E.D.Mich.: Detroit’s removal of 85 used cars parked on city land as a trespass was reasonable

Plaintiff is a used car dealer who parked cars on a city owned lot that they were trying to acquire, but it never went through. The cars weren’t removed despite requests, so all 85 were towed off by towing companies at the request of the city. Plaintiff was essentially a trespasser, and the removal of the cars was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Carmen Auto Sales III v. City of Detroit, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42298 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 15, 2018):

Moreover, Carmen Auto’s cars were illegally parked on a city-owned lot. And the City Defendants did not transgress the Fourth Amendment by impounding cars parked in violation of city ordinances. See South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 369 (1976) (“Police will also frequently remove and impound automobiles which violate parking ordinances and which thereby jeopardize both the public safety and the efficient movement of vehicular traffic.”). Bolstering that conclusion, Parnell told Carmen Auto’s representatives that the tow operation was not part of a criminal investigation, only ordinance violations.