https://autos.yahoo.com/tow-truck-attempts-pick-occupied-131500868.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13294269/san-francisco-towing-lamborghini-specialty-towing.html

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/tow-truck-video-san-francisco-19396392.php

Generally speaking I always considered the tow truck business to be mundane under most circumstances. Apparently with a certain creative (and probably illegal) license, you can make it a very interesting business indeed.

A few days ago in San Francisco, a tow truck attempted to possess (seize, steal, catch, lay hands on,… ?) a vehicle at a stop light.

I have attached the video and several news stories. Here’s a quote from the Yahoo news article:

A Reddit user posted a video to r/sanfransisco showing a tow truck driver attempting to hook up and tow a vehicle in traffic. This isn’t some vehicle that was left abandoned by its owner, no, this is a vehicle being driven by someone sitting in traffic at an intersection waiting on a light to change. 

As for the towing company, here’s a quote from the “Daily Mail:”

The bright yellow tow truck, with the name ‘Specialty Towing’ plastered across it in lime green, was captured on video trying to snatch a silver Toyota sedan before the vehicles sped away. In February, Specialty Towing was suspended by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu after the owners, Abigail Fuentes and Jose Badillo, were found to be claiming government handouts and scamming customers. The owners, described by the city attorney’s office as a couple with ‘a personal relationship’ and ‘multiple kids’, pocketed around $2million from their scams and used the money to buy a Lamborghini, documents said. 

From a business ethics standpoint, this is just pitiful, not only morally and legally wrong but aggressively foolish. It’s hard to even contemplate this level of stupidity. At the very least, they might have wound up being charged with car jacking, or kidnapping, as well as an amazing variety of traffic offenses. It is interesting that the the tow truck driver fled when he realized he was being filmed (according to one of the stories).

I suspect that the city, state or feds will find something to charge given the contents of the video. But we’ll see. I think justice has long been denied in regard to this company and it is absolutely time to remedy this.

James Alan Pilant