SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The City of San Francisco is taking action against towing companies with a history of illegally towing vehicles.
Nearly a year after the San Francisco City Attorney's Office filed suit against Auto Towing, accusing the company of violating multiple state and local laws by illegally towing vehicles from private property, the city is now taking further action.
“We have presented sufficient evidence to ensure that Auto Towing is permanently barred from doing business with the city for the next five years,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said.
Chiu said his office has a list of the illegal tactics used by Auto Towing Co. In a statement, Chiu added, “This company knowingly defrauded people out of hundreds of dollars by illegally towing their cars. The city will not contract with predatory companies that engage in illegal activities.”
During its investigation, the City Attorney's Office discovered that the owner of Auto Towing also owns two other towing companies.
One of them is called “Specialty Towing.” In April, we reported on a tow truck named “Specialty Towing” that attempted to tow a vehicle that was waiting at a red light.
“A tow truck under the name 'Specialty Towing' appears to have engaged in criminal activity attempting to steal vehicles with people inside. The investigation is ongoing, but the situation is not looking good for the company involved,” Chiu said.
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ABC7 went to Auto Towing in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood, where they found two cars in their parking lot, but no one in them.
We called the number on the sign outside the store.
The general operator said Auto Towing had not paid its operator service fees for several months.
The district's Supervisor, Sherman Walton, knows about the company.
“They take the cars from their registered address to another location, it takes people longer to find their cars and it increases the cost to the towing industry to get the car back. So they're making it difficult and in some cases impossible for people to get their cars back,” Walton said.
Supervisor Walton said there are several towing companies in San Francisco that are known to be engaging in illegal activities.
“I'm pleased that the city attorney put an end to this practice with one towing company, and hopefully it will resonate with other companies,” Walton said.
Upon further investigation, city attorney Chiu acknowledged that the Auto Towing owners face more than just being banned from the city.
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In a separate case, the owner of Auto Towing was charged with welfare fraud.
The San Francisco District Attorney's Office said in a statement:
“Mr. Fuentes and Mr. Badillo were each charged with welfare fraud. They were arraigned in February of this year and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Their next court date is September 11, 2024, for a pretrial conference.
Fuentes is charged with 12 felony counts related to welfare fraud: one count of embezzlement, two counts of falsely claiming assistance, one count of falsely reporting eligibility, two counts of theft and six counts of perjury.
Badillo is charged with eight felony counts, including one count of obtaining assistance by false representation, one count of making a false representation of eligibility, one count of theft and four counts of perjury.”
As for the two other towing companies owned by the owners of Auto Towing, Chiu, the city attorney, said the companies are still suspended from doing business with the city.
“They have been suspended indefinitely while criminal proceedings against the owners of their companies are ongoing,” Chiu said.
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