Tow truck latches onto Herriman woman's car moments after parking in front of own driveway
HERRIMAN, Utah (KUTV) — A family in Herriman has made claims of predatory towing in their community after a tow truck drove by their house, latched their vehicle that was parked at the end of their own driveway, and began to drive off.
It was all caught on their doorbell camera.
“Um, Hey! Hey! No!” Sheila Haddock could be heard shouting to the driver in video she shared with 2News.
Her boyfriend rushed out after her in the video.
“Hey I’m literally leaving right now,” she said.
Haddock said she came outside from running in groceries to find her boyfriend’s car hooked up to be towed – just seconds after she was standing in the driveway.
”He didn’t care that we really didn’t have $85 to give,” Haddock said of the tow truck driver. “He said, ‘You’re not getting your car back without it.’”
In the video, the car appeared to still be running. Someone stepped outside of the garage, returned inside, and about 12 seconds later, the tow was hooked up to the car. About 10 seconds after that was when Haddock came outside and ran to car.
She said the whole thing happened in about 90 seconds – with her car mere feet from her garage door.
“I feel like he was... it was a predatory action,” Haddock said. “He drove past, he was lurking, came back around, and hooked up the car as soon as we were out of site. The car was running and we’re lucky there wasn’t a child inside the back.”
Haddock shared a picture of the receipt, and the $85 paid to Swift Towing. The company declined 2News’ request for an interview or comment.
Haddock said the cost is a lot for families in their area. Had the car actually been removed, it could have cost a lot more.
“In this complex, we’re all ‘9 to 5’ working families, you know” Haddock said. “We’re paying rent here. It just feels like a situation where there is an opportunity to make some changes.”
Haddock’s problem caught the attention of Herriman City Councilor Steven Shields when he saw her video posted on a Facebook page.
“The comments below were just echoing that same problem over and over and over again,” Shields said.
Shields said parking has been an issue in Herriman, and towing has become a more recent issue due to home owner’s associations (HOAs) having their own rules and regulations regarding parking and towing.
“Because they’re setting up their own rules, it’s really the HOA board and any management team that they have that’s really responsible for how those rules are enforced or how strict they are,” Shields said.
2News asked, is it possible for the city to make any change?
“No. That’s what’s really challenging,” he said.
Shields said he met with the city manager and chief of police Tuesday to look at areas where the city could tighten up their own ordinance. Right now, what happened was within the letter of the law.
“That would discourage the kind of things we saw in the video,” Shields said. “However, as it applies to a homeowners association or a private property situation, a lot of the things that we’re doing can’t be enacted there, mostly because of state statute.”
Shields said they will be reaching out to HOAs as they did the last time the towing ordinance was updated – just within the last six months.
2News contacted HOA West, who manages the homeowners association for the complex where this happened. HOA West provides rules adopted by the HOA board (who are the complex’s investors or owners) to a contracted towing company. That company then enforces those rules.
HOA West clarified they do not get money from the towing company. That is an independent contract.
HOA West said the rules do strictly state that no street parking is allowed.
2News asked HOA West if policies would change due to this incident. They hadn’t seen the video, but did say, “Due to public safety and the narrowness of the street, it’s unlikely street parking will ever be allowed.”
While Haddock hoped for change, she’s warning her neighbors in the meantime.
“I saw somebody parking here on the street last night and I said, ‘Can I help you carry that in? Please don’t let the same thing happen that happened to us. You’ll be towed if you sit here for even thirty seconds,’” she said.
Councilman Shields said he has had preliminary conversations with state lawmakers about enacting changes that would apply to HOAs and management companies.
