Seized-vehicles auction fetches $118,500 for city

3/30/2014

A Toledo Police Department auction of numerous motor vehicles — along with a few other motorized devices — netted $118,500 for the city on Saturday.

Sgt. Mark Taylor said 92 items — mostly automobiles, but also a few motorcycles, mopeds, all-terrain vehicles, and even one riding lawn mower — that had been legally forfeited were sold off to the public during the auction at the city’s Dura Avenue impound lot.

The most valuable vehicle, a 2006 Ford 500 sedan, fetched $4,000, while the cheapest car, a 1997 Chevrolet Lumina, sold for $400.

There were 472 registered bidders at the auction.

The riding lawn mower went for $150, said the sergeant, who oversees the impound lot for the police department.

“It was a little Craftsman. Some guy got a DUI on it — we sold it here,” he said.

Of the proceeds, $14,300 went to the Law Enforcement Trust Fund, while the rest went to the city’s general fund, Sergeant Taylor said.

The police department’s next seized-vehicles auction is likely to be held sometime in early June.