QuestionFriend of mine was parked at a Kragen Parts Store after hours. They have a sign posted saying that unauthorized vehciles will be towed. It also said, no parking between 11pm-6am. We parked at 1050pm, walked two stores over to pick up a friend from a bar. Two other cards and two white pickups were parked in the lot. We came back at 1105 to leave. Our SUV was gone. An empty flatbed tow truck was leaving. We flagged him down, asked if he towed the car. He said it just left two minutes ago. We were standing outside the establishment next door for atleast 7-8 minutes. We didn't see no tow trucks. We emediately called 911 and said our car was stolen. The 911 operator said it just got towed. We asked for the time stamp, which was 2307. My Iphone's time was 2308. We then called or another ride & arrived at the tow company, which is 10 minutes away at 2334.
This tow company said it would be just under $400, which includes a parking citation by a third party. We asked who authorized the tow & stated to the tow truck dispatcher working that night, that it was an illegal tow under the penal codes. (forget which ones). My friend owns a security company out of town. He has a tow truck company that he has a contract with in his city.
He called the owner of that tow truck company that he works with for assistance/recommendations. This owner has been in business for 20+ years. He said that a tow company can not charge for a third party citation. Is this true?
We were told by the tow company that took our car, that we had to pay or would not get our car back. My friend was leaving out of town the next day.
The Kragen's store had two signs, one at each enterance. The front enterance was partially covered. We looked at it before we left next door.
The spotter must of been sitting in the alley, with the two trucks around the corner.. because all three cars got towed. Hard to belive that three tow trucks drove 10+ minutes to snatch them up & return to base within a 15 minute time frame.
Called the non-emergency police number asking to make a police report for the tow company having stolen property. We were told that it would take 1-2 hours. Therefore, my friend paid the extortion fee & got his car back. We returned to Kragens to take picture & write a timeline of events.
After reviewing the credit card receipt for the 3rd time, we noticed that the time stamp on the receipt said 0158. It was not even midnight yet.
The same tow company, Paxton Towing, has been doing the same scam since 2007. There are plenty of news stories/investigations. I remember seeing them on TV too. Back then, this tow company was owned by the same company as the spotter (parking enforcement agency) back then. Which I think is illegal?
Tow companies that do this type of dirty work have extremely poor ethic business management.
Questions: Can a tow company charge for a parking citation by a third party? What is the law regarding parking enforcement agencies being used by the tow companies to be spotters? Where can I look it up at?
Where can I find info regarding class action lawsuites regarding Paxton Towing? If there are none, how can I go about starting one?
AnswerI would recommend looking for predatory towing on google. There are several good web sites dedicated to this which have referral links for attorneys. As for the citations, only law enforcement can attach a fee for a citation. A third party is a civil action unless it is authorized under a penal code. Have you tried ripoffreport.com or the Better Business Bureau for anything on the towing company?
