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"BANDIT" TOW TRUCK STING" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JULY 14, 2005 -- Editor's Note: This is a News Media Release from the Los Angeles Police Commision. As part of a random series of stings, LAPD officers arrest tow truck operators for taking a vehicle without the owner's consent Los Angeles - Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Commission Investigation Division are making clear: If you operate a "bandit" tow truck business in the City of Los Angeles, be warned. The next car you tow out of a private parking lot may belong to the LAPD and the upset car owner may be an undercover LAPD officer! Today, two arrests were made as the result of an undercover sting conducted at the Barnsdall Shopping Center parking lot, which is monitored by Quicklift Towing. The arrests were made on the charge of taking a vehicle without the owner's consent. These cases are being filed with the City Attorney's Office for prosecution. "Bandit" tow operators are differentiated from legitimate tow operators in their practice of monitoring private parking lots in order to tow away vehicles whose owners are not patrons of the businesses associated with that lot. Often, the tow operators dismiss the fact that the car owner does patronize a business associated with the lot before going elsewhere. Everyday, the Police Commission Investigation Division, the LAPD entity responsible for Official Police Garages, receives complaints from individuals who had their car towed out of a private parking lot when they "just went around the corner" for a cup of coffee or a newspaper, usually after patronizing a business associated with the parking lot. When the individual returns to their car, it is either gone or in the process of being towed. A large fee, which grows each day the car is held in an impound lot, is attached with this significant inconvenience. Under the law, property owners have the right to remove cars from their private parking lots after the car has been parked there for more than one hour. The property owner, representative, or agent must be present at the scene of impound to sign the authorization. "Bandit" tow truck operators have interpreted this law in a way which is financially very lucrative for their companies. If you are a victim of a "bandit" tow truck operator, remember these facts: · The tow operator does not have a legal lien on your vehicle until it is in transit on a public highway. · If you car is already on the tow truck, but still in the parking lot, the tow operator can ask you for half of what an Official Police Garage would charge for towing. · If you will not or cannot pay the requested amount, the issue becomes a civil matter, and the tow operator must release your vehicle. · If the tow operator leaves the lot with your vehicle because you would not or could not pay the requested amount, the tow operator is in violation of California Vehicle Code 10851, which is taking a vehicle without the owner's consent. It is in this last scenario the stings are designed to catch the "bandit" tow operators in an illegal act. Efforts are underway to legislatively amend Federal law to end this loophole which "bandit" tow operators have precariously been able to use to their advantage. Until then, Los Angeles Police Commission undercover "bandit" tow truck stings will continue throughout the City of Los Angeles. Note from Judd McIlvain: Detective Tom Butler was on my Troubleshooter Talk Show on www.AdviceRadio.com July 20, 2005, and he promised me the had other Bandit Tow operations in there sites. Detective Butler pointed out that three of the drivers they questioned did not even have a drivers' license or any vehicle insurance. He said when this happens they immediately impound the tow truck. Filed July 2005 Bandit Tows Face Jail Time. UPDATE LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced he has obtained 10 criminal convictions against the owner and operator of Safety Towing and Global Towing of Van Nuys, Ca. (Which is in the City of LA.) This is the first such prosecution in the City Attorney's efforts to crack down on Los Angeles towing companies whose unlawful practices have stranded motorists and held their vehicles for ransom. Delgadillo also announced the filing of 24 criminal charges against the two brothers who operate "5A Roadside Assistance", a Van Nuys-based towing company. This is the second towing company to be charged criminally in the past month (June '05) by Delgadillo's Consumer Protection Section. In late April '05, criminal charges were filed against the Van Nuys towing company known as "Automotive Carrier Transport, Inc." (A.C.T.) and its operator, Franklin America Rivera. Delgadillo says "these actions send a strong message to predatory towing companies across Southern California that the days of randomly targeting vehicles in Los Angeles, extorting thousands of dollars and causing serious damage to property are numbered." Heriberto Barrios, 33, president of Safety Towing, Inc. and Director and Chief Financial Officer of its successor company, Global Towing, Inc. pleaded No Contest (the same as guilty) in Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Harold Cherness sentenced Barrios to 240 days in jail, or 120 days of work on a CalTrans crew, 36 months probation and ordered him to pay about $15,000 in restitution to 35 victims. Also criminal charges were filed against the brothers Nazaret "Nick" Muradyan, 28, and Sarkis "Steve" Mauradyan, 33, the owner and manager of "5A Roadside Assistance", a Van Nuys-based towing company. There are 24 criminal counts, including nine counts of attempted extortion, eight counts of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, two counts of vehicle tampering, and five counts of operating without a valid motor carrier permit. This is a News Release from the LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Filed June 23, 2005 ILLEGAL TOWING OF VEHICLES FROM PRIVATE PROPERTY Los Angeles Police Commission Response June, 2005: In response to Mr. Judd McIlvain's article "The Trouble Shooter, Scam Alert", Towing Scams and companies violating the law. The Los Angeles Police Commission was allowed an opportunity to respond to the question: Who has the right to tow your vehicle? Prior to 1995, local law enforcement had the ability to regulate towing businesses by enacting ordinances that governed their activities as to price, route and service. This was accomplished by imposing a local permit requirement, that made it a misdemeanor offense to operate a towing business within a local municipality without a permit issued by that municipality, or to violate other regulatory provisions of the ordinance. In Los Angeles, towing operations and individual tow truck drivers were required to obtain a permit issued by the Los Angeles Police Commission which included an application process and background investigation by Commission Investigation Division (CID). In 1995, the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAA) was enacted which effectively deregulated the motor carrier transport industry by preempting local government from imposing a permit scheme via local ordinance to regulate motor carriers, which included tow trucks. Large motor carrier transport business were successful in lobbying for this federal law claiming they were over regulated by having to obtain a permit in each city in which they conduct business across the United States. California Vehicle Code (CVC) section 22658 (Removal From Private Property) states that only the property owner or their legal representative may cause the removal of a vehicle from the private property which is largely civil in nature and consequently, police officers cannot enforce those laws. Subsequent to deregulation, the Los Angeles Police Department's first effort was to educate private towing companies by advising them on civil law pertaining to private property impounds. Certainly, there are towing businesses in the City of Los Angeles that operate within the perimeters of the law, however, there are others that remain a constant source of complaints that come to the attention of the Police Department. When the elements of a crime are clearly present, appropriate law enforcement action is taken by Area detectives. Most of the complaints investigated by CID are after the incident has occurred, when the victim's vehicle has been towed and is stored in a tow yard for an inflated rate. CID must then determine through an investigation if the towing company was authorized to remove the vehicle. Determining who authorized an impound, if anyone, and was that person a legal representative of the property owner is critical as to whether or not Section 10851 CVC (Taking a Vehicle Without Owner's Consent) was violated. One of the common threads in these complaints is that the victims allege their vehicle was towed away after having been parked for only 5 or 10 minutes. It is the property owner's, or their legal representative, responsibility to wait one hour before having an illegally parked vehicle towed. However, tow truck operators are in essence lying in wait watching the motorist walk away from their parked vehicle to a business other than the one for which the parking is designated. Several minutes after the motorist walks away from their vehicle, a tow truck is quick to tow the vehicle away. In an effort to aggressively address this problem, Commission Investigation Division has conducted "sting" operations utilizing undercover police officers posing as motorists that have parked their vehicle on private property. When a tow truck arrives to remove the officer's vehicle, the undercover officer returns and demands their car be released without charge. If the tow truck driver refuses and takes off with the car, the tow truck driver is arrested for Section 10851 of the California Vehicle Code (Taking A Vehicle Without Consent). Commission Investigation Division is increasing the frequency of these "sting" operations to send the clear message that the Los Angeles Police Department is committed to using all resources available to deter unscrupulous towing operations from engaging in this illegal activity. Submitted by: Los Angeles Police Commission Commission Investigation Division Enforcement Section Filed June, 2005. Towing Scams: and companies violating the law. Who has the right to tow your vehicle? The worst news a motorist can get is that his or her vehicle has been towed to a storage lot that is closed on weekends and the per day storage fee is running at a rate of $25 to $40 a day. Then, when you demand to get your car that day, the storage facility charges you an extra $50 so-called "gate fee." The "gate fee" is to have the person who stays in a trailer on the lot walk to the gate and open it for you. Some times they call it a labor fee and then they tack on a release fee. LAPD says most of this is illegal under California DMV laws. And many times they demand cash and will NOT take a credit card. Under the California DMV regulations towing operations MUST take credit cards, but they simply flaunt the state law. Many of the towing companies skate on a fine line of legality. In the City of Los Angeles the Police Commission has jurisdiction over the towing industry that have police permits. But the towing companies that do not have these LA Police permits can do as they please under new deregulation. But that comes to a sudden stop when they tow cars on city streets. The police call these un-permitted tow trucks "bandit tows." LAPD Detectives have setup "sting operations' to catch the towing companies in the act of breaking state and city regulations and law. Not all, but many towing companies continue to break the laws. The LA Police Commission is keeping a close eye on the "bandit" towing operators who think they can ignore city and state laws and regulations. Here is a good example, the LA Police Commission's Towing Section received a complaint from a San Fernando Valley resident that his car had been towed to a storage lot in the city of LA and they were over charged for towing, and they were charged a "gate fee" for someone to come to the lot and let them pay the storage fee and get their vehicle. The LA Police Commission told the family that it was illegal to have a gate fee in the City of LA. They said it was a violation of the California Civil Vehicle Code for a towing company to charge more than the fees that the city would charge for the same towing service and storage. (The city fee is $120) In this case the towing company charged more for the tow, more for the storage, and a gate fee than the City would charge. So the company was operating totally in violation of a civil law, but the Police Commission said they could not do anything about it because the Vehicle Code said that it had to be resolved in a civil court. So the Police Commission sent the family a copy of the Vehicle Code and suggested they file against the towing company in Small Claims Court to get their money back. This helps the family though this legal maze, but all this does, is put the "Monkey" of enforcing the civil law on the back of the citizens. However, this is the way your State Law-Makers kept the cops out of the system. The Valley family has to pay to file in court, pay to have the Sheriff's Deputies serve the court documents, and then have to pay the Sheriff's Department again to serve the court judgment if they win. It may take the family months to get any money from the towing company and then they may not even break even in the settlement. Where is the justice in this, Mr. And Ms. State Low-Maker? The LAPD says it is a violation of criminal law to tow a vehicle on city streets without the permission of the own. And under the DMV vehicle code the owner must be given a one-hour grace period when parking on private property. So when a McDonald's has a car or truck towed by a "bandit" tow truck, that has been parked 25-minutes it is a violation of the DMV rules. The towing company must have an operator of the private property signed for each tow. If the towing company already has your car on a truck or hooked up on the private property then they can ask you to pay half of the towing fee to get your vehicle back. Half the fee in LA is $46.50. If you refuse to pay then they can hold your vehicle and take you to civil court for parking it on private property. This will take some time and they will normally win. But most tow companies will not wait to take the matter to court and they will tow your car off on city streets, which is a criminal offense. They can legally tow off private property, but then the company cannot tow on a city street without the permission of the owner. Also the towing companies cannot charge for storage on a vehicle unless they have a lien against it. This is information coming from LAPD and the DMV. A young man reported to me that his car was towed after he parked at a Hollywood McDonalds and ran into the Bank of America next door to make a deposit and get money to buy lunch. He said when he came back to eat at McDonalds he said his car was already towed away. He told me the manager of the McDonalds said they did not have to wait the one-hour as is stated in the DMV regulations for towing off private parking lots. They young man had to pay $378 in cash to the towing company. That is $258 more than the law allows. They towing companies say they have been deregulated and they do not have to follow state and city regulations. The young man is fearful that a tow truck driver will retaliate against him if he files a police report about their violations of the law. Police detectives say the tow truck drivers target women in newer cars who will have the money to pay to get their vehicle back quickly. The "Good Guys" call this EXTORTION! If you need to be towed off a Freeway there are some CHP rules you should know. The CHP Officer can call a tow truck to tow your vehicle. The Officer does not select the towing company. The tow company comes from a rotating list at the CHP dispatch office. I had a complaint on my Troubleshooter Internet Radio Show from a motorist who says he was in a minor accident and his car was pushed off the Freeway on to a feeder street. He says the CHP Officer would not call for an AAA (Triple A Auto Club) tow truck. If he could have gotten a "Triple A" tow truck it would not have cost him for the tow. But with the tow truck the CHP officer insisted he use, the cost was $197. I immediately contacted the CHP to find out what was the policy on calling an Auto Club tow truck. The CHP says the dispatcher sends out tow tucks from a rotating list. They said the Officer could request an Auto Club tow truck. However if the vehicle is blocking a lane of traffic or is causing a hazard the Officer can take the first tow truck that arrives. In the case of this complaint this was not the situation. The CHP says they do not know why the Officer did not call a "Triple A" tow truck for the motorist. You can file a complaint with the CHP about the actions of an Officer. The CHP does not require Officers to wear name badges, so it is important to get badge numbers. You must also lookout for what I call the Midnight Hookers. These are tow trucks that will illegally hook-up your vehicle off parking lots and tow it to their storage lot. To do this legally they must have the property owner or the owner's representative sign the tow slip at the time the vehicle is towed. They cannot sign a bunch of tow slips the next morning, or sign tow slips in advance to be filled out by the driver. In some cases the tow truck driver has a kick back deal with the security guard at the business. For each tow slip he signs the security guard gets $50. This scam also happens in the middle of the day on private parking lots. Another tip. When you have a tow truck pickup your vehicle, make sure it is taken to the shop where you want it fixed. Many drivers will take your vehicle to a repair shop that pays them a commission on the job. This just means everything will cost you more. Also if you have the shop do the repairs or bodywork make sure they agree to pay for the towing charges. My best advice is to join a towing and emergency road service club or organization. It will be cheaper and more secure in the long run. Summary of DMV and LA City Rules: · You get a one-hour grace period for parking on a legal parking lot before they can tow your vehicle. · LA City rules say they can not charge you more than the city would charge for the tow and storage, that would be $93 for tow, $25 for storage, $2 parking fee (on a city street), this would be a total of $120, NO More and you can use a Credit Card. · In LA City the towing company cannot charge for a gate fee, or for a release fee. · A fee or kickback cannot be paid to the supervisor or security person at the private property. · You can check out the California towing rules in the California Vehicle Codes under section 10 851A Filed May 2005. |
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