This Redditor Reported A Car Parked By A Fire Hydrant—Now Their Neighbor Wants Them To Pay The Ticket

A Redditor found themselves in an unexpected neighborhood dispute after calling the police about a car parked illegally in front of their home. The situation started with a suspicious vehicle, but quickly turned into a tense exchange with their neighbor.

The OP explained that there’s a fire hydrant directly in front of their house, which legally means no one is supposed to park there. Because of that, they usually expect the space to stay clear and park in their own driveway instead.

One day, they came home from work and noticed a car with out-of-state plates parked by the hydrant. At first, they assumed it belonged to a visitor next door and didn’t think much of it.

But after several days had passed and the car hadn’t moved, the OP started to worry it might have been stolen and abandoned there. Living in a rougher neighborhood, they decided to call the police to check it out.

By the time they got home later, the car had been moved across the street, where there was plenty of parking. Problem solved—or so they thought.

Later, the neighbor began parking in the same spot and made a sarcastic remark about the OP calling the cops again. She also claimed someone had gotten a ticket and asked if the OP planned to pay for it.

The OP explained they only called because the car hadn’t moved for days and looked suspicious. Not wanting to argue—especially with the neighbor’s son watching—they went back inside and ended the conversation.

Thankfully, the Redditor says the drama won’t last much longer. They’re moving out at the end of the month and say one year in that neighborhood was more than enough.

After several days passed and the car hadn’t moved, the OP started to worry it might have been stolen and abandoned there.

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Here’s the original post by Reddit user u/Ecstatic-Ad1295.

In front of my house is a fire hydrant. The law says you can't park by one, so I expected the street parking to be clear. My neighbors park their car in front of their house and I do not. I use my driveway.One day I came home from work and there was a car there out of of state plates. I figured it was a guest for my neighbors and didn't think much of it. Then a few days passed by and the car didn't budge. I thought it was a stolen car that was dropped off in front of my house because I don't live in the best neighborhood.So I called the cops to see if they could come check it out. Please keep in mind it was also a day before trash pick up and seeing as the car hadn't moved in a few days, I assumed it wasn't going to move again any time soon.I called as I left to work and when I got home. The car moved across the street (where there is PLENTY of parking). Well fast forward to today. My neighbor is parking there now and I've asked her before to move her car due to trash day and this time she made a remark "yeah, I'll move my car. Before you call the cops again on us. I got a ticket by the way, are you going to pay for it?" I told her the reason why I called, stating i thought it was a stolen car because it had out of state plates and that it was there for almost a week and hadn't moved. She claims it was only two days. She said I could've asked them to move the car, but how was i to know it was someone visiting them?She tries to argue with me but I didnt want to argue because her son is there literally watching the interaction. Then she called me an asshole for calling the cops and I told her that I was being nice by asking her and I could've just called the cops again because it's illegal to park in front of a fire hydrant. That I don't care if they park there, they just need to move their car for trash day. She started to cuss me out in her native language and I just went into my house and shut the door on her. Thankfully I'm moving out of here at the end of the month. One year was all I could take living in this neighborhood. So am I the asshole?

Let's see how the Reddit community reacted.

ada-byron

You should've just acted surprised.

Traditional-Sky5252

NTA.

ButItSaysOnline

How did she know someone called?

Puzzleheaded-Call351

Don't mess with fire prevention.

humble-meercat

It's their responsibility to park legally.

Bill__A

She might need to learn the hard way.

secret_identity_too

I'd be calling reporting it every time.

Sensitive-Way-5477

Okay, but why would you admit to it?

Capable_Victory_7807

She deserves it for being petty.

sirhackenslash

It's a safety violation.

RedTruck1989

I think your neighbors might be my neighbors!

Boring_Fee_9572

She sounds like a slow learner.

GlobalLifeguard8928

In the end, the Redditor says the situation only reinforced their decision to move. With the end of the month approaching, they’re ready to leave the neighborhood drama behind for good.

Still, the awkward encounter left them wondering if they handled things the wrong way. So they turned to Reddit with one simple question: were they actually the jerk in this situation, or just trying to follow the rules?