It was more than one week ago when LaRay Jones walked out to where she parked her car earlier that day and noticed something was wrong - her car was not in the spot she had parked it in.

Immediately Jones thought her car was stolen because she has a faculty parking pass and gate card to park in the Wharton Center parking ramp.

Instead, Jones found out her car had been towed. But why?

MSU police Deputy Chief Mike Rice says the most frequent reasons cars are towed includes cars issued six or more parking violations, unauthorized cars parked in leased parking spots, cars parked in fire lanes, safety hazard cars, cars confiscated for criminal reasons and cars that are abandoned.

In 2001, 1,296 cars were towed - a slight increase from 1,280 towed cars in 2000.

"The towing we do is in compliance with state law and local ordinances," Rice said. "We understand when we tow someone's car, we are depriving them of their property."

For more information, see Thursday's edition of The State News.