Cracking down on tow truck operators

Now I suppose there are times that you would have actually preferred to have your car towed away, such as the poor fool pictured here. But more times than not having your car towed is an aggravation best avoided.

It is bad enough when you come out of a store, see your car gone and only then do you see the "Tow Away Zone" sign, or something similar. But an ever increasing problem in Los Angeles is that of "predator" tow truck operators.

These lower than pawn scum sleazeballs lurk about and snatch up cars illegally, although good luck getting LAPD to do anything about it for once the car is gone, it is your word against the tow operators. You have entered the legal twilight zone of the "Civil Matter," a zone where LAPD is virtually powerless to retrieve your vehicle without you first paying the tow fees. They couldn't even get their own car off the hook, pun intended.

Well it seems that City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo now has some extra time on his hands since his being beaten by Jerry Brown and the Frisky Kitty in the same week, and has decided to do something about it. OK well, he is going after one tow truck operator... but it is a start.

The Daily News reports that a 72 count criminal complaint was filed against Non-Stop Towing Inc. Among the allegations is this gem:

"A Non Stop driver hooked up an unmarked police vehicle 15 minutes after it was parked on a private lot. When confronted by an undercover officer, the driver allegedly refused to release the car without a $180 payment, or a $278 fee at the tow company lot. "

Now I have had no luck trying to figure out why this particular moron wasn't charged with extortion and wearing silver bracelets in short order just to make a point. Especially considering that the law clearly states that a tow operator wait at least an hour to tow a car and obtain written permission from property owners. Or, even more importantly, that LAPD had actually had their cars towed on purpose before, just to catch these characters. (Then again, maybe he was)

The problem isn't isolated. Whether it is downtown or in Van Nuys since deregulation of the industry these tow companies are running rampant.

I understand we are trying to get everyone on the Orange and Red Lines, but this is ridiculous.