Vienna man ‘ordered to pay parking tickets for stolen car’
A Viennese man has claimed that he received more than 20 legal letters over parking offences after his car was nicked but was not told where his stolen car is.Josef F. said today (Tues) that Vienna city administration officials have sent over 20 notifications with parking fines since his vehicle was stolen in October. Speaking to the Kronen Zeitung newspaper, the man claimed authorities cited data protection regulations as they refused to reveal where the car was spotted the last time although it was reported as stolen.The Vienna resident eventually discovered his Audi after being informed by a friend working for the city administration where it was parked in what may have been a case of abuse of office.”We regret these occurrences very much. Mr F. should have contacted police directly as public servants are not allowed to give out such information over the phone,” a spokesman for Viennese authorities told the Kronen Zeitung.It has not been reported whether the man will have to pay the parking tickets as the search for the thieves continues.The Federal Crime Office (BK) meanwhile announced that 1,915 cars were stolen in Austrias nine provinces in the first nine months of 2010, down from 3,982 incidents in the same period of the previous year.News that a resident of Vienna allegedly received more than 20 parking offence notifications come shortly after a businessman claimed he received three parking tickets for one offence.The driver said he found three letters ordering him to pay either 21 Euros, 28 Euros or 43 Euros for illegally parking his car in Vienna. He abandoned the motor for a few minutes on the street after failing to find a parking spot.The man told the Kronen Zeitung he had been told by a Vienna city administration official to pay the lowest fine and forget about the two other orders when he called up authorities to enquire about the issue.