A Washington Woman Parked on Land Marked ‘Lot Available.’ Then a Condo Employee Confronted Her: ‘I Can Touch You All I Want’
"What is wrong with you?"
A Washington woman parked in a Seattle lot marked “Lot Available” for sale, and a nearby condo employee came out to confront her. According to The Nerd Stash, the woman, who posts as @iamlai.lane, returned to find tow stickers already on her windshield. The employee yelled “Get off the property!” as he approached. Lai tried to explain she was parked on available land, not his property, but he told her he’d remove her if she didn’t leave.
When she said he couldn’t touch her, he replied, “I can touch you all I want,” and told her she was on private property where police could be called to remove her. As Lai continued explaining that he didn’t own the property, the employee put his hands on her. “Don’t touch me! Don’t [expletive] touch me! What is wrong with you?” she said, before what appeared to be a physical struggle, and the video ended.
In a follow-up video, Lai said she had no idea parking wasn’t allowed there, since no signs indicated any restriction. She said the tow stickers were placed deliberately so she couldn’t easily leave, and that she called police after the alleged assault, resulting in the employee’s arrest. She said she lives near the condo staff involved and is now worried about the aftermath.
The Confrontation Raises Real Legal Questions on Both Sides
Whether the tow stickers themselves were legal comes down to a specific requirement in state law. Under RCW 46.55.070, a vehicle generally cannot be towed from nonresidential private property unless signs are posted near every entrance clearly warning that unauthorized vehicles will be removed. Lai’s account that no such signs existed would matter directly here, since a property owner who skips that posting requirement can’t lawfully authorize a tow, regardless of who actually owns the land.
Whether Lai was technically trespassing is itself a separate legal question from whether the employee had any authority to act on it. Under RCW 9A.52.070 and 9A.52.080, unlawfully remaining on someone else’s property can be criminal trespass in Washington. But RCW 9A.52.105 makes clear that formally excluding or arresting someone for trespass, at least on residential property, requires a peace officer with probable cause, not a private employee acting on their own judgment.
A property employee who believes someone is trespassing can ask them to leave and can involve police, but physically enforcing that belief through force isn’t a power the law grants to anyone other than law enforcement. The physical contact is a separate legal question from the parking dispute entirely. Under RCW 9A.36.041, Washington defines fourth-degree assault broadly as any intentional, unwanted physical contact, and it’s charged as a gross misdemeanor.
A property employee has no special legal authority to physically remove someone from land, even land they believe is being trespassed on, and doing so can expose them to the same assault charge anyone else would face for putting hands on another person without consent.
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