Police impounding cars with oversized rims

CINCINNATI - When he has to, Marcus Jones knows how to hold his temper.

This is one of those times, as he talks politely with the Cincinnati City Impound Lot staff on the phone.

"Yes, how you doing?" he asks. "I'm calling to see if you have inspected my Cadillac yet?

The measured tone of his voice doesn't mean he isn't mad.

After 10 years of driving his 1988 Cadillac Fleetwood with oversized rims, last Thursday police lights started flashing in his rearview mirror in Cumminsville.

"[The police] pulled me over at the carwash and told me he was taking my Cadillac because my rims was too big for the car," he said.

Jones says he and his passenger had to get out and watch as a tow truck hauled his car away.

"I'm handicapped," says Jones as he leans on his cane. "I have arthritis in both of my knees. I need that car to get back and forth to the doctor's and therapies."

Jones isn't the only one whose car was taken.

Donte Givens is from Colerain Township was stopped by the police as well.

"He (the policeman) walked up to my car, and he said, 'I'm taking this, you might as well call you a ride right now,' " recalls Givens.

The police cite Cincinnati Municipal Code 503.29 which states, "No person shall drive or move or cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved on any highway, any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such unsafe condition as to endanger any person. "

A police spokesperson says the law requires the vehicle be towed.

Jones, who says he has been a mechanic for years, sees no threat to public safety.

"The car is not unsafe," Jones said.

Givens says the same thing about his vehicle.

"The wheels don't come anywhere in contact with the frame or the body or nothing," Givens said.

Police did not respond to a WCPO call to explain further.

Workers at the impound lot say four to five cars a day are coming in because of their rims.

They say an inspector examines the car to determine if it is roadworthy.

If it fails the inspection, the owner must pay an impound fee, the fine for the violation and hire a tow truck to remove the car from the lot.

If no violation is found, all the charges are waived.

Jones has contacted a lawyer.

"It's like you're allowed to steal from me, and taken my stuff and do what you want to do with it," he says. "That's unfair toward me."