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Columbine Lakes resident furious that nurse was booted after parking for 9 hours in visitors spot

Posted at 6:25 PM, May 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-23 20:25:31-04

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. -- For the second time in less than a week, residents are complaining about Park it Right's enforcement policies.

This time, in Arapahoe County.

On Saturday, two Commerce City residents, whose cars were booted at the Lakes at Dune Park, contacted Denver7 to say their cars were immobilized before the 48-hour limit expired.

This Wednesday, Martha Smith, a longtime resident of Columbine Lakes near West Bowles and South Platte Canyon Road, told Denver7 that one of her husband's nurses was booted after a nine-hour shift.

She said the parking limit in visitors spaces is 72 hours.

"They told her, when she called, that she was parked over seven days," Smith said. "That's not true."

Smith's husband, Woodrow, suffered a brain stem stroke 21 years ago, following a minor procedure on his knee, and is severely disabled.

Nurses help take care of him twice a day. One works a nine-hour shift from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and another works the evening shift from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. 

Smith said it was an evening shift nurse who walked out to her car on May 9 and noticed that it had been booted.

"I ended up putting it on my credit card," Smith said, "because (the nurse) had lost a daughter a couple of months ago and I just didn't think she needed anymore problems in her life."

Smith said the nurse can prove she wasn't there for seven days because she keeps track of her time card on her cell phone.

Denver7 reached out to Park it Right to ask how they determine which cars are in violation. Company president Joel Perri has not responded.

On Saturday, Adriana Trevizo said her car was booted for allegedly violating the 48-hour rule at her townhome complex, but she got her money back after showing her HOA a toll highway statement showing that she was on a highway Friday morning, and was not parked in the spot where she was later booted.

She said, at first, her HOA didn't believe her and said that her transponder could have been used in a different car, but the statement she produced indicated that it was a v-toll, or video (license plate based) toll, not transponder based.

Trevizo said if Park it Right got it wrong in her case, what makes you think they didn't get it wrong in her neighbor's case? 

Her neighbor, Armando Torres, didn't use the toll highway, so he couldn't prove that he hadn't been parked in the spot behind Trevizo's for 48 hours.

He ended up having to pay the fee to have the boot removed, Trevizo said, and can't get a refund.

Smith said she will talk to her HOA board next Wednesday, and will ask for a refund.