Driver says his EV was towed while charging in a parking lot

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte man is asking for help after his EV electric vehicle was towed while it was left charging in a North Charlotte parking lot.

Christopher Clinkscales says he left his Toyota BZ4X parked in the Chargepoint station in the Ikea lot around 7 on October 28th. He said he confirmed with the store that it began enforcing its towing policy at 10pm.
“I got a notice that my car was missing. I assumed that it possibly could be stolen, so I called 911,” Clinkscales said.

Clinkscales says Streater Towing took his car away at 9:48 p-m. He says he was quoted $1,020 dollars for its release. When he contacted Ikea, he says they couldn’t help because he mistakenly parked his car in a handicapped spot.

“There was no sign at the charging station coming out of the ground,” Clinkscales said. “There was one spray painted, but when I turned left, I drove right over it, and the only sign there is charging available for electric cars.”

NC law requires handicapped spots to be labeled with signs 5 feet above the ground that warn drivers of the maximum penalty. Tow away zone signs are posted on the perimeter of the Ikea parking lot. The price for commercial tow is set at $5,000 dollars with $120 per day storage fee. At one point Clinkscales says the tow company said they could only take cash. He also says the company gave him an address to pick up his car that was different than the address listed for the company.

“As of yesterday, he is taking cash and card. Cash would be $2,800 and car would be $3,400,” Clinkscales said.

WCCB Charlotte called Streater Towing. The company says they have an agreement with Ikea to tow vehicles left in the lot after closing.
“I’ve given him the opportunity to pay with a credit card with cash. I mean, I feel like I’ve done everything that I can to help this gentleman out. I even took two days off of the storage so that I could help him out,” a representative from Streater Towing said.

Clinkscales is hoping Ikea will help get his car released at a lower rate. He’d like to see better signage and regulations on how much a tow company can charge a customer.
“That needs to be changed. No one should be treated this way,” Clinkscales said. “Not just speaking about myself, I’m speaking about the total community. I’m pretty sure somebody else has experienced this.”

We’re still waiting to hear back from Ikea about the incident. We also contacted State Senator Caleb Theodros who is working on legislation to regulate tow companies. He says this case is tricky because the driver parked in a handicap spot. He suggested that the driver could call CMPD to investigate the location of his car. He also said Charlotte requires tow truck drivers to take cash and card payments and if a tow company refuses to take a card you can also contact police to investigate.