Tow truck trouble

[introuble]

What is the name of your state? MD

So I'm in baltimore and i see my car being dragged down the street by some idiot tow truck driver. He was pulling the FWD car by it's back wheels burning rubber by dragging the locked front wheels on the ground (and putting unknown stress on my automatic transmission.) The idiot also did not have the tires strapped down. I beg him to stop and he gets out of his truck yelling and screaming. A bunch of witnesses begin surrounding the car yelling at the driver. I get in my car to put it into neutral while the tow truck driver was not in his truck. He gets in with me in the car and starts moving the car up and down violently to try and shake me out. He moves it way to far up and smashed my front bumper on the ground to the point where it and my headlights were completely smashed off and destroyed. Three people had called the cops and about 10 patrol cars show up. At this point there are just witnesses EVERYWHERE yelling at this tow truck driver. An older man I noticed simply standing there for almost an hour comes up to a cop and tells him this same truck driver improperly towed a woman's dodge stratus 3 days prior and ripped the transmission out from the car, and had totaled it. This incident happened from the same private parking lot (i had parked there improperly for 10mins, so I'm not arguing about the legality of the initial tow.)

Anyway, all the police advised me to go and file warrents and complaints against the man, however he still ended up towing the car. The cops met us at the station, but since these are civil charges I have to wait till monday to file at the court house.... I live in Philadelphia, is there anyway to do this without showing up??


Also, the cops (completely on our side through and through) told us to call 911 West Baltimore District when we showed up to the towing impound yard to have an escort and make a prescence. 5 Cop cars showed up with their siren blaring to retrieve my car... it was like a scene from a movie.

BTW, they charged me 240 to get the car out... I have pictures of all the damage, on-scene. I'm talking with my lawyer on monday about the charges to be filed...

[CourtClerk]

Originally Posted by introuble

What is the name of your state? MD

So I'm in baltimore and i see my car being dragged down the street by some idiot tow truck driver. He was pulling the FWD car by it's back wheels burning rubber by dragging the locked front wheels on the ground (and putting unknown stress on my automatic transmission.) The idiot also did not have the tires strapped down. I beg him to stop and he gets out of his truck yelling and screaming. A bunch of witnesses begin surrounding the car yelling at the driver. I get in my car to put it into neutral while the tow truck driver was not in his truck. He gets in with me in the car and starts moving the car up and down violently to try and shake me out. He moves it way to far up and smashed my front bumper on the ground to the point where it and my headlights were completely smashed off and destroyed. Three people had called the cops and about 10 patrol cars show up. At this point there are just witnesses EVERYWHERE yelling at this tow truck driver. An older man I noticed simply standing there for almost an hour comes up to a cop and tells him this same truck driver improperly towed a woman's dodge stratus 3 days prior and ripped the transmission out from the car, and had totaled it. This incident happened from the same private parking lot (i had parked there improperly for 10mins, so I'm not arguing about the legality of the initial tow.)

Anyway, all the police advised me to go and file warrents and complaints against the man, however he still ended up towing the car. The cops met us at the station, but since these are civil charges I have to wait till monday to file at the court house.... I live in Philadelphia, is there anyway to do this without showing up??

Civil charges or a civil suit? If it's the latter, since you said later in your post that you have obtained an attorney, see if your attorney can handle this for you. They should be able to present themselves on your behalf.

Also, the cops (completely on our side through and through) told us to call 911 West Baltimore District when we showed up to the towing impound yard to have an escort and make a prescence. 5 Cop cars showed up with their siren blaring to retrieve my car... it was like a scene from a movie.

That's classic....

BTW, they charged me 240 to get the car out... I have pictures of all the damage, on-scene. I'm talking with my lawyer on monday about the charges to be filed...

You know, even though you were in the wrong and the tow was justified, I would sue them for the cost of the tow (I wouldn't really expect you to get it, but I would try anyway). This tow truck driver is obviously an idiot. I would sue him AND the company together. Have you contacted your insurance company (car insurance) to assess the damage to the vehicle? This may all be averted (the civil suit anyway) by having your insurance company deal with it, unless you have personal damages, which you didn't mention.