Prescott Valley Police Department (PVPD) are changing their non consensual towing procedures after a local woman complained of inflated charges from a towing company. She claimed she was unable to pay the $585 bill after a wreck involving her estranged husband.
This amount was much higher than what PVPD Sgt. Rob Brown expected the bill to be so he decided to review the invoices from the tow company.
When the statement arrived it was immediately clear something was wrong. Numbers were scratched out and new ones written in, the driver charged extra mileage because they drove to the incorrect tow yard, and the towing fee was much higher than what was listed in the company’s fee schedule.
“This statement is false and borders on fraudulent,” PVPD Chief Bryan Jarrell said in a letter to the company dated Feb. 8.
Since then, PVPD has suspended the company from its tow rotation list and implemented a review of the towing practices of companies called for non consensual tows.
“We discovered that almost every towing company is engaged in the practice where they charge an individual the very maximum allowed under our prior regulation,” Jarrell said.
PVPD has created a new set of guidelines for non consensual tows and in July will pick the top 10 tow companies that meet the new requirements for its rotation list.
“We’ll try to do a better job of making sure they are treating our citizens with respect and the proper customer service that we do,” Brown said.
If you are the victim of a non consensual tow situation and are facing exorbitant fees, call Morgan, Cohen & Bach at (520) 442-1303 to have experienced negotiators fight for your right to a fair bill.