Tow Truck Drivers
Being a limo driver means that I've seen many instances where tow truck drivers have rescued stranded motorists and removed disabled vehicles from roadways. I have not needed their help as yet, but if I ever do, I'm glad to know that they're there.
As is always the case, however, a few bad apples ruin it for everyone. Last year, I had the utter pleasure of getting into an argument with 2 tow truck drivers who inexplicably claimed that I was trespassing on the property of a commercial business I was patronizing. Now, being in law school, I actually know a thing or two about what is required of a legal tow. Being an avid news watcher, I'm also aware that tow truck drivers tow cars illegally all the time. So what did I do? I asked the 2 tow truck drivers I encountered for documentation (that they were legally required to have, anyway), just to make sure the tow was above board.
They, of course, had no idea what I was talking about and after some generic threats and citations to non-existent privacy laws that allegedly said I'd have to subpoena the documentation I was asking for, they left.
So imagine my (ahem) "surprise" then, when I discovered the following, again with just a few simple Google searches:
Vincent Cardinalli Sr., a 64 year-old tow truck company owner in Hollister, CA, was jailed on extortion charges. Cardinalli has two prior arson convictions so if he gets convicted on the extortion charge, he faces life in prison. The allegation is that Cardinalli and his son Paul Greer tried to collect towing fees from people who didn't own the car in question or had sold the car in question before the tow. If you wouldn't pay, Cardinalli also used to sue you in small claims court and not give you proper notice of the suit. In total now, Cardinalli and Greer have been charged with 170 felony counts in relation to their scheme. (San Jose Mercury News, January 9, 2008).
72 year-old Shirley Lee Williams (5'3", 145 lbs) is in a 2003 Grand Marquis that is in an accident in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California. Her son Michael was driving. Somehow the responding police officers, firefighters, and paramedics all find Michael and pull him out, but somehow miss Shirley in the passenger seat. The car is towed away. Shirley's dead body is discovered in the wrecked car the next day. State and local authorities are investigating. (San Francisco Chronicle; December 17, 2007; December 19, 2007).
A 32 year-old tow truck driver, angry over a ticket he'd
received from the Gresham, Oregon police decides to tow a marked police car
that was responding to a domestic disturbance call. When ordered by another
officer to release the cruiser, the driver complied, but then decided to
lock himself in his tow truck and not come out. (San
Francisco Chronicle, December 14, 2007)
I realize that the fault here could lie with multiple people
(police, etc), but it seems to me that out of all the parties, the tow truck
driver is one who would have to thoroughly check the vehicle while securing
it to his truck.
For years, illegally parked cars in San Francisco were towed
by a company called City Tow. Turns out City Tow was running a scam were it
would (A) agree to waive storage and towing fees if a vehicle owner would
surrender vehicle title to City Tow, but then bill the owner for those
waived fees anyway, and (B) billing customers for fees where towed vehicles
were disposed of at sales that were not commercially-reasonable, as
required by California law. City Tow was sued in 2002 and was so not liable
that they agreed to pay a $5.7 million settlement. (San
Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 2005;
San Francisco City Attorney's office, July 28, 2004).
Thursday, January 10, 2008 05:10:59 PM