About 1pm on Wednesday January 7th. My wife and I came home to our apartment to find my car was missing.
Now I know my tags were expired by 7 days, so the first thought that crossed my mind was that it had been towed. I then went to my apartment's admin office to ask if they had it towed. They then informed me that they did not have it towed or never authorized a tow.
Now according to the apartment manager, it has to be cleared with the management before a vehicle can be towed for an issue like that. So I then thought that maybe an officer had driven by and had it towed, but according to the Orlando, police department, noting was called in by an officer.
I then proceeded to contact Moldon's towing, and they did in-fact tow my car to their lot due to expired tags. I then went to the tow company to get my car back.
When I arrived at the tow yard, hey told me that on January 5th they had put a 24hr notice to tow the vehicle due to expired tags. However I was driving the vehicle than night so there was no way that could have happened. Also my wife parked next to my car and no notice was ever put on the car.
Then, I noticed that the orange sticker was completely dry, and none of the ink was washed off. (it had just finished thunder-storming throughout the entire Orlando, Fl area just 30 Min's prior to arriving at the tow yard. I pointed this out to the man at the desk and he refused to come look at the sticker. Also the sticker said that the car would be towed at 11:30pm on the 7th... Which was more than 8 hours from the time I picked up my car.
To prove that there is no way that this sticker was on the car before it was towed, I then got out my video camera and a glass of water. I slowly poured the water over the sticker, and most of the ink washed right off when the water hit it. (This was all caught on camera.)
I then asked him how he towed my car from the spot because I was pulled in and there was no way that he could get to the front of the car. He said that they used a slim jim to unlock my car, and enter it, then putting it into neutral. Now there are many things wrong with this statement. First he did not have permission or authorization to break into my car and enter my car. Second, without a key you cannot put a car into neutral without seriously damaging something. So i did not buy his story.
After a little frustrated with the previous statement, I then asked who called the tow in. The man said that they "drive parking lots looking for expired tags, and other reasons to tow vehicles." This really frustrated me, and I walked out to look at my car.
I then proceeded to inspect my car for damages, and sure enough I found some. Not only was it left unlocked from them breaking into it, my front bumper has a DEEP scratch from the tow truck, both front rims were very badly scratched around the outside of the rim, and there were spots on each front tire that were almost bald. I have video and photographs of all the damage.
I then arrived home, only to see that the parking spot that my car was sitting in had skid marks from where the front tires sat, all the way to the street (about 200 yards). So his story about putting my car into neutral after he broke into my car was false. It was clear that he picked it up from the back end (on a front wheel drive car) and dragged it all the way to the street.
At this point I was red hot. I then video taped all the skid marks to prove what had happened. There were also two guys sitting on their porch, and I asked them if they saw what had happened. They then proceeded to inform my wife and I, that the tow company always drive through the apartment complex looking for cars to tow. They then saw my car with expired tags (only by 7 days) and then the two guys witnessed the tow driver hook up my back end and drag my car out. (I have an appointment this Friday to get the transmission checked for further damages.)
On the receipt that the tow company gave me it gave a police case number. I then called the police to ask what it had said. The officer informed me that the report stated that the apartment manager had called to have my car towed due to expired tags (reported by the tow truck driver.) The police never called my apartment manager to confirm, and just said ok. The man at the towing place told me himself that he drove around and saw that the car had expired tags and towed it for that reason. But just to be sure, I checked with my apartment manager, and she assured me that no one from the complex called or authorized a tow (which has to be the case if the police do not order the tow.)
The towing fee was only 100 (which is still very high for a tow), but the damages are going to be well more than that, along with the illegal breaking into the car, illegal possession of the car, and making false statement to the police...
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