Predator on the street: the tow truck

In April 2004, Safety Towing hooked up and dragged away a pickup truck -- used to deliver charity items to the poor -- from the parking lot of the church that owned it.

When Rod Sprott, administrative director of Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Wilshire Boulevard, tracked down the Los Angeles-based towing company, he explained he was in charge of the parking lot and had not authorized the tow. Safety Towing officials then falsified the location of the tow and demanded several hundred dollars for towing.

“It was our truck and it was in our lot,” Sprott said. “The arrogance of this company was remarkable.”

What happened to Sprott was a case of predatory towing, a widespread practice in Southern California that is finally getting the attention of law enforcement officials in the region.

In June, Safety Towing pleaded no contest to 10 misdemeanor charges, including three counts of attempted extortion, four counts of illegally taking a vehicle and one count of receiving stolen property.

When I called the company’s president, Heriberto Barrios, he said he didn’t have time to talk and hung up. It’s surprising he even answered the phone, since Superior Court Judge Harold Cherness had sentenced Barrios to 240 days in jail or 120 days on a Caltrans cleanup crew.

Sprott’s church was among three dozen victims that filed complaints against Safety Towing. Countless others have been subject to other predatory operators.

“It is rampant,” said Don Kass, supervising attorney for consumer protection in the L.A. city attorney’s office. “The drivers are extremely abusive at these tow companies. We have cases of people hit by tow trucks. In one case, a tow operator brandished a knife.”

The problem of a towing industry out of control was illustrated in February when a tow operator in Orange County removed a vehicle that held a sleeping 4-year-old boy. The boy’s mother had left the child in the car while unloading groceries at her Garden Grove apartment. The case prompted quick federal legislation intended to close loopholes and give the state greater authority to curb overzealous tow drivers.

But such predatory practices are already illegal in many cases under California state law, according to Kass. The city has filed criminal charges against three towing companies in the past year, including Safety Towing or, as it is now known, Global Towing.

In June, the city attorney’s office filed 24 criminal charges against 5A Roadside Assistance, a Van Nuys company that allegedly towed the car of a pregnant woman while she was sitting behind the wheel, according to Kass. The woman, Sheila Harry, later went to the hospital with complications brought on by the stressful incident, Kass said.

And in April, Kass filed charges against Automotive Carrier Transport, another Van Nuys company, which allegedly engaged in 57 counts of illegal towing and extortion of money from owners over the release of their cars.

Some tow companies will remove a car from a private parking lot without the proper authorization of the lot’s owner. Under Section 22658 of the state vehicle code, tow trucks must receive written authorization from the parking lot owner or agent each time they tow a specific vehicle. What’s more, according to Kass, when a car exceeds the time limit in a lot, it cannot be taken until an hour after the limit expires.

Instead, some tow truck operators cruise parking lots at night after businesses close and haul any vehicle that is parked at the lot, a blatantly illegal practice, Kass said.

Under state law, a tow operator can charge no more than the authorized police garage charges in an area. And if the owner arrives before the car is removed, the tow operator must release the car and can request no more than half the going rate charged by the police garage. If the owner refuses to pay, the only legal recourse for the tow operator is to file a civil suit.

In some cases, tow operators work quickly to remove cars before owners can intervene. That’s why many cars are damaged when they are improperly hooked up.

But Harriet Cooley, executive director of the National Assn. of the Towing and Recovery Industry, says tow operators are getting a bad rap.

“We are painted with a broad brush,” Cooley said. “Nobody ever tells the human side of the tow drivers.”

Cooley said that about 9,000 tow operators have gone through a certification program that includes standards of professional conduct, and that in many cases tow operators end up losing money to help stranded motorists.

Nevertheless, her group fights legislation aimed at cleaning up the business. This is an industry with a reputation that often seems well-deserved.

The last time I needed a tow, the driver falsified the mileage and overcharged me. After I hounded him, a check arrived in the mail a few weeks later. The check bounced, because it was written on a long-closed bank account.

Tow operators are licensed as “motor vehicle carriers” by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Even when a tow operator is criminally convicted, the company often keeps its DMV license.

“We don’t regulate the towing industry,” DMV spokesman Bill Branch said.

I would like to see the DMV granted the same powers that the Bureau of Automotive Repair has to revoke business licenses of fraudulent auto repair shops. State government needs to wield a bigger stick.

Next week: Protect yourself from excessive towing fees.

Ralph Vartabedian can be reached at ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com.