Sex Offender Tow Truck Driver Made Off With 2-Year-Old Girl

Mug Shot, Therefore In The Public Domain

It's not as bad as my headline would indicate. The child was apparently not harmed. It happened in Stafford, Virginia...

...according to this article, click here, when the mother of a 2-year-old girl left her child sitting in a double-parked car on the 1200 block of Thomas Jefferson Place.

The tow truck driver, Jason Michael Bryant, 25, towed the car away with the child inside. And, oh gee, he just HAPPENED to be a sex offender, whose past offense included sexual contact with a child. However, the employees at the towing yard found the child and called the sheriff's department, according to the article, "about four minutes after the mother did."

So Mr. sex-offender-tow-truck-driver didn't have a very wide window of opportunity to harm the child, one would hope.

Here is an example of somebody who brings the "predator" to "predatory towing." People like this are why I work late on a Saturday night, blogging.

Predatory Towing Is "A Great Way To Kill Local Business And Send A 'You Are Not Welcome Here' Message In Falls Church, Virginia"

A blog called "Blueweeds" is operated by none other than the husband of the mayor of Falls Church, Virginia. Somehow their marriage succeeds even while he puts forth very substantive commentary on civic issues in Falls Church, including a gutsy assessment of predatory towing which includes--be still, my foolish heart!--VIDEO, BABY!!!!!

On Memorial Day, 2008, while city visitors were...

...doing stuff like putting flowers on the graves of soldiers, or so I would freely assume, predatory tow trucks were doing their best to mess up this sacred American holiday. But the predators didn't manage to be unnoticed. Somebody had a video camera and now the whole world can watch.

Following the posting of the video on YouTube, and on Blueweeds, a lot of substantive and detailed civic commentary came out of the woodwork. Here is the thumbnail summary:

* Whether the city of Falls Church benefits from this activity is doubted, "since the tow trucks are operated out of Fairfax County." The businesses at the shopping center pictured in the video lose clients despite popular stores and restaurants.

* "Who thought up this barbaric practice? Too many of us have been victims of this and the fees to get your car out of impound are no different than paying ransom for a car held hostage. Recently, I was in the Giant Food store next to GMHS, and a woman with three small kids was desperately trying to find out where her car had been taken.

"She seemed so distraught, I felt compelled to help her as any decent person would. She explained that she had been shopping at the Giant Food and her car would not start when she returned. Her in-laws came to pick her up as she had a lot of perishable foods and didn't want them spoiled waiting for a tow truck to take it for repair. The next day they returned with a 'Triple A' tow truck to take the car to a repair shop and her car was gone.

" One of the managers said the strip mall management company had a sign stating cars left over a certain period of time would be towed as it is assumed they are parking there to use the West Falls Church Metro. She had to pay to get her car out of impound so she could have it towed for repair! IS THIS HOW WE TREAT CITIZENS AND GUESTS OF FALLS CHURCH? I have lived here all my life and this is not the same lovely community I grew up in and USED TO cherish until it became so commercialized!"

* "My own recent fav(orite) tow truck story came on the Fourth of July in Arlington. (Virginia) There's a parking lot on Wilson where you've got a straight view of the Mall, perfect for fireworks watching. During that time, at least three cars were towed from the lot. This only ended when one person blocked off one of the lot entrances with her car, and we kept watching the other, going back to our cars when another tow truck came around.

"The best part? The lot is for the long-closed Taco Bell. No one uses it for anything."

* Towing is regulated by the state and there is only so much the city of Falls Church can do, despite having a Towing Commission and a recently-updated towing ordinance.

* Blame was placed on "stand alone" parking and inefficient use of parking resources by businesses with their own lots, who don't make agreements to share.

Alexandria, Virginia Sheds Light On Problems In The Towing Industry

Flickr.com photo

So the newspaper in Alexandria, Virginia printed my letter to the editor, and then followed up with an article about the whopping 26 percent increase to towing fees in that city...

The article was informative, but naturally I found myself talking back to the facts and wishing I could write yet ANOTHER letter to the editor to say this:

Fred Schler of Henry's Wrecker service says he uses the internet to "dispatch in real time" and he says "as long as I have a computer I can find out where any of my cars are."

Huh? Whose cars are they? I think Fred Schler must have been one of those little children who confuses the concept of "my toys" with the concept of "other kids' toys I want to play with."

I doubt very much if citizens in Alexandria, Virginia can find out where their towed cars are "as long as [they] have a computer."

And that's really the crux of the problem, isn't it? Fees go up a whopping 26 percent, and citizens are still going to (as the towing industry expert quoted in the article said) "wake up on Sunday morning" to wonder if their car has been stolen, and how long is it going to take them to find out?

A Dark Day In Alexandria, Virginia

Flickr.com

Once again, it pains me to hear a city in Virginia is (shall we say?) pulling in the wrong direction when it comes to non-consent towing fees. First Virginia Beach went nuts on its citizens, and now word comes Alexandria, Virginia, will soon be shaking down its residents.

According to WAVY TV 10, Alexandria is increasing its towing fees on July 1 a whopping 26 percent, from $135 to $170.

How will citizens pay for the extra fees? Well, perhaps from all the money they're saving this summer on gasoline.

(My sarcasm font is broken, I will have to point it out manually)

(Do not click "Read More")

First Virginia Beach Tows Cars, Then It Goes After Bikes

Flickr.com photo

Things have really gotten bad in Virginia Beach, according to this news article...

First the city was towing people while they were at work. Some citizens got squeezed so hard they decided to take up biking.

So then what did the city do? You guessed it, they started seizing people's bikes. Not only did the city cut bike locks and haul off bikes on flimsy pretenses (like a complaint securing a bike to a tree might "hurt" the tree) but the people who lost their bikes had no notice, so they usually assumed their bikes had just been STOLEN.

What will they do next? Break people's legs so they can't WALK?

Let us not forget Virginia Beach also has signs reminding people not to cuss. Sounds like this town really needs 'em.

I am disappointed to learn about this stuff. I used to live in Luray, Virginia, and then Harrisonburg. Virginia Beach was the first (and only) place where I laid eyes on the Atlantic ocean. One of these days I'd like to get back to visit all the places where I used to hang out in Virginia. But it sounds like it's best to stay away from (as we called it) "Va Beach."