Proper authority to report possible abandoned vehicle.
 

There has been a vehicle parked facing the wrong way on my street for a number of weeks. The car hasn't moved during that time, the front end has a torn bumper, the side has been swiped and the side view mirror is gone. Wondering who should be contacted.

Local Police or Community Watch will probably do that, if you contact them.

If it's in Wildwood call them, if no sure call the Sherif's department and they'll tell you who to call if not them.

Is it illegally parked? If not what’s to report? If so, call the non-emergency dispatch number in your County.

It sounds like it has been in an accident. Should be investigated.

You should not hesitate to contact the local authorities. At my Midwest home I noticed a newer Honda van parked for a couple weeks on the street that looked out of place. I asked the neighbors if they knew who owned it and they said they recognized it had been parked there for a while but no idea who owned it. I contacted authorities and it ended up being stolen. You never know and it might help authorities solve something. Needles to say everyone in my neighborhood was like wow. Thanks for caring and you can remain anonymous when reporting it to the police.

Most roads in The Villages are County roads. If that is the case, call the police. But, if it is in a courtyard villa area, it is a private road owned by The Villages. In that case, call Community Watch, and good luck if they do anything about it.

According to the OP it is "parked the wrong way", hence illegally parked.

OP please come back and let us know what happened

Wouldn’t common sense say in a case of an abandoned vehicle one would call the police/sheriff?

is the trunk smell like a decomposing body ?

First, I would contact my neighbors to see if it’s their car or if they have any knowledge of who might own the car. Assuming the OP did his due diligence, then I would contact community watch who should take the problem from there and have the car removed by the proper authorities.

In my experience, if it is on a County road, Community Watch will do nothing. If it is on private property, the police will do nothing. It is best to determine who owns the road.

What the heck is Community Watch doing (or, NOT doing)? Thought this kind of out of place vehicle, unusual activity, things that violate laws, etc is exactly what they are supposed to be monitoring and reporting to the appropriate authorities. I would call them just to see what you can expect from them in your area. I'm sure just cruising around wasting gas and polluting the air and wearing out tires is not all that they are paid to do.

You smell it. I would do it, but I have a cold, so I can't help.
😉😊🙄😷

Go to "districtgov.org", select departments, and Communiy Watch. Select the annual activity reports. The report will tell you exactly what they do. In 2022, they handled 571,632 service calls.

Nice factual reply but I would believe the poster just wanted to make a snide and uninformed comment.

Speaking as a former sworn deputy sheriff, call your police/sheriff (depending on where you live) non-emergency number. If you have the license plate, give them that information too. It may take them a while if the plate does not come back as stolen but someone will eventually swing by to check it out. If it is stolen, somebody will be grateful.

Parked Vehicle
 

There's nothing like a junky looking car parked on the wrong side of the street for weeks to tick off the residents. I'm surprised Community Watch hasn't been notified before now, but then maybe they were and have done nothing about it.

The next move would be to contact the local authorities and have them check it out. The car might have been stolen and dumped. Or, it might very well belong to a Villager, but the police can verify ownership and have them get it out or they can have it towed if it's an abandoned vehicle. Your description of the damage and the illegally parked position makes me wonder if there isn't something more serious involved.

Facing wrong way IS illegal in itself. Are tags current on the car?

Florida Statutes Title XXIII. Motor Vehicles § 316.195. Additional parking regulations

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, every vehicle stopped or parked upon a two-way roadway shall be so stopped or parked with the right-hand wheels parallel to and within 12 inches of the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.

I see cars all the time parked in the wrond direction in TV. Common sense driving 101 - guess people missed that day in drivers ed.

Call the police to get it ticketed then have them go from there. Search FL State Statute:
705.103 Procedure for abandoned or lost property. There is a process for removal the includes Notice of Intent (of removal) by the police.

They are always hiring, if you can do better. They start out at $11 an hour.

Nice summary of the previous posts.

Car
 

Local police. Could be a stolen vehicle.
CW just driving around burning gas. Only notice if the run into it.

May be a body in the trunk

Hopefully an abandoned car will be left in front of your house so you’ll empathize with the problem.

So
Something stinks like death but it’s not coming from the abandoned car.

It is not the OP’s responsibility to perform “due diligence.” OP is not required to do anything. In fact, OP is trying to be a good citizen & a wonderful neighbor by being observant & reporting it.

Well said.

The impounding of vehicles is tightly controlled by the State Statutes. If on Village street it get a bit more work and can be done if the villages want to comply with the state statutes. I owned a Towing service in Tampa and \know what I'm talking about. Penalities for doing it wrong are severe. Class 3 felony.

Did you just fart??

That doesn't really address my commet, but is a redirection. But, I certainly don't think I could do worse/less in this instance. And, I'm retired and not looking for a job. How about you? Intersted?

That about sums it up.

It’s going on 3 days who have you called?

With the storm and other life issues I haven't called as yet and want to check with the neighbors and see if anyone is currently living at the home where the car is parked.

just call and the owners will be happy you did. . .

Stopped by the home where the car is located. Several papers stuck in the door, rang bell, knocked. Appears no one has been there is quite a while (though the yard is being maintained). In any event, called Community Watch. They transferred me to the County Sheriff's office. Reported the vehicle, tag and location. Said they would follow up.

So they were right……call the sheriff!🤷🏼

We had a car parked the wrong way in front of our house once. We called the cops first thing in the morning. Thought it could’ve been stolen. Sheriff shows up and it was the car owners kid visiting the Nextdoor neighbors. Battery was dead. He gave her a ticket as she had just got her license and had no excuse.

Probably shouldn't chime in on other poster's issues(?), but here goes:

I do believe his comment suggested that the actual Community Watch workers make far less than fast food workers do, so the question is rather than could you, "Would you be willing to do a better job for only $11/hour?"

I sure wouldn't.