Predatory Towing Justice--TEXAS STYLE!!!!

Flickr.com photo

Thanks to the media--and certainly no other reason--numerous auto owners who were towed during the Texas State Fair will get refunds. I blogged about it a few days ago, but there has been a positive development...

...discussed in this article, click here. In a nutshell: everybody is getting refunds and Lone Star Towing says it was all just a big, unfortunate mistake. Uh huh.

Mob Justice--Internet Style!

As short as this article was, it received a heated response in the online comments section. Here's my cherry-picking of the best comments.

Texasstarsun wrote: Dallas is known for scams like this. I lived a few miles from the Cottonbowl a few years ago.

Irving wrote: The towing company's "pigeon drop" backfired and it blew up in their face. They just didn't figure on it making front page news.

Shaun3342 wrote: (In regard to the towing company offering a $1,000 reward for arrest of the persons who set up the "parking scam") Start the investigation under your own roof. It's as comical as O.J. looking for "the real killers."

Hautedame wrote: This is not a new game for the towing companies. I had this happen once years ago in College Station while parked on the street in front of my own home. It was game day and some sorry towing company came through, put up their own flimsy little signs, and towed my car. We fought it but the police were no help. The hard reality was that the towing company held the car for ransom and we had to cough up cash to get it back.

Jane71 wrote: While I was living in Dallas, my care broke down on the side of the street two blocks from my house...so I walked home and called a towing company to take it to a garage. Lo and behold, the towing company I called out took my car to the city impound instead! The impound told me the towing company ignored my instructions because they could make $10 more taking it to the impound, as though it happens all the time!

I called the towing company to give them a piece of my mind. They said if they see a car parked on the side of the street, then they are within their legal right to take it to the impound, regardless of whether I called the towing company or not. For the towing company to make the extra $10, it cost me $200 in pound fees, plus another $50 to have the car towed from the pound to the garage.

Just The Fax wrote: I'm willing to bet my last dollar against a donut hole that Lone Star Towing has their fingers right in the middle of things. All the media pressure and accusations caused the wrecker company to act like they were innocent about the situation and will do the right thing by refunding the money.

"Those To Whom Evil Is Done Do Evil In Return"

Photo by John Hoff, Bedlam Theater

Word comes of a disturbing incident at a towing company lot. A man who was not allowed to retrieve his medicine and was told to leave came back. He came back with an AK-47...

The story is told here, click at this link, and note how the facts related about what the man was told about getting his property shifts. Truth is a slippery thing in the best of times, but these are clearly not the best of times as the smoke clears and blood pools on pavement.

One of version of the story says the guy was told he had to leave the property, and he should go, and police were called about an "unwanted guest." Yeah, an "unwanted guest." More like a guy desperate to retrieve his meds from his vehicle, very likely the medicine which helps to shut off the voices in his head telling him to do bad stuff. Another version of the story--and you can compare the two, side by side at this link--says the man was told he had to return with "proof of ownership."

Yeah, well...a lot of people carry that stuff IN THEIR CAR, don't they?

I do not approve of this kind of violence. I don't even approve of the cartoon antics of Angle Grinder Man, click here. But a few nights ago I was watching "Body of Lies" and the movie started with a quote by the poet W.H. Auden, who said, "I and the public know/ What all schoolchildren learn/Those to whom evil is done/ Do evil in return."

What Do These Two Stories Have In Common?

In for a dime, in for a dollar. Click here for a story about a 20-year-old woman who tried to torch a tow truck making off with her vehicle. What do these two stories have in common? Other than a common theme of violence in the face of predatory towing?

In both cases, individuals in the comment sections of the stories took a similar stance. 1.) Condemning the violence, 2.) Stating basic variations on the words of W.H. Auden. People don't go over the edge all by themselves. Somebody pushes them there.

A Third Version Of Events

I came upon yet another article, click here, with yet ANOTHER version of events about what happened in regard to the guy fetching the medicine. In that version of events, he said the medicine belonged to his daughter, and she needed it or she'd die in three hours.

The towing company turned him away. And that's when he came back shooting.

So there are three possibilities, here:

1.) It was true. 2.) It wasn't true, but he believed it was. 3.) He didn't think it was true, and it wasn't true, but he said it anyway...perhaps because he was just really, incredibly desperate to get what was in the vehicle.

No matter what was the truth...there was no reason to turn the guy away. And, yeah, he was a psycho. All the more reason to treat him with kindness and respect. This state should consider something like the "Let People Get Their Stuff Back Law."

Anatomy Of A Portland Towing Empire Of Greed

Flickr.com Photo

In the state of Oregon, Sean Cruz continues to lead the fight against predatory towing, not just by digging up facts himself but by providing a forum for those with inside information to come forward and spill the beans.

Click here to read all the dirty details about how Mr. Gary Coe has created an empire of automotive misery, owning a grubby stake everywhere in the "towing to auto auction life cycle." Airing information like this...

...may allow individuals in other parts of the country to begin to perceive patterns in their own neck of the woods.

Great work, once again, by "Blogolitical Sean."

Texas State Fair Creates Opportunity For Abusive Towing

Flickr.com

According to this article, city officials in Dallas are investigating allegations that citizens were overcharged after their cars were snatched from spots near the Texas State Fair, whose symbol is "Big Tex," above. The drivers thought...

...they were parking in legal spots, but got towed by Lone Star Auto Services whose representative, Anna Casey, says the company "did nothing wrong" even though, gee, they charged $200 and there are limits to what can be charged.

Hint, hint: It ain't $200.

"Cyber Activists" Rip Into Lone Star Auto Services

Some "cyber activists" have already submitted scathing reviews about Lone Star Auto Services on the internet, submitting some interesting details and allegations. And, I hasten to add, these are ALLEGATIONS. But according to Darryle Smitth (sic) it was Lone Star ITSELF which offered the paid parking lots to fair goers "near the Cotton Bowl." After the lots were full and people were gone to the fair, Lone Star posted "no parking signs," towed the cars, and charged $200 for folks to get the cars back.

Boycott Suggested Of Flying J In Dallas

Another poster, t3ucking (sic) said trucks were unfairly towed by Lone Star from the Flying J truck stop in Dallas, including a tow which cost $1253 for 14 miles. The poster urges the public not to patronize the Flying J truck stop in Dallas because the business is ultimately responsible for calling in predatory towing companies.

I will say this: the last time I was at a Flying J, while doing some commercial driving--and I do--I was treated badly. They told me I could cash one of my employer's checks, then changed their mind, which caused me to have to void the check when I was critically low on company checks as well as--oh, gee--diesel.

I may still patronize a Flying J in the future, if I must, but if I have a choice in the matter I will honor the spontaneous internet boycott and not choose Flying J, out of solidarity with the people (allegedly) victimized by Lone Star Auto Services.

Did A Crooked Cop Embezzle Towing Money In La Puente, California?

Flickr.com, La Puente, California

The easy, dirty, messy piles of money associated with poorly-regulated and predatory towing practices inevitably finds its way to somebody's pocket, but not always legally. Does all the wrongdoing come to light, eventually? I somehow doubt it, but in La Puente, California, it appears...

...the secrets have been exposed, and while there is not yet a conviction, there are allegations aplenty. In La Puente.

According to this article, click here, former traffic Sgt. Joe Dyer is accused of stealing nearly half a million dollars. Here's what I want to know: WHAT DID HE DO WITH ALL THAT MONEY? I mean, how shall I put it? THAT'S A LOT OF DOUGHNUTS!

The way it all shakes out: Dyer retired. His supervisor has been "reassigned" but supposedly that had "nothing to do with the investigation." (Oh, pleas!) The police union official--seemingly going through the motions of doing his job rather listlessly--says "We're not accountants, we're not money men" and blames the mess on Dyer's superiors who didn't TRAIN HIM to keep track of all that money.

Oh, like half a million bucks never existed, and just disappeared through--what? Bad bookkeeping? Into one of the many hypothetical "worm holes" of the universe? Or would those be...doughnut holes?

The money, according to the article, came from a $168 administrative fee which the city is supposed to receive every time a car is impounded. Drivers pay the fee at the sheriff's station and get a receipt, which drivers need to get their car...at the place where they pay MORE money. To get their car. Yeah, it all adds up to PUH-LENTY of money.

In La Puente.

But not all the money ended up where it was supposed to. Some records didn't match, and City Manager Carol Cowley was apparently the first person to notice. Now the very public allegation is that a big bite of cheese was ending up in NEWLY RETIRED Police Sergeant Joe Dyer's pocket.

What a mess. But it's hardly unique, and some similar stories of corruption associated with towing fees are right here on this blog.

This is what happens when low-tech methods are used, and information about tows is tightly contained and not made freely available on the internet to all jurisdictions and all people seeking out their vehicles, really THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.

There's a big pile of dirty, dishonest cheese that piles up, and somebody in charge of that cheese is going to cut themselves off a little taste.

Fighting Predatory Towing Creates A Legal Mess In McHenry County, Illinois

Flickr.com, McHenry County, Illinois

It started out as a good idea and, who knows, maybe it actually IS a good idea and the reporter is just talking to the wrong people. Who knows?

But one thing is for sure: there's some kind of legal mess in McHenry County Illinois, according to this article, (click here) and predatory towing in COOK County, Illinois is at the icky root of it.

According to...

...the article, some kind of legal "solution" in regard to predatory towing was "imposed" on Cook County, which continues to be one of the most politically interesting places in the country. Click here for a cool story on my OTHER blog about how the sheriff in that Cook County has been refusing to evict renters from foreclosed homes. Other counties, like McHenry, had the choice to "opt in" to the so-called "solution." And some, like McHenry County, did.

But after the counties opted in, they discovered the commission in charge of...how to put it? The deal. Yeah, the commission in charge of THE DEAL was unexpectedly asserting authority over other kinds of towing--including some CONSENSUAL forms of towing. And McHenry County doesn't like that. Now McHenry County wants OUT.

Who do I blame? The commission for overreaching? McHenry County for being too picky? Cook County for creating the mess in the first place?

No. I blame the predatory towing companies who caused this mess in the first place, a mess which apparently led to a messy, not-entirely-satisfactory solution, which the counties are now bickering about.

Oh, the photo? Yeah, I found it on Flickr.com and it was taken in McHenry County, Illinois. Congrats, anonymous drunk wheelbarrow dude. You are now the face of McHenry County, Illinois.

Newark, Delaware Curbs Predatory Towing

Flickr.com, Newark, Delaware

According to a relatively recent article in the Newark Post, click here, some towing "horror stories" contributed to a city effort to crack down on predatory towing...

Newark is just the latest example of "predatory and abusive towing consciousness" busting out all over, with government entities and ordinary citizens asserting their right to be free from these civil rights violations. This is my first post about a situation in Delaware, and it's a great way to put that state on the "Towing Utopia" map, even if Newark is usually a place name we associate with...New Jersey. I guess there's one in Ohio, too.

Well, here's what's new in Newark, (Delaware) and maybe other cities might use some of this stuff as a model for their own ordinances:

1.) All towing companies have to be licensed by the city. Yeah, no more prowling the streets with your 1970s muscle car and a filthy tow strap, calling yourself a wrecker-for-hire. Goodbye good ol' days.

2.) Limits on non-consensual towing charges.

3.) No storage fee for the first 24 hours, on federal holidays, or on days when the tow company's storage lot is closed.

4.) Individual towing requests must be faxed during business hours.

5.) One hour grace period before vehicles can be towed from private property during non-business hours.

6.) Be still my foolish heart! A DROP RULE. Vehicle owners who catch their car being towed can reclaim their vehicle on the spot and pay a lesser tow charge. Yeah, better demand a receipt or that stuff will go in the driver's pocket.

7.) Failure to adhere to the rules could cost towing companies AS WELL AS THE PROPERTY OWNERS WHO HIRE 'EM a $500 fine. Gee, I hope that's per violation.

City Councilman Paul J. Pomeroy said it was time to "bring down the hammer" due to the horror stories told by residents. So take courage, citizens of Towing Utopia! Tell your horror stories and hope for "the hammer" to result, though it may take a while.

Unfortunately, some good proposed rules fell by the wayside, including property owners being on site for all tows and a requirement to photograph the parking violation. But it sounds like excellent progress in Newark. I sure hope the rules get ENFORCED, however. The passage of the rules is only a first step. Predatory and abusive towing companies will violate the rules wholesale if nobody is minding the store.