A-1’s Towing employee allegedly threw bag of poop at trucker during towing dispute at Memphis truck stop on Monday evening.
The incident happened at a truck stop on Lamar Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee on March 4th and marks yet another incident in the ongoing dispute between the now-infamous towing company and truck drivers passing through the area.
Californian truck driver Sevak Zadori says that he pulled into the truck stop at about 10 p.m. that night and didn’t see any pay-to-park signs, so he started to settle in for the night. Within 20 minutes, an employee of A-1’s Towing had booted his rig. Zadori then went to pay for two days worth of parking, but the employee said it was already too late and started hooking the tractor trailer up to his tow truck.
Zadori and the tow truck driver argued over the incident, and at some point Zadori says that the tow truck driver threw a bag of human feces at him. Zadori then decided to camp out in his truck to keep it from being towed, and that’s when the alleged vandalism started.
The next morning, police were called to the scene on reports of vandalism and assault. Zadori told police that A-1’s employees had been dismantling his truck and trying to enter his cab all night long, causing him to fear for his life.
“They’ve been opening my doors and coming in and threatening me. I’ve got them on video opening my doors and dismantling my truck all night long,” Zadori said to WREG. “All my truck lines are disconnected. My drive axles everything, my air. They are disconnecting everything.”
Responding officers say they were able to witness A-1’s employees taking parts off the truck, rendering it inoperable, and say that they were unable to verify whether or not the person held a valid booting license. Police were able to confirm that at least one of the employees did not have a valid CDL.
“They’re saying $30,000, and it’s going up. And it’s $900 an hour and counting. This is just ridiculous. I can’t believe this is happening in America,” Zadori said on Tuesday morning.
Attorney Darrell O’Neal, who represents A-1’s, says that Zadori is also guilty of inappropriate behavior, and shared a video of Zadori telling an A-1’s employee he had a gun.
“The police was also on scene and said the vehicle is going to be towed. While the police was watching, the driver jumped back in his truck and the police stated it was a civil matter. After the driver said he was not going to pay and was just going to sit in his truck,” O’Neal said.
Police were called several times over the course of the dispute. Eventually, Zadori was able to contact the mayor’s office, and A-1’s was forced to release his truck. However, Zadori is still being left to deal with the consequences of A-1’s actions.
“I have to take it to another truck company. I have to find a place to fix my truck,” he said.
Over the last year, A-1’s has already had their booting and towing permit temporarily suspended, and been cited multiple times for other violations.
“One of the trucks they took was a postal service truck,” said Deputy City Attorney Michael Fletcher. “They’ve [USPS] subpoenaed information from us, and the state is also looking at it because there are some enforcement arms the state has that we don’t have.”
In response to the actions against them, A-1’s has also filed a lawsuit against the city of Memphis for “weaponizing a civil municipal ordinance to discriminate against the minority-owned company.”
Memphis city council members have asked the permits office to create an official set of rules and regulations for towing companies to clarify what is and is not legal in regards to towing vehicles. The Memphis Police Department has also been ordered not to get involved in parking disputes or towing disputes on private property.
A-1’s Towing is scheduled to appear before the Memphis transportation commission on Thursday.