Towing Issues: Towing a car in Ohio, puco ohio, better business bureau

Question
QUESTION: My son was driving through Ohio,got tired and pulled over into a walmart parking lot to get some sleep.The police woke him up and after about an hour of searching back records they found a 13 yr old misdemeanor warrant from PA.They took him in to hold him to see if they still wanted him.Meanwhile the car is mine(mother)%26 it was on private property. Walmart didn't complain.I had been told in Sandusky Ohio by a police officer that they could not tow a car from private property that didn't belong to the person arrested.The car is registered in Utah.The police in Delaware Ohio say they could tow it,plus didn't have to notify the owner. My question is what is the law in Ohio as I can't get there to get the car,I live in Vegas, and it's going to cost quite a lot as I didn't find out for some time.would you also know how to look up state laws on the computer? Maybe you could point me in the right direction. Thanks,KK

ANSWER: In most states law enforcement has the right to impound a vehicle if the person in possession of the vehicle is arrested. It is often because the police department is responsible for the vehicle if they remove the person in custody of the vehicle. Did they actually extradite him on a misdemeanor out of another state? The decision to tow may be per department policy. What are they asking for in order to release the vehicle?
You can contact the state attorney general to file a complaint or use the links below.
Have you contacted the police department or the towing company directly?

You can file a complaint with the better business bureau
http://www.bbb.org/

You can also contact legal aid in Columbus
http://www.columbuslegalaid.org/

Here is a web site for towing abuse in Ohio
http://www.puco.ohio.gov/Puco/IndustryTopics/Topic.cfm?doc_id=418

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QUESTION: No,Pa has no intention of extraditing him.This has happened before and they never extradited him for a small fine on a misdemeanor. I had to call the police dept to find out about the car,they gave me the towing co. number and all it takes is money to get the car released.Quite a bit of money and they won't let me get my belongings out of the car until I pay.

Answer
In most states they do allow for a lien on personal property as well as the vehicle. However, there is definitely an issue with the vehicle being towed in the first place. If the PD requested it be towed then the towing company to a degree is not at fault. I would recommend contacting the PD and probably an attorney.