Tow Truck Operators to Get Stiff Warning

Under a plan approved Tuesday by the Police Commission, Los Angeles police officers will warn unregulated tow truck drivers in writing that if they kill someone while driving recklessly, they will be charged with murder instead of vehicular manslaughter.

The warnings are aimed at stopping tow truck operators who endanger public safety when they race to the scenes of traffic accidents without authorization to get towing jobs, said Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, whose office drafted the plan.

Reiner, who appeared before the commission Tuesday to seek its approval, cited the case of a 13-year-old youth who was killed when a tow truck racing another on a residential street plowed into the car the youth was traveling in. Heriberto Contreras, 22, an unlicensed tow truck operator who had been ticketed often for speeding, was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the boy’s death. Serving written notices on unregulated tow truck operators with bad driving records would make such cases easier to prosecute under the more severe charge, Reiner said.