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.
