Cracking down on predatory tow truck companies

The New York Times reports that tow truck companies in Los Angeles are out of control, towing cars illegally and then charging exorbitant fees before owners can get them back.

In one case here, a church's pickup was towed from its own parking lot; in another, a 4-year-old boy was towed away in his mother's car after she went inside her apartment for a few minutes to drop off groceries and a younger child.

And a man who ran alongside a tow truck, pleading to get his vehicle back after it was towed from a fire lane, died when he slipped and was run over by the truck and then his own Chevrolet Suburban.

Link (Previous Boing Boing coverage of criminal tow truck drivers)