A funeral van with a corpse in it was parked in front of the Redden's Funeral Home on W. 14th Street when it was towed by New York City Police Thursday. (WPIX-TV / March 12, 2010)
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NEW YORK (WPIX) -
New York City cops towed an illegally parked van in front of a funeral home Thursday without realizing the corpse of a man was inside, PIX News has learned.
Redden's Funeral Home director Paul DeNigris told PIX News when he parked the silver 2002 Dodge on W. 14th St., he returned to find the vehicle gone.
DeNigris said he was on his to way to Newark airport to send the body to Miami for cremation.
Police contend that the minivan, with no visible signs that it was a funeral home vehicle, had been parked in a "No Parking Anytime" zone for nearly three hours. As a result, cops towed the car to a Manhattan pound.
DeNigris admits the placard on the windshield, indicating that this vehicle belonged to a "Funeral Director on Official Business", had fallen flat and was hard to detect. In addition, the van's tinted windows obscured the white cardboard coffin box inside.
"I was just a wreck, " DeNigris said.
Once he realized the vehicle had been towed DeNigris headed to the impound car graveyard to reclaim his minivan and his deceased client.
The tow pound did waive the $185 return fee but DeNigris still plans to fight the $115 parking ticket.
The body was eventually flown to Florida for cremation.
DeNigris says he will now be putting funeral home identification signs in the rear and side windows of company vehicles to prevent this from happening again.
Redden's Funeral Home director Paul DeNigris told PIX News when he parked the silver 2002 Dodge on W. 14th St., he returned to find the vehicle gone.
DeNigris said he was on his to way to Newark airport to send the body to Miami for cremation.
Police contend that the minivan, with no visible signs that it was a funeral home vehicle, had been parked in a "No Parking Anytime" zone for nearly three hours. As a result, cops towed the car to a Manhattan pound.
DeNigris admits the placard on the windshield, indicating that this vehicle belonged to a "Funeral Director on Official Business", had fallen flat and was hard to detect. In addition, the van's tinted windows obscured the white cardboard coffin box inside.
"I was just a wreck, " DeNigris said.
Once he realized the vehicle had been towed DeNigris headed to the impound car graveyard to reclaim his minivan and his deceased client.
The tow pound did waive the $185 return fee but DeNigris still plans to fight the $115 parking ticket.
The body was eventually flown to Florida for cremation.
DeNigris says he will now be putting funeral home identification signs in the rear and side windows of company vehicles to prevent this from happening again.
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