NEWPORT NEWS, Va. _ Former football star Michael Vick left his Hampton mansion years ago, but he still owes the city $70,800 in unpaid taxes on a fleet of luxury cars.
Vick lived in the city after serving time in prison on federal charges of running a dog-fighting operation in Surry County, in which, federal investigators reported, he was involved in strangling and drowning some dogs.
Hampton Treasurer Molly Ward said the city's efforts to contact him, including through people who have handled his affairs, have been ignored.
The city has so far filed warrants in debt for $51,900 in unpaid taxes, and plans to file for an additional one shortly, she said.
Vick could not be reached for comment Thursday.
He's just been named honorary co-captain for the NFL Pro Bowl, although more than 700,000 people have signed a petition objecting to that. Last year, speaking on repentance and redemption, he told the Liberty University convocation that he had learned the hard way that character is based on what a person does when people are not watching.
Ward said taxes were paid on the Hampton house Vick sold in 2016. City tax records show he sold the house for $572,500, although it was assessed at $640,100 at the time. He bought the land in 2005 for $102,000, and then had the 3,500-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bath home built there.
According to court records from his 2008 bankruptcy case, he owned through a company two 2007 Land Rovers, valued at $73,000 and $62,621; a 2007 Cadillac Escalade, valued at $51,000; a 2008 Mercedes, valued at $80,000; a 2007 Infiniti truck, valued at $65,000 and located in Kansas; a 2008 Ford F450 truck, valued at $40,000; a 2007 Ford F-150 truck, valued at $25,000; a 2006 Cadillac DTS, valued at $31,000; and a Chevrolet Impala, valued at $24,000 but held by Isle of Wight County on account of a $16,000 tax bill.
