Calif. man pays city for his stolen car

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A San Francisco-area man who called a cab because he'd been drinking said the car he left behind was stolen and then he had to pay $330 to get it back.

Tom Espinoza said he was trying to be a responsible citizen by not drinking and driving so he took a taxi home after a high school fundraiser, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

"I got a call from the police dispatcher about 7 that night. He said the car was found and I could either pick it up in the next 20 minutes or they could tow it," Espinoza said.

Espinoza could not immediately get off work, so he assumed he could let the police tow his 1995 Nissan Maxima and, as he was the victim of car theft, he would pick it up the next day for no fee.

But the law permitting that had been changed so only those who live within San Francisco city limits were exempt from fees -- and Espinoza lives just outside the city lines.

"All they took (from the car) was my bottle of indigestion pills," he said. "So I guess they'll be indigestion-free for the next couple of weeks."

The thieves might have felt a little sick, though, had they known they overlooked Espinoza's iPod.