After her license plate was stolen, a retired police officer had her car towed and mistakenly put up for auction.
Nina Pineda and the 7 On Your Side team were in a race against time at the impound lot to prevent Tanya Williams’ vehicle from being auctioned off.
After retiring from the NYPD force, the Brooklyn-based mother found herself in a troublesome situation when her vehicle was booted, towed, and impounded. She had been issued multiple tickets for various offenses, including running red lights, speeding in school zones, parking violations, and unpaid E-ZPass fines.
“June 2023 marks the one-year anniversary of this ongoing situation,” she shared.
As soon as Williams turned around, she noticed that her back license plate was missing. Without any delay, she immediately reported the incident to the authorities and headed straight to the police precinct to file a report about the stolen plate.
After reporting the theft to the police, she wasted no time in heading straight to the DMV to get a new license plate. Unfortunately, the thief who had taken her old plates had already embarked on a reckless and cost-free road trip across the Northeast.
According to Williams, the speed zones of E-ZPass in New York and New Jersey were not limited to those states alone. He mentioned that they were also present in Delaware, Connecticut, and other locations as well.
Williams found herself responsible for all the violations despite the fact that her stolen plate was on a different car.
She uttered her frustration, “All these tickets keep coming, but I reported it stolen. Why is this happening?”
Williams was caught off guard. She had recently undergone knee surgery and hadn’t been able to check her mailing address Upstate for any citations. Additionally, she is responsible for taking care of her brother in Flatbush who is battling MS.
When Williams made her way from Brooklyn to Upstate to collect her mail, she found out that there were already hundreds of violations spread across four different states. The situation only seemed to be escalating from there.
According to Williams, a few days after coming out, he discovered a boot on his car. He immediately reached out to anyone he could think of to prevent his car from being towed, but unfortunately, it was too late, and his car was gone.
Her car had been confiscated by the marshals and taken to the impound, where it was later put up for auction.
Williams expressed, “Throughout the entirety of my fight, I had to make a call, and I chose to call you.”
After the car was sold to the highest bidder, 7 On Your Side took the initiative to reach out to the Department of Finance, the DMV, and the NYPD to rectify Williams’ name from the tickets.
After reaching out to the Department of Transportation, there was a positive development within hours and Williams was able to retrieve her vehicle, thanks to the efforts of 7 On Your Side.
Williams expressed his gratitude, stating that he couldn’t have achieved it without the help of 7 On Your Side.
