling, as they have a process for that, and they also run the impound lot. “
This story was the result of a tip to Steve On Your Side. If you have something you want Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger to look into, contact us here.
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