10.04.015 Regulations for removal or impoundment of vehicles.
(1) Pursuant to Section 22655.5(a) of the California Vehicle Code, a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, may remove a motor vehicle from the highway or from public or private property within the city and have same stored for a period not to exceed 30 calendar days, if the peace officer has probable cause to believe that the vehicle was being operated or occupied for the purpose of cruising (as prohibited by this chapter).
(2) When a vehicle has been removed and stored “impounded” pursuant to Section 15.78.10 of the Los Angeles County Vehicle Code, the police chief or his designee shall provide the vehicle’s registered and legal owners as reflected on the most current Department of Motor Vehicles registration records, or their agents, with the opportunity for a post-storage hearing to determine the validity of the storage, or to consider mitigating circumstances attendant to the impoundment.
(3) A notice of the impoundment shall be mailed (via certified mail, return receipt) at the address listed on the most current Department of Motor Vehicles registration records or personally delivered to the registered and legal owners within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, and shall include all of the following information:
(a) The name, address, and telephone number of the agency providing the notice;
(b) The location of the place of storage and description of the vehicle, which shall include, if available, the name or make, the manufacturer, the license plate number and the mileage;
(c) The authority and purpose for the removal of the vehicle, and the time of impoundment not to exceed 30 days; and
(d) A statement that, in order to receive their post-storage hearing, the owners, or their agents, shall request the hearing in person, writing, or by telephone to the agency providing the notice or in any other manner required in the notice within 10 days of the date appearing on the notice.
(4) The failure of the registered or legal owners to receive notice properly served in accordance with this section at the addresses listed on the most current Department of Motor Vehicles registration records, or the failure to notify any person with legal interest in the vehicle that is not listed in the most current Department of Motor Vehicles registration records, does not constitute defective service and shall not be a bar to the impoundment procedures set forth in this chapter.
(5) The post-storage hearing shall be conducted by the police chief or his designee within 48 hours of the request excluding weekends and holidays. In no circumstances may the hearing officer be the same person who directed the impoundment of the vehicle.
(6) No vehicle impounded pursuant to this section shall be released without presentation of the registered owner’s or agent’s currently valid driver’s license to operate the vehicle and proof of current registration and liability insurance in the limits as required by law, or upon order of a court.
(7) The registered owner or his or her agent is responsible for all towing and storage charges related to the impoundment in accordance with Section 22650.5 of the California Vehicle Code.
(8) Pursuant to Section 22655.5(d) of the California Vehicle Code, in any prosecution of the crime for which a vehicle was impounded pursuant to this section, the prosecutors may request, and the court may order, the perpetrator of the crime, if convicted, to pay the costs of towing and storage of the vehicle, and any administrative charges in accordance with Section 22859.5 of the California Vehicle Code.
(9) The notice and hearing provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles impounded for other violations of law and/or other reasons consistent with local or state law. Other administrative procedures are provided for other impoundments. (Ord. 609 § 1, 2009).