Police error keeps man's stolen car in impound lot for 2 years

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Andrew Carter and his recovered 1985 Volvo.

His car was stolen right outside his house, in Detroit. Now, two years later it's been found still completely intact. But, there's a catch.

Andrew Carter has been walking, riding his bike and taking the bus for nearly two years now. The 29-year-old did not know his car has been sitting in an impound lot the entire time - until Friday.

Carter says back in October of 2014 his white, 1985 Volvo 240 was stolen outside his home on Virginia Park. He called Detroit police and reported it.

"That was it," he said. "As a matter of fact, I threw away the keys and the title July of 2016 during a move."

But last Friday evening on July 28th after nearly two years, Carter says Detroit police called him leaving him a message with an auto recovery number.

"I was like that's great - my Volvo has come back to me after two years," he said. "Then I thought, I threw away the keys (and) what kind of condition is it in?"

Somewhat sitting pretty inside J&C Towing on Joy Road, Carter's Volvo is fully intact apparently parked in this spot. It had been recovered less than 24 hours after it was stolen according to police.

"I said okay so why so long, (they said) it says here it was recovered on October 13, 2014," he said.

Confused but excited to get his car back, the dark cloud over Carter returned when he learned his car had been there for more than 650 days at $15 per day. Along with other fees, Carter was looking at a bill easily surpassing $11,000.
 
"The telephone crime reporting unit was able to negotiate with the towing yard," Carter said. "It brought the charges down from thousands of dollars to a grand total of $260 to $300."

Detroit police say looking at the report Monday; it appears the person responsible for entering the vehicle into the LEIN system made a mistake. So, when Carter reported his car stolen, even though it had been quickly recovered, he was never notified...

After hearing the full story about what Carter has been going through, the owner of J&C Towing says they are waiving all of Carter's fees and giving him a free tow to a mechanic.

Detroit police is calling this situation unfortunate. But at this point, Carter says all he can do is laugh about it.