ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Neighbors say they want to know why it took the city of Albuquerque almost a month to deal with an RV abandoned near East San Jose Elementary School. After multiple 311 reports to the city the RV was finally hauled away but not after vandals torched it Wednesday morning. “It really sets the tone for the city not really paying attention to what’s going on. I just feel like it reflects on things like that like it wasn’t found but it’s right in front of the elementary school,” said Edgar Montealban.

A 311 report was made to the city on July 7th. A city spokesperson says the RV was not at the address located on the report. Neighbors filed a second complaint to the city almost two weeks ago, but once again the vehicle wasn’t at the address given. However, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson says the Abandoned Vehicle Unit ended up finding the Ford RV about a block away that day and crews red-tagged it for removal.

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People who live nearby say it should have been towed away then instead of sitting abandoned and attracting trouble to the neighborhood. “It’s bad because people show up there and they go inside and someone who has kids like me doesn’t know what they are doing there,” said Blanca Grasiano.

APD says there’s a backlog for towing on abandoned vehicles, especially for vehicles that are tougher to tow like RVs. There is no word on who or what started the fire, but APD’s Abandoned Vehicle Unit had the RV removed this afternoon. They say the RV was not reported stolen. APD says their three-person unit deals with more than 600 abandoned vehicles a month. They say the ones that are stolen get bumped up on the priority list for towing.