Sheriff Adding Fee to Tow Lawbreakers

As any stranded motorist knows, tows don’t come cheap. But for some people caught breaking the law in Thousand Oaks, the price of towing may soon double.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Department deputies who police Thousand Oaks announced Thursday that, starting May 16, drivers whose cars are towed because of negligence or disobedience of the law will have to pay a new fee before they can retrieve their cars.

The size of the fee depends on who supervises the towing. If a sheriff’s cadet visits the scene and fills out the paperwork, the fee will be $55. If a deputy does the work, the fee jumps to $75.

Add that to the cost of towing itself. For example, one of the three towing companies the deputies use, Gene’s Towing Service, charges $69.50 for law-enforcement tows, according to partner Larry Lewis.

The idea of the new fee is to reimburse the department for the staff time it must spend on each tow, Senior Deputy Craig Smith said.

“It’s an administrative fee to recover the costs to do all these things we’re doing instead of providing patrol service,” he said.

The fee will not apply to people whose cars are towed after a breakdown or other accident. For example, a driver sideswiped in traffic will not have to pay the fee. A driver caught after a hit-and-run will.