Mystery surrounds abandoned car on Regina street that sat for over 2 months with tickets piling up

The car sat parked for months with tickets piling up, according to residents in the area. (Photo provided by Thrisia Pana)

A car sat on a Regina street for more than two months with tickets piling up, according to residents in the area.

The grey Dodge Avenger, which was perched on a snow route across from Central Park, racked up numerous parking citations while it remained parked in the same spot since December, according to Thrisia Pana, who lives in the area.

“You drive by it and you think, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s been there,’ and then a week goes by and it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s been there a week or two, or three and because of the lack of snow underneath the vehicle, it has been there prior to that big snowfall in December,” Pana told CTV News on Monday.

Pana said that tickets periodically disappeared from the windshield, only adding to the mystery.

“There have been tickets placed on the windshield and then they’re gone, so I don’t know if somebody is removing them, now there seems to be a few more, I mean, the wind can take them. I mean, how many tickets does a vehicle need to get if parked in the same spot before somebody says, 'We’ve ticketed this vehicle 18 times, it’s not moving.'”

Pana said she and another resident, as well as their building manager, contacted the City of Regina after they realized it was still there after months.

She said her main concern was safety in the area.

“I may not be living in a house but this is my residential area and I want to ensure that it remains a safe place and this is an abandoned vehicle,” Pana said. “Was it abandoned intentionally, was it stolen? It’s not safe and especially since it is on a snow removal route, it’s not safe because then snow builds up around the vehicle.”

A day after CTV News spoke with Pana and made inquiries about the car to the City of Regina, it was mysteriously gone.

As of Tuesday morning, the car was no longer there. (Katy Syrota / CTV News)

However, a representative for the city says it wasn't towed.

Dawn Shikowski, manager of licencing and parking services for the City of Regina, said the city is not aware of how long the car was parked on the street before CTV News asked about it.

Shikowski said when it comes to an incident like this, the City of Regina would communicate with SGI and RPS to determine the next steps, noting that a tow is generally required when multiple tickets are issued at the same location for the same infraction type.

“Prior to going out to tow the vehicle, we will obtain ownership information from SGI and determine whether or not that vehicle has been reported stolen or not. If the vehicle has been reported stolen, then that information is forwarded to the Regina Police Service for resolution. If it hasn’t been reported stolen, then we would tow the vehicle, the city would tow the vehicle themselves to our impound location,” she said.

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While it's not a common occurrence, Pana said this isn't the first time a stationary vehicle overstayed its welcome.

“A few years ago, there was a vehicle that had been parked on Hamilton Street for quite a long time, and I did phone and eventually it was towed,” she said.

Shikowski said as far as the city is aware, a vehicle parked in the same spots for months is not a common occurrence, noting that staff get more complaints for vehicles in time-limited zones.

“If we do receive a complaint for our vehicles having been parked for an extended period of time in a time-limited zone, we will dispatch our officers and do enforcement which would involve the timing and returning later on,” she said.