Police mistakenly impounded driver & car

[j.m@talk]

TORONTO (Reuters) - An 85-year-old Canadian man spent hours inside his impounded car in freezing temperatures after his vehicle was ticketed for illegal parking and then towed to a police compound, police said on Thursday.

Police in the western city of Edmonton, Alberta, said frost had obscured the car's windows and a tow-truck driver, unaware of the elderly man sitting in the driver's seat, took the car to the police compound. The incident occurred Tuesday.

"The security officer at that site along with the tow-truck driver noticed that there was some movement in the car," said Edmonton Police spokeswoman Lisa Lammi.

"They accessed the vehicle and sure enough there was an elderly man inside. He was disoriented but he was not unconscious."

Temperatures were close to -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit).

According to the Edmonton bylaw office, the ticket was written two hours before the car arrived at the impound lot.

The man, whose identity has not been released, was taken to hospital for observation.

Lammi said police were unsure what stopped the man from driving his car away.

[leprechaun_40]

Shoulda blown the horn, maybe he was asleep?