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Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas, Watchdog Column: Fort Worth Stock Show Visitor Hauls Towing Company into Court

Posted on: Friday, 31 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Dave Lieber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Mar. 31--Before he became a Fort Worth firefighter, Jeff Natterer says, he jumped out of airplanes and led missions as a captain in the Green Berets.

"I see the world in black and white," says the man who also served nine years in the Marines.

One Saturday in late January, Natterer, a short man with burning eyes that reflect his good-guy-versus-bad-guy outlook, took his family to the Fort Worth Stock Show. He parked outside a quiet office building in the 3200 block of Camp Bowie Boulevard, across from the Kimbell Art Museum. The office building appeared closed.

When the family came out five hours later, their blue Ford pickup was gone.

At first, he thought the pickup was stolen. He called Fort Worth police dispatch and asked for information.

He learned that a tow truck operator had grabbed the vehicle for improperly parking in a private lot and hauled it to Arlington. Thinking wisely, Natterer and his wife took out the camera they brought for the Stock Show and snapped 24 photographs of the parking lot from various angles -- looking for the required signs. He said that only two, both faded, were at one of two entrances.

The Special Forces captain launched his latest battle. What's telling, though, is the way he fights back, using a computer, small-claims court and open-records requests. It's a winning watchdog strategy that anyone can follow.

That day, Ann Natterer, a pediatrician, found a ride to Arlington and paid A-AArlington Abandoned Vehicle $244 to retrieve the pickup from behind the security fence.

Back home, Jeff Natterer sat at his computer and typed "Texas law and transportation code" into an Internet search engine. He quickly found a Texas law that protects vehicle owners from improper towing.

"They towed the vehicle without cause," Jeff Natterer says now. "It's really like stealing a vehicle. They lacked the authority to remove the vehicle."

His worldview kicks in: "In this case, they've come out of the gray area and into the black area."

Jeff Natterer, now on inactive status with the military, sued the towing company in small-claims court. Within days, his case was called before Tarrant County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Linda B. Davis.

With his photographs and his understanding of the law, Natterer won his case: "Probable cause did not exist for towing," the court record shows.

The court ordered the towing company to refund the Natterers' money. Robby Merritt, who represented A-AArlington Abandoned Vehicle at the hearing, later sent the Natterers a check.

Jeff Natterer says he won't cash it. He's not sure if he's done. Under state law, he can also sue in civil court.

During a visit to the Arlington auto storage yard, Merritt, company vice president, told me that he is ready for any future court action.

We spoke outside the tow company office on East Division Street. Merritt insisted that signs were properly posted. Asked about the photographs showing otherwise, he said he didn't believe the photos were an accurate depiction of the parking lot that day.

"There's a lot of people that do get towed that will go back and rip our signs down," he said.

After he lost the small-claims case, Merritt said he remembered that two of his tow trucks made video recordings of the Natterers' tow. He went back and checked the video, he said, and found proof that the signs were posted.

The Watchdog asked to view the video, but Merritt said he was saving it, if needed, for any future court proceedings.

"The proof I've got will end it right there," he said. "We would not tow a car without our signs being posted."

An official with building's owner said his company had no knowledge of the towing.

H. Reece Pettigrew, chief financial officer of JaGee Holdings LLP, said: "As soon as management found out about it, we made it clear that we wanted it stopped."

The building owner had no written contract with the towing company, as required by state law, Pettigrew said. JaGee received no money when cars were towed off its property, he said.

Natterer filed open-records requests with Fort Worth to examine police towing records. This week, he had not received the complete set of records. But in those records he has received, identities of vehicle owners are not public.

He wants everyone to learn the Texas towing law.

Permanent signs must be posted at each entrance, giving towing rules, a contact phone number and other information. The signs must be large and easy to read.

A towing company must have a written agreement with a property owner before towing someone's vehicle off that property.

Natterer's next step is made clear for him, if he chooses to pursue his mission, in the Texas law. He can sue for "$300 plus three times the amount of fees assessed in the vehicle's removal, towing or storage," state law states.

In Natterer's case, that's another $1,000 or so.

News researcher Marcia Melton contributed to this report.

IN THE KNOW

If your vehicle is towed

If you believe you may have been improperly towed, read Chapter 684 of the Texas Transportation Code, which is available online at www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/tn.toc.htm

Take photographs of the parking lot from different angles as close to the time of towing as possible. Ask, through an open-records request with the municipal government where the tow occurred, to view and copy public information that could make your case, such as towing records.

You can challenge a towing and storage charge in a small-claims case before a justice of the peace.

You can pursue it further with a civil lawsuit that allows for more restitution to a vehicle owner.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

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Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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