The UK’s Daily Mail has reported on a truly remarkable story described by the irate victim as “bullying and contempt never seen before.”When Hila Ben Baruch, from Tel Aviv, Israel parked her vehicle outside her home with a parking permit, she had done so legally. By the time Ms Ben Baruch had returned, a handicapped parking space had been painted on the roadside around her car.
This was no joke. Once the spot had been painted, the car was then towed for the ‘infringement’. To make matters worse, Ms Ben Baruch was accused of lying about the incident to a city official.After checking with a companion that she wasn’t imagining the incident, she managed to obtain CCTV footage from a security company corroborating her story. Ms Ben Baruch then contacted the Tel Aviv authorities but was ordered to pay a total of 1350 NIS ($340AUD) in fines and towing costs.
Instead, she invited people to watch footage of the incident unfolding on Facebook (watch the YouTube clip below) and said: “Just to see and believe. Cry or laugh. While vehicles are parked blue and white (in Israel, that means free residential parking with a permit), two municipal employees come and mark around the disabled parking!”
The City has since apologised, however Ms Ben Baruch intends to launch legal proceedings for “the injustice and anguish” and “above all for (their) transgressions.”