Seattle man installs fence around illegally-parked car sharing vehicle

SEATTLE, Wash. -- A Seattle man is getting a lot of attention over the fence he installed to block in a car2go vehicle that's illegally parked in front of his duplex. Now, he said he wants the company to pay fees in order to get the car removed.

"The whole thing took me two hours," Dan Smith said.

For 12 days, a fence has blocked in a car2go car that's illegally parked in front of the Queen Anne Duplex that Smith manages, reported KOMO.

Smith put it up after he says the company failed to offer him a timely plan to get the car removed after someone parked it here.

"I had no idea what the liability was, but I just wanted to avoid it," Smith said.

Smith is now asking SHARE NOW, the company that operates car2go, to pay a series of fees to get the car back.

Smith said he's been frustrated by how the company has handled the situation and wants to see changes to help prevent something like this from happening again.

"My real point is making a change in the system," Smith said.

SHARE NOW told us it made several attempts to retrieve this car.

"Despite professing his wish to have the vehicle removed, a person claiming to be the property owner is obstructing its removal and demanding payment. We do not tolerate our vehicles being held for ransom. This is now a legal matter," the company told KOMO in a statement.

"I think they're being the perpetrator and playing the victim," Smith said.

Smith said he's willing to keep the car blocked in until his fees are paid or if police come to tell him that's he's done something illegal.

"You hate inconvenience like this, but part of it is like, 'Come on, big business. You have to respect people,'" Smith said.

SHARE NOW said improper parking of its vehicles does happen from time to time, however, the vast majority of members use the service responsibly.