A 15-Year Battle Over Parked Vehicles Leads to Lawsuit

In Levy's view, the conflict began in 1993, when a code enforcement officer placed an orange sticker on one of his vans, saying he had seven days to move it or it would be towed.

Levy said he went to Town Hall, met with the officer and asked to see which ordinance he had violated. The officer wouldn't let him see the written law, although he read it aloud, Levy said. Levy said he wrote to a superior protesting the sticker and got no response. The truck wasn't towed, and Levy thought that was that.

In 1997, he received a series of tickets and the towings began. Even though each ticket has been dismissed, Levy said he has had to pay more than $1,000 over the years -- $150 to $225 for every vehicle that has been towed.

On the advice of Karpinski, Hanko declined to talk about Levy or the lawsuit. But in an interview, Hanko spoke enthusiastically about the charms of New Carrollton, which has a population of 12,800. "It's the greatest place to raise a family," he said.

Hanko, 77, also praised the police force, which was created about two years ago. "An excellent force," he said. "I'm really proud of them."

Some of the officers are named in the lawsuit. They either declined to comment or did not respond to phone messages.

Three of Levy's neighbors -- two of whom said they signed petitions -- said in interviews that they considered some of the vehicles eyesores and worried that the larger ones could make it difficult for emergency vehicles to pass. None of the neighbors knew of any accidents that could be attributed to the vehicles.

Neighbor Richard Salamy, 50, said he was unaware of the feud, the towing and ticketing, the arrests and now the federal lawsuit. "That's pretty wild," Salamy said. "If you ask me, it's not that big a deal. They're an inconvenience for us."