Sailor wins $7,500 settlement after his car was towed and auctioned off while deployed

[douglas9]

A sailor will get $7,500 after his 2011 Mazda was towed and auctioned off in 2022 while he was overseas.

The Department of Justice announced that Navy Lt. Jonathan Liongson would receive the money as part of a settlement with Tony’s Auto Center, based in Chula Vista, California over violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA.

Liongson was stationed at Naval Base San Diego when he parked his 2011 Mazda 6 at a friend’s house before heading off on a deployment with the USS Bunker Hill in November 2022. While he was abroad, Tony’s Auto Center towed the car, and sold it at an auction two months later.

According to the federal complaint, on Dec. 6, 2022, the Chula Vista Police Department impounded Liongson’s car because of an expired registration and had Tony’s Auto tow it to their facility. Tony’s Auto obtained Liongson’s registration and information about his loan through the Navy Federal Credit Union.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/sailor-car-towed-settlement/

[Traildogbob]

1. I lost

My little $400. Dodge dart after a 7 month Navy deployment. I had the base police scour the parking area and filled out the theft report. I was raging mad, like sailers tend to get.
Real hell after just getting back and in disarray from being gone 7 months.
The parking area on base was huge.
After seven months, I only misplaced where I thought I had parked. So damn embarrassing.
What a MORAN!

[Shellback Squid]

3. "What a MORAN!" thanks for keeping the 'get a brain moran" alive

[Traildogbob]

4. "They" 😳 do a great job of that

From top to bottom.

[stopdiggin]

2. this guy got some relief due to his service status

(which I guess is as intended)
Virtually everything else here (towed car, as ordered by city. auction after a period of impoundment) is absolutely the way things work with abandoned vehicles. Not only in this city/jurisdiction, but around the country.

Also - one has to assume that with just a modicum of legwork - this guy's 'buddy' could have done a few things that might well have served to mitigate ...

[brush]

5. Didn't the OP say he parked the car at a friend's house? The friend let them tow it?

[slightlv]

6. or the friend might have been at work when it was towed.... n/t