27 Cars in One Coconut Grove Parking Lot Booted

Kuci first called Brian Pearl, a director of Terra Group, to find out what happened. Then he sent me an email protesting my naming his company.

"There is a monument sign so that people know where the bank is and our name on the awning says where the bank is, but we own none of the real estate," Kuci said. "We just wanted accurate reporting."

After speaking with Kuci, I changed the headline on the post to refer to Related Group and Terra Group. A few minutes later, a representative of the developers, who declined to give his name, called to protest that "the companies don't manage the property. That's someone else."

I changed the headline again and asked if the companies planned to contribute to ALS research — just to make up for the inconvenience. "I will definitely recommend that," the unnamed representative said.

Later in the day, I spoke with Andrew Beachler, president of Premier Booting. "I am going to refund everyone who was booted out there," he said. "We will make sure that everyone gets their money back."

Daniel Radrizzani, a vice president of Paradise Parking, the vendor that controls the lot, said his company wasn't informed of the race. "We don't operate like this. I found out after the fact," he said and then added that the company would make a donation to ALS research. "The amount I am not sure, but a donation will be made."

Finally, I reached Terra's Brian Pearl. "It is clear that the policies and procedures should be revamped so this is not repeated in the future," he said. "There will be a contribution, though [we] typically don't disclose the amount."

It all seemed to be good news until later in the week. Though the lot's owners called for a suspension of booting, Premier Booting's Beachler said he hadn't heard anything about it. He explained there had simply been bad communication that morning — one driver was finishing work just as another was starting. But he acknowledged it was a lot of booting. He had never before seen 27 cars immobilized in one lot.

"Obviously, there was no wrongdoing," he said. "We were unaware of the event. I am going to be part of it next year and am going to give some money. It is a great cause."

But neither Perdomo nor Katz had received the promised refund when we spoke at the end of last week. Katz, for one, is skeptical it will ever come. "They are just telling you that [they will refund and contribute] to pacify the public," he said.