Tow trucks trolling the streets, looking for prey.
It's a scenario state investigators hear about every day.
And something Brian Tierney and Mike Reigh e-mailed us about.
You asked, so Contact 13's Darcy Spears investigated...
The tell-tale noise of a diesel engine pulling up beside your parked car.
It's a sound no one wants to hear.
Brian Tierney was in the shower when, "I heard a diesel pull up and then I heard some chains and flew out here right away because I already knew what it was."
Mike Reigh says, "I basically think they stole my truck for $231."
Both men had their cars towed without their permission.
"We probably get complaints at least once a day if not more," says Nevada Transportation Authority (NTA) Commissioner Monica Metz.
After Contact 13 began investigating Mike Reigh's case, the State did too.
In early March, Mike was working with a crew at the new M resort.
"We had been parking here for weeks," Mike explains as he shows us the dirt lot across the street from the M Resort property.
According to the formal complaint on file with the State, there was no signage of any kind on the open lot when the guys pulled up to work in the morning.
They say as they were getting ready to break for lunch, a fleet of Expedite Towing trucks pulled up, tacked one of their "no parking/tow away" signs to a telephone poll, and started towing.
"If I was doing something wrong and I parked in the wrong spot, I wouldn't feel bad about it at all. But I kinda think they just hijacked everybody's vehicles that day," Mike says.
Ulrich Smith is the attorney for Expedite Towing. He tells Contact 13, "The drivers who were involved in this incident are going to dispute all of that."
"They didn't have that sign? They're gonna say it was already there? They didn't put it up?" Darcy Spears asked.
"Yes. The sign was there at least 24 hours beforehand according to my information," Smith answered.
The Nevada Transportation Authority is investigating Mike's $231 tow bill.
They're paying particular attention to Expedite's own paperwork because, according to their tow invoice, the only way their drivers could have known about the tow was if they were psychic.
The call time is listed as 11:06 a.m.
But it says the trucks were en route at 10:50 a.m.
And on scene five minutes later from a yard that's more than 16 miles away.
"Why does it say 11:06 for the call time?" Spears asked.
Ulrich Smith replied, "I cannot answer that for you. I don't know the answer to that. But I'm telling you the drivers had one hour, at least, notice."
"And again, it says en route 10:50 on scene 10:55," Spears pointed out.
"Obviously that's a mistake. There's no way that could happen," said Smith.
"So there's several mistakes on this invoice," Spears noted.
"Probably," Smith said.
But those times are documented by the driver on the tow authorization sheet Expedite gave us.
The name of the person who authorized the tow is blacked out.
Also, a time at the top of the sheet has been altered.
And, there's one other time in the fax stamp--10:01 a.m.-- which is when Expedite says the property owner authorized the tow.
"Most of us lie. In fact, I think all of us probably lie. We lie because we're trying to do something that's best for us. And in this case, there probably are some lies, but someone's going to have to make a determination as to who lied and who didn't, and that's going to happen," Smith said.
It won't be Expedite's first time before the NTA.
State records show they're number two on the list of tow companies with the most violations over the last 3 years.
They also have an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau.
"It gives their whole industry a bad name if they're being predators out there," says NTA Supervisory Investigator Ruben Aquino.
Just ask Brian Tierney.
"It felt like somebody was trying to steal my car."
Brian's car was nearly taken by another company on the NTA's top ten list: Quality Towing, which comes in at number 5.
"We've got red curbs out here. They don't want you parking on sidewalks. But during daylight hours you're entitled to do just about anything you want but at night that's the restriction. They want cars off the street," Tierney explains about the rules in his mobile home park.
Brian interrupted the tow.
To get his car off the truck, he had to cough up $132 cash on the spot.
"If I hadn't been out here to see him taking my car, would I have ever gotten my car back? Was it going to the impound yard? What was he doing here?" Brian wonders.
And it's a good question considering the fact that Brian's tow receipt lists 7:45 a.m. as the "time of request."
Problem is, no request was ever made.
Brian called park management, and they got him his money back.
He did not file a complaint with the State.
Park management confirms Quality wasn't supposed to be there at all the day they tried to take Brian's car.
They say the tow company had been warned several times to stay away during the day.
Quality's contract with the park only allows them to troll for tows overnight.
Quality turned us down when we requested an on-camera interview.
Instead, they e-mailed this statement saying "...whenever we have a question we go to the NTA for guidance since we never want to be known as 'predatory.' We already have a meeting scheduled with them to get their opinion on scenarios such as this to assure we're following the law."
Brian Tierney says he still feels like prey.
"Somebody was waiting for the opportunity. That's my firm feeling."
And he hasn't stopped listening for that sound.
The NTA continues to work at strengthening State regulations to better protect consumers.
They say because of the situations we're helping to expose, they'll keep a close eye on the law and adjust it if problems continue.
As of this coming October 1st, the State will be able to impound the true rogues: illegal towing companies who aren't licensed at all.
(Article link http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10301045 )
