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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Midland Police Department Continues to Allow Criminal Conduct by Towing Companies for Financial Gain


Latest complaint against ARS from victim who had three of his vehicles towed without authorization:

On Friday August 16, 2013 ARS towed three vehicles from the Cypress Pointe apartment complex. It is fact that said vehicles were and are registered, had and continue to have current inspection stickers, and were and are covered with liability insurance to a known resident of the complex. The day the vehicles were towed I was out of town and unable to attend to the matter in person. However, I did call the towing company but the lady who answered said she could only provide me with the address the vehicles were taken to, the cost to retrieve my vehicles and that they were towed for being "unauthorized". I asked repeatedly to elaborate what she meant by "unauthorized" but she refused. Her claim was that she could only provide me with limited information because she works for the VSF. This is in spite of the fact that I called the phone number for the towing company, that she answered the phone as a representative of the towing company, and that the towing company and VSF have the same physical address. The following day Saturday, August 17, 2013 I was forced to pay the false debt as I did not want to incur further charges. Again I asked what the reason for my vehicles being towed was and the workers present responded with the same answer "unauthorized" and threatened that if I returned the vehicles to the property they would be towed again. Being that the apartment offices are closed weekends I went in on Monday, August 19, 2013 to confront the manager with this claim. He stated to me he did NOT call or authorize for the vehicles to be taken. I asked him to call the towing company and find out under what authority and more importantly for what reason the vehicles were towed. They responded to him with the same answer. I have gone to the police but they claim this is a civil matter and they cannot get involved. The officer I spoke with did however call the towing company to try and get answers but he was also met with the same response, the cars were "unauthorized". They did also claim that they had authorization from the apartment complex manager. I have a letter signed by the community director stating otherwise. Doing research I found that towing scams and malpractice by these companies is quite common. I have read the occupations code for towing and booting of unauthorized vehicles and I am 100% confident my vehicles were towed illegally. It has also been made aware to me that this company has broken the law before and has had fines levied against them. It's apparent the owner and employees feel that they are above the law and can at anytime steal vehicles and hold them for ransom.

The victim has since filed a complaint with the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulations.

Since Midland Police Department refuses to investigate and arrest those engaging in organized criminal activity, I have suggested the victim contact the local FBI office to pursue a Hobbs Act investigation of MPD.