TALLINN — A Kalamaja resident is claiming to have found a parking space on Kotzebue street at 2:14pm on a Tuesday. Authorities have opened a preliminary inquiry.
Peeter Laan, 38, says he pulled his 2019 Škoda Octavia into the space without circling the block. He did not parallel park into a half-space. He did not park on the pavement. He simply stopped, turned off the engine, and went inside.
”It was there,” Laan told this reporter. “Just empty. I don’t know why.”
Neighbours have responded with open scepticism. Marit Saar, who lives two doors down and has been searching for parking on Kotzebue street since 2019, called the claim “statistically impossible.” She noted that she had driven around the block fourteen times that same afternoon before abandoning her car on Salme street and walking fifteen minutes in the rain.
”He’s lying,” she said. “Or it was someone else’s space. Or both.”
The Tallinn City Transport Department confirmed it has no record of the space being legally available at that time. A department spokesperson said the matter “warranted a closer look.” An inspector has been dispatched to photograph the street on a Tuesday.
Laan says he has a witness: his dog, Krõps, who was in the back seat. Krõps could not be reached for comment.
The space has not been available since.
Authorities remind residents that unverified parking claims should be reported to the city hotline, where they will be logged, acknowledged, and set aside.