NMSU Student Claims Wrongful Towing

Most Aggies who got to Saturday’s football game early did so to tailgate. But one student says instead of taking part in any festivities, his car got towed.

NMSU police say he violated game day parking rules; but the student says, he did not do anything wrong.

“That little barricade there, it was open as it is now,” David Williams, a third year engineering student, said Tuesday, as he stood in Lot 34 and recalled Saturday’s events. “There was no sign when I came in. I left and I came back around 10 o’clock to check up on my truck, and it was towed.”

He first thought his car was stolen, Williams said, since he parked in one of the few lots on campus that does not require a parking permit. So when he dropped his vehicle off at 7:00 a.m., he said he expected it to be there later on for tailgating.

“Two police officers watched me and didn’t say anything wrong,” Williams said.

But NMSU Deputy Chief of Police, Stephen Lopez, says bold signs were posted at the entrance on game day, indicating the lot was reserved for tailgating activities no earlier than 11:00 a.m.

“It didn’t state anything about, ‘you cannot park here, your vehicle will be towed,’ all it said was, ‘activities start at 11:00 and you can’t set up until 11:00,'” Williams said. “I wasn’t set up – I just parked.”

But Lopez assures otherwise.

“They actually disregarded the signs, moved the barricades, drove it in where tailgate activities were going to take place and were towed in accordance with university policy and state law,” Lopez said.

Williams says he had no way of knowing his vehicle was susceptible to towing.

“The sign wasn’t there at that corner at that time, so how was I supposed to know… and the cones were open,” Williams said.

Lopez says despite the lot typically providing unrestricted parking, game days mandate different rules.

“Regardless of however many times you’ve parked there before or under whatever circumstances, when there’s a big sign you should probably adhere to what the sign says,” Lopez said.

Williams said he missed the game since it took him all day to retrieve his truck, which cost him $270.

“How do they want the NMSU students to come out and support the team when you have to fear that your vehicle’s gonna be towed,” Williams said.

Lopez says $270 dollars is a small price to pay since the university could have also pressed criminal charges for trespassing into a lot that was barricaded and labeled with signs.