Wrecker owners file lawsuit in federal court against Sheriff, want $600,000

A pair of Whitley County towing companies are suing Sheriff Lawrence Hodge in federal court for being taken off the sheriff’s rotating wrecker list, and are asking for $600,000 in damages.
Quality Care Auto Service and Towing Inc. and Tommy’s Towing filed suit against Sheriff Lawrence Hodge on Dec. 22, 2005, in U.S. District Court in London.
“When towing service is needed by the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department in the course of its officials duties (e.g. in the event of an auto accident, the arrest of the driver of a vehicle, or if the sheriff’s department recovers a stolen or abandoned vehicle), and the vehicle owner or operator does not express a preference for a particular towing service, the sheriff’s department calls upon local wreck companies pursuant to an alternating, or rotating, call list,” the lawsuit noted.
On June 13, 2005, the two towing companies responded to the scene of an accident involving a tractor trailer and a pick-up truck, which had a cattle trailer.
“Due to the severity of the accident, the presence of spilled cargo, and multiple vehicles involved, the recovery job was extremely difficult and time-consuming for both towing companies,” the lawsuit noted.
The wrecked tractor trailer was taken to Quality Care’s impound lot, and the pick-up truck was taken to Tommy’s Towing impound lot where both companies asserted a statutory lien for their recovery, towing, and storage fees.
After the owners and/or insurance companies of the vehicles disputed the charges and fees that had been levied, the towing companies refused to release the vehicles and contents without payment.
After the insurance companies and owners lodged a complaint with Hodge, he removed the two wrecker services from the department’s rotation list.
The lawsuit contends Hodge never contacted the two companies further, and that they were never provided with a hearing or opportunity to contest the suspension or explain the charges.
Both companies remain suspended from the towing rotation list, and contend they have suffered “substantial amounts of lost revenue” because of this.
“As a direct consequence of the intentional, malicious, and wanton acts of the defendant in this cause the plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer considerable monetary damages, the lost of past, current and future revenue, both direct and consequential, and damage to their reputations in the automotive towing business and within the community,” the lawsuit contends.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction requiring that the two companies be placed back on the rotation list, that they be awarded $100,000 in compensatory damages, and 500,000 in punitive damages.
Attorneys for Hodge filed an answer to the lawsuit on Jan. 11, admitting that Hodge removed the two companies from the rotation listed, but denying that the removal of the two companies was unjustified.
Hodge’s answer to the complaint asks for the lawsuit to be dismissed, and that he be entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees from the lawsuit.
So far no trial date has been set.
Cargo Logistics Services Corporation filed suit in Whitley District Court against Quality Care Auto Service and Towing on July 19, 2005, seeking a writ of possession for the cargo inside the tractor trailer, which was valued at about $84,000.
“The plaintiff asserts that a reasonable fee for the defendant’s services is approximately $8,000 whereas the defendant has asserted that a reasonable fee for the defendant’s services (for removal and storage of the said cargo and the said vehicle) is approximately $18,000,” the Cargo Logistics lawsuit contended.
Court records show that the writ of possession was granted Aug. 1, 2005, on the condition that Cargo Logistics put up a $21,000 Replevin bond. Court records indicate no further action in the case.