Residents in a Hollywood neighborhood woke up Sunday morning to find Wilcox Avenue, which is usually packed with cars, empty after tow trucks swept through the neighborhood ahead of Academy Awards preparations.
“I left the house to go to the grocery store at 7 a.m. and when I got back at 7:30 all the cars on the street were gone,” said Mitchell Crispi, who lives on Wilcox Avenue near Hollywood Boulevard.
In a video posted on Instagram, Crispi shows Wilcox Avenue devoid of vehicles.
The video captures a car hooked up to a tow truck and what appears to be its owner running toward their vehicle.
“There were five tow trucks, maybe more, actively towing cars,” they said.
Wilcox Avenue fell within a mile-square security perimeter established around the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars were being held. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation did not comment on why the parking restrictions occurred as far as a mile from the venue location. But amid the growing war in the Middle East, following attacks on Iran by the U.S. and Israel, security around the awards show was tight.
The L.A. Police Department said in a statement before the event that its preparations included “layered security perimeters” and “traffic management plans … throughout the Hollywood area.”
This meant temporary tow-away signs warning drivers to “not stop” from 6 a.m. to midnight Sunday, according to signage photographed in the area.
Transportation officials said such signs are posted at least 48 hours in advance. But residents The Times spoke with said they did not notice the signs before leaving their vehicles parked overnight, then awoke to the nasty surprise of an empty street.
According to Crispi, street parking is heavily relied on in the neighborhood because many apartment buildings do not have enough parking for tenants.
“Everyone around here parks on the street,” they said. “There’s just not enough parking for everyone.”
Weekend parking habits may have contributed to the number of cars towed, Crispi added: “It’s the weekend, so a lot of people around here just park their cars in the same spot for the weekend and leave them there.”
On the Hollywood resident’s Instagram post, social media users were divided in their opinions, with some saying the city of Los Angeles should provide free alternate parking options for affected residents and others saying that Hollywood residents should have anticipated such restrictions given their proximity to events such as the Oscars.
After their roommate’s car was towed, Crispi accompanied her to retrieve it from Hollywood Tow Service, where they said the lot appeared unusually busy.
“They said they haven’t seen that many people there in one day,” they said.
A rate board posted at Hollywood Tow Service shows a $220 towing fee for vehicles in the city of Los Angeles, along with a $115 city vehicle release fee, plus daily storage costs of $18 to $94 depending on vehicle type.
Hollywood Tow provides impound services on behalf of the city of Los Angeles.
“Decisions regarding parking restrictions, enforcement activity, and which vehicles are impounded for special events are made by the City,” a spokesperson for Hollywood Tow said in a statement to The Times.
Crispi said they believed many residents were unaware their cars were at risk of being towed.
“I knew people in this area didn’t know they were going to get towed because this lot was empty,” they said, pointing to a nearby parking lot on Wilcox. “If people knew beforehand, they would’ve parked their cars here.”
Another resident, Chris Bott, questioned why the streets farther from the main Oscars venue were included in the enforcement area.
“We’re blocks from the Dolby Theatre,” Bott said. “Why is it happening here?”
Bott said he saw similar towing activity at the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sunday morning.
“We saw someone’s car actively get pulled from the side of the street,” he said.
The office of City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, whose district includes Hollywood, said it could not comment but was looking into the matter.
The city Department of Transportation said in a statement that temporary parking restrictions were posted in advance as part of preparations for the Academy Awards.
“The City issues permits for major events that require road closures and LADOT posts temporary no parking signs a minimum of 48 hours in advance,” LADOT said. “For the 2026 Academy Awards, LADOT posted signs to restrict parking on certain days to facilitate both event setup and for the awards ceremony,”
