NHTSA Complaint #11592867 — 2015 MERCEDES-BENZ ML350

I was in drive mode and was looking to park the car on the open spot on the street. Had engaged the reverse gear and was attempting to get in the parallel parking spot. While i was doing that, suddenly the wheel locked up and car stopped with a jerk/jolt. Then came warning that the parking brake was not working (Remember I had not engaged the parking brake as I was in drive mode). The locked up wheel would not move and I had great difficulty in making the car safe in the cross traffic. The issue here is parking brake cannot engage by itself. That has nothing to do with the age of the car, it is like the wheel cannot come off just because the car is old. This could have easily happened while the car was in motion at a higher speed, in that case with 1 wheel locked, a car would spin out of control in a moving traffic causing major damage to other vehicles and myself. Mercedes's rep claimed it was a maintenance item. Parking brake engaging by itself is a maintenance item?? We should put a notice to all customers and your life is in danger because the parking brake can engage by itself locking the wheel anywhere anytime. I am very apprehensive of this design which allows for auto lock of a wheel. It must be investigated and all the parking brake systems should be replaced as it can happen to anyone. Thank you