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The Fox-13 Problem Solvers are still kicking butt, this time with a report about (alleged) $25-per-vehicle kickbacks at a Memphis apartment complex...
The practice is contrary to a Tennessee state statute, 55.16.113, "kickbacks involving the towing of vehicles," and is a Class C misdemeanor. Due to the ever-widening circle of awareness caused by Fox-13's previous reports on the subject, a witness to the practice came forward and spilled the beans. I hope the next thing I hear about are indictments.
Apparently, the television station has received emails from all over the country because of this story. I'm included somewhere in that electronic pile. I have told Scott Madaus, the investigative reporter leading this media inquiry, that no matter how ugly the scandal might be, it is merely a local manifestation of a larger national trend of abusive towing practices. Any local television station or dead-tree based print media could do a similar story about local towing operators pushing the envelope, and produce the same groundswell of viewer/reader response.
And, geez, I hope they all do!
I will have to look up the Tennessee state statute in question and do my usual statutory analysis and critique. In the meantime, I sit back and watch, amazed, because Scott Madaus not only managed to rip the lid off this can of ugly worms, but he did it while nursing busted bones from a biking accident.
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