Serious Breakdown In Communication?

[TowZone]

Who is at fault in this breakdown in communication?

 

The part that I have an issue with is the officer does not state the if the vehicle was moved from the roadway to the private property prior to tow and why it was moved to the private property. If the vehicle was not moved by the police ordered tow and moved on it's own then he has a case. If the vehicle was no allowed to move on it's own he has a case. If the police ordered tow truck moved the vehicle which it seems it did then he doesn't have a case. The private property becomes an issue here and the denying and depriving the vehicle owner of the right to chose their own tow service is an issue as well. An option would have been to suggest the vehicle owner pay the tow company for removing the vehicle from the roadway and then allow them to contact their own tow. Obviously, this is not a vehicle that is going to be abandoned. On the other hand if the towing company is legit and the rates are set then that should have been explained and he could contact his insurance. Seems to be a lack of training in regards to these types situations.

 

How would you and your company have handled this type of situation. Remember, Good Communication Skills are Important, the persons involved are stressed and a God Tow Truck Operator can Put Them At Ease! Did these Wrecker Drivers Add To The Stress Level. At least the vehicle owner was not confronting them.

 

This is an Excellent Training Discussion and should likely be in Safety & Training. However, it seems best kept within a members only forum.

 

Police call friendly wrecker forcing victim to tow her car on private lot. I.A found NOT SUSTAINED

 

 

Date: Wednesday July 8, 2020 Location: 10997 Scarsdale Blvd, Houston, TX 77089 (in front of Chase Bank) about 11:30am Party Husband and Wife Harris county sheriff’s department – Case: I.A -20070031 Officer Daniel Vazquez and Officer Robert Sanchez Internal Affair Office – Rene Vela Harris County Constable Precinct 2 101 S Richey St, Pasadena, TX 77506 10851 Scarsdale Blvd #500, Houston, TX 77089 Today is a very sad day for both of us, my wife got into an terrible accident, airbag deployed. I was so worry, trying to get there as soon as possible. Sadly, we got involved in a complication with the constables. Two constables were forcing us to use their friendly wrecker after we told them many times that we have our own wrecker and he is on the way. Our vehicle is parking on the private parking lot, off the road. We have the right to choose or change wrecker service . As I was trying to protect my property, the 2 officers dragged me out of my vehicle and cuffed immediately when they saw my wrecker arrived so their friendly wrecker could tow my car away without given us a chance to talk to our own wrecker. I am a public school teacher who had been in education for 15+ years and my wife is Covid 1st responder. We have a great respect for the police and support the “BLUE”. I took me a lot of courage to publicize these videos because we are both public servant. I could have been brutally dragged out like the man on The United Express Flight 3411 or kneeled down like George. I thought of my wife, had to apologize to these cops so they could let me go. I would kneel down and beg these two cops to save my wife if I had to or my wife would had been left alone on the scene and commit suicide seeing them taking me to jail at that moment. This is my 1st time in my life that I got hand cuffed. I and my wife suffered trauma, both physical and mental damages along with many other losses. I tried to resolve it quietly to protect the image of the law enforcement by filing a complaint with the Internal Affair and hopefully they can resolve this case to regain the public’s trust in the system. Unfortunately, after 2 months of waiting, I got the report back from the I.A, officer Vela found “NOT SUSTAINED” evidence and buried the case, refused to answers my question, ignored emails, denied victim's appeal. I tried to get the evidence: policy body camera, audio record when i filed the complaint, and the detail I.A report. He asked me to submit the Public Record Form without pending time. At this point, I am fighting this battle on my own. Hopefully, the public view will see the JUSTICE in this incident and raise the awareness with me. PLEASE HELP, join a hand, give me some comments and help me to APPEAL this case to higher up. If you know any lawyer who is willing to take the case, please refer us. EMAIL: thanguy2k2000@yahoo.com

 

1. FORCED THE VICTIMS AGAINST THEIR WILL TO USE THE TOWING WRECKER THAT THE OFFICERS CALLED.

 

2. EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE, TO DRAG THE VICTIM OUT OF HIS VEHICLE AND CUFFED THE HUSBAND (A TEACHER) WITHOUT WARRANT OR PROBABLE CAUSE. 3. A BIASED & UNJUSTED INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED BY I.A CORPORAL VELA, COERCED VICTIM TO RE-LIVE THE INCIDENT WHEN HE INSISTED TO STOP MANY RED FLAGS 1. Today Captain Eric Slaughter (10.20.20) emailed me to defend Mr. Vela's judgement and his 2 offers. He wants to push the case to civil case between us and the wrecker. "ASSUMING if this is legal matter between us and the his wrecker, WHY DID YOUR OFFICER STILL FORCE US TO USE his wrecker. In the video, the wrecker was quiet, didn't say anything or evening forcing us to pay. If we were obligated to pay him and refuse, the can file a civil lawsuit against us later. The two officers got involved, sided with his friendly wrecker to TOW our car. Their role is not he judge on scene" 2. Captain Slaughter also threatened me in email "Sir, be advised that the deputy had probable cause to place you in jail for interfering with Public Duties but showed compassion and restraint by not arresting you. " I wonder: "What probable cause did they have to invade my personal car on a private lot? You still need a warrant to come into someone's home, a probable cause to search someone's car ?."

 

3. Mr. Vazquez, could had drag me out of the SUV in Video 1 when I started the engine but he did not. Mr. Sanchez immediately drag me out of the vehicle and wouldn’t let my wrecker talk to me while yelling, "you still have to pay his friend wrecker" is clearly to protect the interest of his friendly wrecker.

 

4. When I felt something wrong about these 2 constables, I called 911 requesting for a Houston Police. They intercepted the 911 call (I saw it from the Police Body Cam during the I.A 1st meeting). They purposely denied the 911 operator. If they would allow a Houston Police arrive on scene, things would be different.

 

[GRUMPS The Towman]

From what I can make out, the white suv was driven into the parking lot, off the roadway after the accident. Maybe during the initial response by L.E., the officer initially called for two rotation wreckers to the scene. The other vehicle appears to definitely need a tow. The second rotation wrecker shows up, and instantly backs in and grabs the white suv without even bothering to get out of his rig and talk with anybody. Guys around here do that all the time. Its their way of insuring they get a "hook fee" out of the deal. Now, personally, if the vehicle is out of the roadway, then I see no reason that the officer needs to wait around as he states. leave the guy there with his busted up car so he can wait for his preferred tow company. They do it around here all the time. As far as the white suv needing a tow from the roadway, It doesnt appear that any significant structural or wheel/suspension damage ocurred, So moving the vehicle off to the parking lot was not a dangerous endeavor. I am assuming the suv was driven off as well due to the fact the wrecker does not have it dollied up. But on the other hand, I dont know if they make a fwd version of those Nissans. All the ones I have come across up here are awd. Now If the rotation wrecker did in fact move the suv out of the roadway, then he deserves to be paid for his services. The evidence just doesnt seem to support that though.

[someotherplace]

It doesn't answer the question of did the owner drive into the lot on his own or was he towed - but it's very typical for those Nissans to be FWD down here; you rarely see AWD, so the operator wouldn't have needed to dolly.

 

If this is the only video footage available, then I can see why nobody seems to agree on the facts of the case.  There's simply not enough evidence here.

 

Richard

[rreschran]

It's my guess that Internal Affairs washed it out as this cell-phone video doesn't clearly show evidence of the officer's wrong-doing.  But, based on the narrative provided above, the complainant suggests there is more than one video (including dash cams and multiple cop cams) that may have included other defining actions. Perhaps the complainant attempted to drive-away which was against the officer's orders? There's no eveidence from LE to show otherwise. IF this makes it to court as result of a civil lawsuit, other videos will be subpoenaed.

 

I think the key matter is, what rights does a vehicle owner have, especially as it regards public right of way versus that of private property? At 2:47 of the video, Officer Vasquez, calmly and in a non-threatening manner states, "Because of that ... we have a law that says this vehicle can't be driven any more." Officer Vasquez would be making a true statement if this department follows Texas law along with agency policy and procedure. I don't know exact Texas Law or inner workings of TDLR, Richard, do you know of written Texas law that mandates a car to be towed once it's wrecked regardless of condition? If so, perhaps the question comes down to, does a police officer have the technical expertise to make that determination? If the vehicle's owner cut the deflated airbag off, would the car be driveable?  

 

There have been plenty of incidents where LE (in all states) were accused of or guilty of special consideration to tow companies, whether it was illegal towing or kickbacks. While this situation has all similar ear-markings,  this video falls short to implicate Officer Vasquez or the towers in wrong-doing. Just because tow trucks arrived at the officer's request doesn't make that officer on-the-take. Where's the proof Mr. Vehicle Owner? At 2:47, Officer Vasquez, calmly and in a non-threatening manner states, "Because of that ... we have a law that says this vehicle can't be driven any more." The complainant's claim of, "I could have", or, "I would have", don't prove wrong-doing. The same goes for statements that include, shoulda' been, woulda' been, maybe, almost, might have been. If it didn't happen, quoting national news doesn't prove facts.

 

However, on the other hand, it's my opinion that if a vehicle was moved from the city street into a private lot, the vehicle's owner has the right to seek their own tow truck, especially where the crashed vehicle no longer is a hazard to public safety and it's no longer creates any restriction to traffic flow. The vehicle's owner wasn't transported due to injuries in the accident, nor was he under arrest (at the time), so, what law percluded the owner from ordering their own truck?

 

If the tow company responded at the lawful request by the PD and they moved the vehicle from the city street to private property, they're typically allowed to charge a drop-fee. But, if they only show-up and don't load the vehicle, they can't charge a, "dry-run", fee.  It's clear to me the officers in this situation are using authority to not allow the vehicle to be towed by another company. There's definitely a push and pull going on to note, this owner's defiant actions are the public norm to question authority. If there's Texas law to prohibit crashed vehicles from being driven, Officer Vasquez should have shown or quoted the law to the owner.

 

If there's Texas law to back his statements, Officer Vasquez is correct and the vehicle owner was improper for not following the officer's orders. Perhaps the actions of the vehicle's owner led to his arrest for interferring with the officer's duties?  I'm certain this complaint won't stop here. It's destined to make rounds to the local DA's office, TDLR, Department of Consumer Affairs, to the governor's office, and result in the officers, their department, and the tow company being sued.  Talk about drama, but the question remains ... was officer out of line?         R.

[GRUMPS The Towman]

You bring up many good points Mr. Resch. As far as the man being detained during the course of this incident, I am gonna take an educated guess and say this man is apparently a very high energy, over educated Asian man with little to no common or "street" sense. 

 

I deal with that type of personality a lot with the ivy league colleges in town. That being said, I assume this man got wound up tighter than a cork screw the instant the rotation wrecker pulled in and grabbed hold of his vehicle. At that point, he jumped into his suv and at the very least made the motions as if he was going to drive the vehicle off the wrecker. I am guessing that is when the officer probably pulled him out and detained him.

 

Now the way I see it, If this man would have just slowed down a bit and openly discussed his situation with the officer along with the rotation wrecker had just gotten out and at the very least introduced himself to the man instead of just snatching his suv, things would have gone quite different I feel. This of course is going off of the speculative scenario I mentioned in my first post. 

 

I have noticed that when it comes to a particular way an officer will handle a damaged yet otherwise moveable vehicle at an accident scene Is the level of mechanical aptitude the officer has. Most cases around here, the officers leave that determination to we the tow operators when we get on scene.

 

As far as cutting the curtain down to move a vehicle or even drive it away is at the discretion of the officer on scene.

 

Again, around here they usually leave that decision to us. I have cut them down before but will only allow the driver to drive it away if the seat belts did not lock. If the belts locked up or any of the dash/wheel mounted bags went off then it is a definite tow.

 

If they do drive it off then I simply request the officer put me back at the top of the list. Then it is off to the next one.