Garage Loses Permit to Tow Cars for Police

A Van Nuys garage where several impounded cars allegedly had been improperly crushed or sold has given up its permit to tow cars impounded by police as a result of an agreement approved this week by the Los Angeles Police Commission, authorities said.

Fox Motors will stop towing cars impounded by police in the Van Nuys area on July 31, 1991, under the agreement approved Tuesday. The Police Department will find another Official Police Garage in the meantime.

At least three of the cars that police allege were improperly sold or used by Fox Motors were being held as evidence in murder investigations, but police said that the loss of the cars did not compromise prosecutions in the cases.

Police have referred the matter to the city attorney, whose office will decide if there was any criminal violation.

Lt. Stella Mattson said the operators of the garage in the 15100 block of Erwin Street agreed to relinquish the lucrative police towing designation after detectives filed a 105-count report with the Police Commission that details how several vehicles were allegedly sold without legally required notification to their owners, the public or the police.

“They did not contest the accuracy of the counts we listed against them,” Mattson said of the garage operators.

However, William Fox, general manager of the garage, said Wednesday that the garage does dispute the findings of the police investigation but agreed to give up its Official Police Garage designation after 35 years to avoid a lengthy and costly legal battle.

“We deny being guilty of those accusations. We have not admitted any guilt,” said William Fox, the son of the man police described as the garage owner, Henry F. Fox, 75.

“Henry Fox felt he could prove the accusations were untrue but we felt it would be six months of hearings with legal fees near $100,000. At this point in his life he didn’t feel he could deal with the emotional stress and the costs.”

The accusation report filed earlier this year reads in part that Fox Motors “failed to conduct their business in an ethical and orderly manner so as to maintain public confidence.”

The report details eight vehicles that were sold, and states that an unknown number of other vehicles also were improperly disposed of prior to the investigation.

According to the police report, a 1968 Mercedes-Benz was impounded as evidence on Jan. 19, 1988, after a man was murdered in it. The victim’s name was not released. The report says it was sold four months later without police knowledge for $1,000 by Fox Motors to Foxy Wheels, a car lot operated by members of the Fox family in Palm Springs. On Sept. 22, 1988, it was sold to a customer at the car lot for $5,695. It is unknown whether the customer knew the history of the car.

Police began their investigation of Fox Motors after the former wife of the murder victim attempted to retrieve the car from police but learned from Fox Motors that it had been sold. She complained to police, prompting an investigation.

“An investigation of that opened up other areas where we found problems,” Mattson said.

The commission report detailed several other similar cases and other violations of police garage regulations.