A San Francisco homeless man is celebrating an emotional victory on Thursday.
The man’s name is Sean Kayode.
The city towed and impounded his car on Mar. 5 because he had accumulated a total of 30 unpaid parking tickets.
Now, he would use his car for work and as a place to sleep at night and thanks to his attorney, Kayode was able to get his car back on Thursday.
His attorney, Jude Pond, went to federal court claiming that Kayode’s Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures was violated when the city took away his car.
He argued that his client’s inability to pay off his parking tickets didn’t justify the city’s actions, and as a result, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily ordering the city to return his car.
And as you can imagine, for someone whose car is an integral part of their life, Thursday was definitely a day to celebrate.
“I’m very happy today. Today is actually, I would say my birthday,” Kayode said. “It feels like my birthday. I never celebrate my birthday, but today, I’m celebrating because this is a shot for all the little people out here.”
Now, this isn’t the end of the road for Kayode’s case.
He still has a case pending against the city in federal court to have the city change its laws regarding repayment of parking tickets, but until then, he’s able to enjoy having his car back.
And when I asked him what he plans on doing now that he does have his car back, he told me he’s going back to working for Uber Eats.