An abandoned van advertising a sexual encounters website appears to have remained in the same West Los Angeles parking spot for more than six months.
The graffiti-covered burgundy Ford promotes a classified ads website called BackPagePro.com.
It’s similar in content and appearance to the controversial Backpage site which was shut down in 2018 amid concerns it was contributing to the spread of prostitution and child trafficking.
The van — which has been partially defaced with graffiti — has become a fixture on the 2200 block of South Bundy Drive, just north of Pico Boulevard.
“It never moves,” one fed up neighbor complained The Sun. “I can’t remember it not being there.”
The location — which displays no restricted parking signs — is just outside the city limit of Santa Monica. Parking enforcement falls under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
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In L.A., protocol is for vehicles parked in the same location for longer than 72 hours to be issued a written citation. “24-hours after that, if the vehicle still has not moved, it is considered abandoned and will be towed,” a spokesperson for the agency told The Sun.
“The exception is if a vehicle is suspected of being used for a dwelling, at which point the city’s vehicle dwelling policy is observed.”
On Friday, October 8, The Sun received the following update from DOT: “The vehicle has been reported to parking enforcement and investigators will follow up.”
Five days later, it remained in the same place.
It’s unclear how long the van has been idle, but some witnesses report seeing it on the same block for as long as a year.
It’s also unclear who owns the van or the BackPagePro website, as no contact information available to online visitors.
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