Flutterby™! : Philly Cops Stealing Cars

Philadelphia cops tow cars from legal parking spots to illegal parking spots, then impound them and sell them at auction: ‘Borderline illegal’: Courtesy tows remain Philly’s persistent parking nightmare

The next day, he called the parking authority, hoping to clear up the misunderstanding. A woman there said his car had apparently been “courtesy towed” from Camac to Lombard because while he was gone, his original parking space had been declared a temporary no-parking zone, reasons unknown.

“I had never heard of a ‘courtesy tow,’” said Isaacs, 61, who runs a small nonprofit that fights homelessness. “It sounds like a generous thing to do. Except they towed it to a place where it was illegal to park. And then they ticketed it, and impounded it, and put it up for auction.”