Sign at Bobby's Towing (Photo: Nisha McMillion-Bentley, via Google)
A lawsuit brought by two individuals and a car-leasing company targets the City of Detroit and yet another local towing company. In what might be the day's greatest understatement, George Hunter writes at The Detroit News::
The allegations are the latest in a long line of controversies arising from Detroit's police towing operation, which for years has been plagued by scandal and corruption.
Sign at Bobby's Towing (Photo: Nisha McMillion-Bentley, via Google)
You don't say. The suit, filed in federal court, targets Bobby's Towing and "alleges a scheme that allowed Bobby's Towing to charge exorbitant storage fees for months, sometimes years to unsuspecting car owners."
City officials say there's no merit to the case and that they will prove so in court.
Here's the meat of the allegation:
Jason Katz, attorney for the car leasing firm Brite Financial Services of Madison Heights, and Detroit residents Gerald Grays and Dale Riley, said the city violated his clients' constitutional rights by keeping them in the dark about the fate of their vehicles, charging thousands of dollars in storage fees, and then making them pay before they could fight the case in court.
As Hunter points out, towing outfits are frequently at the center of corruption and controversy. In November, the city went on the offensive against Breakthrough Towing, which contracts with, among others, businesses along Woodward in Midtown. Breakthrough was the target of complaints by drivers who said their cars were towed illegally, sometimes within minutes of being parked legally.
