Criminal Checks of Tow Drivers Planned

ORANGE COUNTY — Responding to several property thefts from impounded cars, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department plans to do criminal background checks on all tow-truck operators doing business with county government.

If the proposal is approved next week by the Board of Supervisors, officials would also prohibit towing company employees with criminal records from participating in jobs involving the Sheriff’s Department.

Lt. Tom Garner said the department developed the policy after noticing a handful of thefts involving radios, CD players and and other property from cars towed by private companies to impound lots.

Though it’s unclear who committed the burglaries, “you’d want to make sure that you weren’t hiring people who were convicted of stealing things in the past, or don’t have an alcohol problem or a drug problem,” Garner said. Sheriff’s officials in Los Angeles and San Diego counties already do such background checks.