Pittsburgh Police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. said the city's policies for towing stolen vehicles will be reviewed after criticism from a Shadyside carjacking victim who had to pay $145 to get his car out of the city tow pound.

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McNeilly said there was definitely some "miscommunication" in the case of Burton Nord, 60, who was carjacked in Shadyside on Saturday night. The chief believes the tow pound supervisor told Nord that if he waited until Monday to retrieve his car, McNeilly, who was on military duty over the weekend, could waive the $145 fee. Nord said no one ever told him that.

"I can understand someone being upset, but I would think there should be some consideration given to the fact that we recovered this man's car with no damage," McNeilly said at an impromptu news conference yesterday. "What is missing is that our officers did a great job. Within hours, we got this man's car back with no damage and arrested the assailants."

He said the cars are taken to the pound for safekeeping, but the city has to pay for the towing.

In carjackings, he said, an automobile insurance company most likely would pay for towing if a claim was filed. Most people do not have a deductible on comprehensive insurance, which covers auto theft.

Police found Nord's Toyota Avalon in the Hill District, took Nord there to identify three suspects who had been arrested, and told Nord that he would be able to retrieve his car after it was processed for evidence. They gave Nord the phone number for the Hill District police station.

Nord called at 4 p.m. Sunday, but said he never was able to reach police who would release his car to him. At about 7 p.m., he got a call saying the car had been towed to the city tow pound on 31st Street in Lawrenceville.

There, Nord got into an argument with the supervisor and ended up paying a $145 towing fee "under protest." He said no one ever told him that McNeilly could waive the fee if he waited until Monday to retrieve his car, which had his laundry and cell phone equipment inside.

He now must go to a city Traffic Court hearing to try to recoup his money.

In contrast, when former city police Cmdr. Gwen Elliott's carjacked sport utility vehicle was recovered in Bloomfield on Aug. 1, city police called Elliott, told her that they would process it for fingerprints at the scene and that she could take charge of the car.

"I made arrangements with a tow company and my private insurance company to have it towed because [the carjackers] still had the keys," Elliott said yesterday. She said she did not have to pay a towing fee to the city and she doesn't think she will be billed by her own insurance company.

Elliott's carjacking occurred about 9:15 p.m. on July 31, while she was cleaning out the X-model BMW sport utility vehicle outside her home at Negley Avenue and Hays Street in East Liberty. One of the suspects in the carjacking has been charged with an Aug. 4 homicide in Squirrel Hill.

McNeilly said the city's present policy of towing stolen or carjacked vehicles developed because of problems that occurred when police allowed owners to be responsible for their vehicles after a police incident.

In the past, he said, when police recovered a stolen vehicle, they would call the owner and tell the person to come to a police station to pick up the car. Sometimes, McNeilly said, "whoever stole the car would come back and steal it again."

He said the city now handles stolen cars and carjackings a little differently. With stolen cars, the owners are supposed to be notified and given an hour to retrieve their cars before they are impounded. In a carjacking, he said, the vehicle usually is towed to a location where it can be dusted for fingerprints.

"When people request for us to return the car, when we purposely towed it, I sign a form" waiving the towing fee, McNeilly said. He did not give details yesterday on how or when the towing policy would be reviewed.