A motorist is finding out the hard way what happens when the city wrecks a car


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Andria Mantle is stuck in a bureaucratic nightmare. Her car was crushed by a Saint Louis city street sweeper, being towed by a city tow truck, but the city is saying they aren't at fault and won't pay for all of the damages to the vehicle.

Mantle's car was legally parked outside her home when a city tow truck stopped by to try and rescue a stranded street sweeper. Unfortunately, bad luck struck, and a chain on the truck snapped, sending the street sweeper straight into Mantle's car, totaling it.

Now the city is only saying they will pay for the value of the car, which was purchased in 2015 and not the full repair costs. They won't even shell out for a rental. According to a spokesperson,

"The city will only reimburse a claimant for rental car costs if the city is determined to be liable for a claimant's vehicle damage and then only while the claimant's vehicle is in the shop being repaired."

Hopefully Mantle comes out of this whole again, but fighting bureaucracy is a pretty daunting task.

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