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Post a Comment On: "WE THE PEOPLE"

"THE PREDATORS AMONG US"

11 Comments -

1 – 11 of 11
Anonymous Tow Guy said...

Mr. Brookman,
I appreciate your article on this issue. I have been a tow operator in the Hartford area for 5 years. I am quite familiar with the laws concerning non consentual towing or 'trespass tows'. I am not aware of any law in the state of Connecticut that requires signs to be posted for private property towing. Any clarification you might offer on this would be greatly appreciated.
I can see how it would be upsetting to have your personal vehicle or that of a friends get towed. However, to call it "predatory towing" seems a bit one sided. Trespass towing is offered as a service to property owners. How would any of us feel if we owned a house, parking lot, or an apartment building and people parked their vehicles on it against our wishes? Further, trespass towing allows property owners to have abandoned and junk vehicles removed from their properties. These abandoned vehicles are sometimes left behind by tenants who move away. Another often overlooked benefit to trespass towing is the large quantity of stolen vehicles that are recovered. Trespass towing is easily seen as a benefit to any community when regarded in its entirety.
The tow company is legally obligated to allow a vehicle owner (whose car was towed) access to the contract that allowed said tow to take place during normal office hours. It would seem that the driver gave into your political pressure and pressure from the officers on scene. If Whitey's is unable to provide you with a contract for where the vehicle was towed from then the tow operator is possibly at risk for charges relating to theft of a motor vehicle. I am curious to see how the rest of this story unfolds, if the driver did tow the vehicle illegally he should be held accountable.

-Tow Guy

April 25, 2010 at 7:55 PM

Blogger KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

If a property owner wants to contract, that is one thing. For a tow truck driver to remove a vehicle improperly and illegally and then refuse to give it back, that is predatory. I have spoke to numerous people who have been a victim of such activity and the only way to get their cars back is to pay.

Interestingly, I found the following clause in the Motor Vehicle stautes tonight when I looked into them. Hopefully people will start using this when the tow is in question, and it seems like the towing companies have no choice but to release the vehicles, from section 14-145, "C. To claim the vehicle, proof of ownership may be requested. If the
owner contests the tow, the owner may sign a declaratory statement
that the towed or removed vehicle was taken illegally and the owner
may then take the vehicle without paying any costs."

The questionable practices result in numerous calls for help by tow truck drivers requesting help from the police when the tow's turn violent. This is a recipe for disaster, especially when the tows are improper such as todays incident. I'm sure you as a driver remember a recent incident when the nephew of Mayor Perez assaulted a driver who was towing a vehicle from a private parking lot. Even though that tow appeared to be legal, it still resulted in violence.

Predatory towing in Hartford is nothing new, I can remember 20 years ago or so the problems Spillane's towing caused in Hartford and was the subject of frequent complaints and I think they were eventually shut down. The time for the same thing for Whitey's, CrossCountry and others seems to have come.

And to clarify, the victim today was not a friend or even someone I know. Rather, I was asked to help and I did.

If this type of activity is to continue in Hartford, at the very least it needs to be regulated by local ordinance. Something along the lines of "in-truck" video similar to that in police vehicles would provide an accurate record of where a vehicle was towed from and answer any questions that may arise. Since many of these complaints involve a driver claiming he towed a vehicle from one location while it was actually parked somewhere else, a GPS location should be required for any tow to prove it is legit.

And it is not an issue of political pressure. It is a matter of right and wrong and this driver was clearly wrong

April 25, 2010 at 8:17 PM

Anonymous Tow Guy said...

It's my understanding that Whitey's uses in-truck video surveillance as well as GPS. Perhaps they would be willing to produce video if asked? I have personally had many people make the claim that their vehicle was parked somewhere different from where it was towed. Whether the person towed or the tow driver is in the wrong still remains to be seen.
If it is found that the person who was towed was parked illegally and the tow driver was acting in accordance with a valid contract I hope that Whitey's files a civil suit to redeem their lost income from this tow. If the driver is found to be towing cars in a predatory manner I hope the police department takes action against him.

April 25, 2010 at 8:36 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kevin;
Great job, sorry you missed so much of the game, for a stranger yet. I certainly hope that the investigation results not only in training for the officers, but car theft charges as well. These tow truck companies won't stop until the cost becomes too much. Now the question is, will the Courant report this?

April 25, 2010 at 8:39 PM

Anonymous Jeff said...

I'm confused Kevin by your description of the contract. Did the contract say it was for the Church but had an address of 7-9 on it instead of 17-19. Or was the contract for another property all together?

April 25, 2010 at 9:06 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brookman for Mayor !!!!!!!!!!!

April 25, 2010 at 10:22 PM

Blogger KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

It was for another property all together, it was for a property at 17-19 Clark Street and signed by an Arthur Teale. It had nothing to do with the church.The driver was reading the address and the contract incorrectly.

That was the most aggravating part, that even after the driver and the police officer realized the mistake, they still were calling it a "civil" matter and initially refused to give the car back

April 25, 2010 at 11:05 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

TowGuy - If the tow truck took a car from a property for which it had no contract to do trespass towing, then it was clearly an illegal tow. They had no contract to work the Church parking lot, evidently, and admitted that. I am sure you would agree they have no right to tow from a private property if the owner has not contracted them to do so.

April 26, 2010 at 2:53 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr. Brookman,
The tow truck company would have been criminally charged only at the moment they were informed that they taken possession of the vehicle on a property that they had no contract with, acknowledged this fact and refused to return the vehicle back. Prior to that it was a civil matter.

Reference Larceny Defined 53a-119: section 4, (4) Acquiring property lost, mislaid or delivered by mistake. A person who comes into control of property of another that he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the nature or amount of the property or the identity of the recipient is guilty of larceny if, with purpose to deprive the owner thereof, he fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to a person entitled to it.

April 30, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Blogger KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

We were well beyond that point. The driver had realized his mistake, the police officer acknowledged the vehicle had been towed off the wrong property, yet the driver refused to release the car, and the Police Officer was still maintaining that it was a civil matter.

Only after I called Chief Roberts at home, did the situation quickly resolve itself

April 30, 2010 at 5:40 PM

Blogger Unknown said...

When I do a trespass tow I always take a few pictures of the car improperly parked like attorney K .trantolo (lol )
I still recall him ranting and raving to the west hartford cops till I showed the cops my pics .

Mike scatena

February 23, 2013 at 5:51 AM

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