The whodunit at the AJC Decatur Book Festival has been solved.
The University of Georgia Press van was towed Saturday by S&W Towing Services, located in Jonesboro, Decatur police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ross said. The organization said Saturday that its van had been stolen.
UGA Press Director Lisa Bayer, however, said the van was not parked illegally and should not have been towed.
UGA Press in a joint statement with the city of Decatur and the AJC Decatur Book Festival said the van was towed from a parking lot designated for oversized vehicles.
“We have learned that the van was not stolen at all, but reported in error by DeKalb County parking services personnel for being parked in the wrong zone and then illegally towed. More than three days passed from the time the van was towed.”
The release further said neither the DBF nor the Press had any reason to think that a vehicle parked there for the festival would be towed. The Press had often parked in this same lot, without incident, during previous festivals.
Daren Wang, founder and executive director of the Decatur Book Festival, blamed a clerical error for time it took the towing company to let the van’s owners know what happened.
“We’re glad that the van and its materials have been found, but this is not a happy ending,” Wang said. “UGA Press is an important part of the festival’s street fair, and they were very much missed by festival-goers all weekend.”
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