Key stuck in ignition

We have a 2001 Prius that was declared totaled after being rear ended, then negotiated to keep it so I could swap the nice leather seats and other interior bits into the 2002 purchased to replace it. Got that part done and then started tinkering, 12V battery was completely dead due to trunk not latching and the trunk light drained it. I disconnected the light and charged up the battery. Now I go to start it and realize someone at the storage yard siphoned all the gas out of the tank, awesome. Ok so I put some gas in the tank, cleared the no-start fault code and now it fires up, yay! Let the hybrid battery charge back up to normal and moved the car to a more convenient place. Went to shut it off and what the heck? It won't let me turn the key all the way off, messed with the steering wheel, it's centered, cycled the shifter a few times, it's in Park. Parking brake is on, everything seems normal but the key won't budge. I disconnect the 12V battery and presto, lock releases and I can shut it off and remove the key. Reconnected the battery, fired it up again, shut it down, same deal, can't turn it off all the way and can't remove the key without disconnecting the battery. What kind of brain dead "feature" is this? Why on earth would it ever lock the key in the ignition and refuse to let it be shut off completely? Someone not technical enough to try disconnecting the battery would be in a real bind.

So what can cause this? I'm not sure whether it's related to the accident, the battery being dead for several days or just a random occurrence. It was not hit super hard, just a high bumper SUV nailed it in just the right place to damage both quarter panels, bumper and slightly tweak the trunk lid. I plan to sell it as a parts car or salvage once I'm sure I'm done swapping parts with the new one, I'd really like to be able to fire it up to move it around without disconnecting the battery to get the key out.

 

Thanks, that's certainly easier than disconnecting the battery to get the key out. It still seems like a baffling design though, there is no message displayed on the console to indicate why it is not letting me take the key out. The display shows that Park is selected, the car shifts into gear fine and can be driven around. Does anyone know how to resolve this issue correctly? Is there some kind of reset or initialization procedure? My OBDII reader doesn't show any fault codes and it's starting to feel like a petulant toddler that I have to coax into giving me back my key.

This thing was always very reliable so I haven't had much opportunity to dig around and get to know the inner workings as I have with other cars, typically I've been the sort to buy a cheap project car and fix it up for myself but my other half had the Prius already when I met her and is very attached to it and it has grown on me as well. I have a Haynes manual for it which is disappointingly sparse, especially when it comes to the electrical system and hybrid drive. I dread the day that mysterious gremlins start to affect the "new" 2002 as I get the impression there is not a lot of expertise out there and even dealers have trouble diagnosing a lot of issues people have even with newer models.