VA Tow company loses, ordered to pay up
You may remember seeing accusations that a towing company in the Virginia Beach, VA area named “Steve’s Towing” was illegally towing deployed service members’ vehicles and selling them?
The Justice Department started an investigation into the company after reports that two vehicles from the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story were towed and later auctioned. Both vehicles belonged to a Navy Seal who was deployed from October 2019 to April 2020.
One of the vehicles, a Land Cruiser, was allegedly towed by Steve’s in early January 2020. Aside from the fact that it was being towed from a base, the Land Cruiser was filled with clues that the owner was a service member. Inside the vehicle was a duffle bag filled with spare uniforms and a Naval Special Warfare Development Group Sniper challenge coin. It’s alleged that the company towed and auctioned five other service member vehicles during the same timeframe.
The suit again (sic) Steve’s Towing was filed in spring of 2022, and according to Military.com seemed to come as a shock to Steve’s Towing general manager Lee Gilliam. “We love our military and would never auction off an active-duty military vehicle knowingly,” he said.
Yeah, their deep empathy is obvious:
The case came to a close on April 7th. In a settlement, Steve’s Towing agreed to pay $90,000 over the tows: $67,500 goes to the seven service members who had their vehicles towed; $12,500 to any additional service members that may have been affected, and a $10,000 civil penalty.
One is happenstance. Twice may be coincidence. Third time is enemy action…seven times? Please. This should be $90,000 plus court costs…and their trucks.
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Preying on deployed service members, what is this asshole day at TAH?
Brings back fond memories of Sunrise Auto sales just outside Little Creek. Ripoff artists extraordinaire. Shame this crap is going on 45 years later.
I’m betting Hack bought a used cat at Sunrise Auto.
As opposed to a NEW cat?
🤣
No matter how young or old, cats are fucking unpredictable animals.
He sold two cars that belonged.to a Seal? Can’t he think of someone better to piss off?
Gotta use that POV storge lot when deployed/Not my first rodeo.
Lucky they didn’t experience a weird set of highly coincidental accidents.
Douchery.
Set up a gauntlet of the towed service members, have Steve’s Towing run said gauntlet and make him need a “toe” truck.
I know that a lot of things have changed since my active duty these many years ago…but…back yonder, EVERY POV on a Military Installation was registered either/or military and/or civilian and it took just a quick check to see whose it was and why it was where it was. And this was waaaaay yonder before the computer systems that can tell in an instant all of the details of a vehicle that we have today. And very shortly after determining who a vehicle belongs to, that individual’s location is known. I personally think that this towing company was doing some shady, nefarious activities, and just got caught.
unfortunately things have changed. The DoD no longer uses identification decals (makes you a target), and not even California makes you register the vehicles on base any more.
I remember when I first reported to NTC they made me get an inspection before I could register my modified 1991 K5 Blazer on post… long story short I had to get a visitor pass every time I drove it until they changed the policy about registration.
Thanks for the update on current “policy”. MIRanger. Like I said, been a good while since I had to jump thru the POV on Post/Base thing. Would this “No Decal” be a local thing or DoD overall? If DoD wide, it must be fairly recently. A lot of the vehicles that go in and out of RAFB had a sticker of some sort. I’ll check with some Compatriots I have, military and civilians that work there and see. When I was with Ma Bell and we had to go on Base to work on the telephone system, we had to jump thru all kinds of hoops to bring out work trucks on base. We finally made the DeMark point outside the gate and turned over all telecom inside the base to them. Even so, again, the tag readers and such that nearly every LEO uses pops up an immediate printout/display of the vehicle’s owner. I still think that there were some shenanigans going on. I know if I came out of a building and my vehicle was not where I left it, I’d be on the hunt for it. Locally, tow companies have to have the support or a notification from LEOs th tow a vehicle and it is in a data base as to the particulars of the tow.
KoB, DoD stopped issuing the vehicle window stickers on 1 July 2013. Many vehicles previously so-registered just left the existing stickers in place until they either wore off, the windshield was replaced (very common on Jeeps), or the vehicle sold.
Tanks, Pete. Don’t recall when we made that transition for the on base telecom, but it was after that. Robins was redoing all of the gates and they pretty much stopped everybody that was going on. Armed APs (and their Army/Marine backups) checked our trucks with a fine toothed comb, using dogs, explosive detectors, wheeled mirrors to check underneath, IDs, work orders ad naseum. Took an hour and a half to get in and start to work. We redid all of the old copper feeds with fiber with the exception of some redundant copper backup cables. Much of that copper was installed in the early 1940s and still worked.
The towing company should have realized something should have been questioned when they got no response from the owner of a towed vehicle within a certain amount of time. Did the service members screw up by not making sure their vehicle was secured and in the proper place before they deployed? Maybe. Going by some of the other comments here, I still think the towing company is totally at fault and should be nailed to the wall. Their punishment seemed a little light.
I know Joint Base Lewis McChord stores vehicles of those deployed in fenced off areas.
What was MWR’s cut? If they got towed off the base why did the LCPD allow it? Not that the Steves is innocent but they didn’t just happen to do it.
Exactly. The DOD police/MA’s have to call for the vehicle to be removed for being parked illegally. Something is fishy here, but depending on exactly where he parked they could have thought he belonged to one of the amphibs that are across the street.
This SEAL’s vehicle was also towed before the Chinese Virus went full blown so not sure the motivation.
Steve’s Towing had a nasty rep for hookin’ up and haulin’ ass on Little Creek, almost as bad as the one in San Diego.
These weren’t reposessions were they? Why both vehciles from one individual? Did his girlfriend drive the other one onto base and leave it too?
Something is missing from the story!
Almost certainly working with an MP/SP he bribed. Were any criminal charges filed?
Piss off a Navy SEAL?
I don’t think even Superman or Chuck Norris would dare do that.
Best watch your back when out late at night.
Don’t go into dark alleys, you might not come out again – alive, anyway.
Whatta Drag!
How did he get on base? How did he remove vehicles off base. Do the MPs do anything??
They probably were directing traffic around him while he was hooking up!🤣
Probably provided him an escort to the main gate, too! Helpful chaps, those SP’s!
Like practically All US military bases stateside these days Little Creek/ Ft. Story uses a DOD Police Force to guard the base. This frees up the soldiers and means the base is protected even when everyone on the base is deployed.
It appear to be the most boring job ever and doesn’t pay all that well, but it keeps them employed. I can’t find any hard numbers for how many there are in the US but I am guessing about 10K.
Those guys (Steve’s) know exactly what the hell they’re doing. If it’s still anything like the Army bases I’ve been on in my short 20+ years, the civilian is out to screw the GI. Do them the old fashion way, declare them off limits and ban them from the base. SMG just has to grow some balls but most likely get’s a kickback.
“his should be $90,000 plus court costs…and their trucks.”
I heartily agree…tow the tow trucks an auction them off.
$90K each, plus costs and 100K for enhancement.