Yikes, Philly is a tough place to be in the towing business! Recently, several Philadelphia area towing companies have gotten themselves embroiled into a good old-fashioned turf war which has escalated to the point of people shooting each other and setting stuff on fire. The problems apparently begin when police radio in an accident. Towing companies race to the scene to get the job of pulling the crashed car back to their lot.
The way that the rules work, the company that gets their “fingerprints” onto the car first have the honor of towing it and charging the poor bastard who wrecked his car back to their respective tow yard. Skirmishes have been breaking out for some time, but things really got out of hand on Monday.
According to a story published on TimesLeader.com, the first tow truck driver to show up to an accident scene in North Philly was driving a Cadillac Escalade. Said Escalade was not equipped to tow the car, so a driver from Mystic Towing took an issue with the Caddy driver claiming the tow. Not wanting to be bothered by the driver from Mystic Towing, police say that the man in the Escalade, Jose LaTorre Jr. shot the Mystic Towing driver in the leg.
All of that went down on Monday, so when someone rolled up to J & Sons Autobody (who LaTorre is affiliated with) and set 13 cars on fire, it was on like Donkey Kong.
Less than 15 minutes after the cars were set ablaze, Mystic Towing, totally by coincidence we guess, was shot up as the owner and his wife were working the overnight shift. No one was hurt in the incident.
Police are still seeking LaTorre Jr. in conjunction with the Monday shooting.
If you find youself in Philadelphia, just start saying prayers that your car doesn’t quit. Those tow truck guys are crazy!
Source — TimesLeader.com — Tow Truck Turf War in Philly
