Mayor slapped with lawsuit over towed junker car
TRENTON >> It’s tough being mayor.
A city resident is really, really mad about his junked-out car getting towed and has accused officials of running an impound lot “kickback” scheme.
In a page rumored to be stolen from the playbook of Paul Perez’s cronies, John Moses, of the 800 block of Carteret Avenue, is going it alone in a recently filed federal lawsuit brought against Mayor Reed Gusciora and his acting police director, Pedro Medina.
Also named in the pro-se lawsuit is mayoral aide Andrew Bobbitt, police officer Lawrence Davis, Risoldi’s Automotive, and Jackie – just Jackie – from records.
“I’m sure the person is upset. Maybe I’ll settle for Dunkin’ Donuts,” Gusciora said, referring to the notorious munchkin man litigation that went nowhere. “I know people are inconvenienced with getting towed. As far as kickback, I have no idea what he’s talking about.”
Essentially, Moses wants the city to pay up for towing a salvage-title car he bought from the state Department of Treasury.
Moses claims the mayor, and everyone else, is responsible for his misfortune, because his fixerupper 2013 silver Chevy Impala was hauled away from an automotive shop on Stuyvesant Avenue.
Moses planned to get repairs there ahead of a New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicle Commission inspection to comply with state and city regulations on junkers.
He claims the city has him in a pickle because he can’t get necessary registration documents without getting his car to pass inspection. And he needs his impounded car to be able to do that.
“Defendants are stating that it is State law that Plaintiff must have a valid registration card for his salvage vehicle, before they can give a release form to Plaintiff for his salvage vehicle. Plaintiff cannot obtain a registration for his salvage vehicle in New Jersey,” Moses wrote.
He has alleged city officials violated the law by seizing the vehicle, citing the city’s abandoned vehicle ordinance that spells out exceptions for storing unlicensed and inoperable clunkers on private property for 15 days.
“Defendants Mayor Reed Gusciora, Andrew Bobbitt, Pedro Medina, the City of Trenton Police Department, and City Record Rep. Jackie purposely, knowingly, or negligently instructs Plaintiff to have a valid registration, a clear car title and insurance so that Plaintiff can incur illegal storage fee at the hands of Risoldi’s Auto Recovery and eventually lose his vehicle, and then Risoldi’s Auto Recovery gives the City a kickback,” the lawsuit claims.
Moses adds city requirements for release of his vehicle “relegates Plaintiff to ‘second-class citizenship’ by denying him the ‘tangible and intangible’ benefits available to non-salvage title individuals through vehicle ownership.”
The lawsuit was referred to the city’s legal department, which handled the munchkin lawsuit that accused the mayor of bribing voters to win the runoff election over perpetual second-place finisher Perez.