After protestors outside Crown Towing accused the operation of swindling a mother and daughter out of $158, the company’s lawyer shot back by accusing the two women of trying to pull a fast one and starting a fight.
Click above to watch the episode and see what happened.
Crown’s attorney, Noah Eisenhandler, released two surveillance clips of the tow lot, recorded on Monday night, when the mother and daughter were arrested. One clip shows the daughter trying to remove her car from the lot while a pregnant Crown receptionist blocks her way. The second clip shows a fight erupting between the receptionist — in the white hoody — and the mother and daughter.
In an email, Eisenhandler responded Thursday to accusations that a tow truck driver from Crown Towing had taken $158 from Rojonna Handy with the understanding that her outstanding tax debt was then settled, then towed her car anyway. Handy said the driver gave her a business card as a receipt for the transaction.
Handy and her mom, Robyn, took the business card to to Crown Towing on Crown Street on Monday to try to pick up Rojonna’s 2005 PT Cruiser. They were unsuccessful, got into a dispute with an pregnant receptionist and were arrested for assault.
On Wednesday, Rojonna and Robyn returned, with two dozen protestors, to accuse Crown Towing of fraud and to call for the city to end it’s contract with the company. Crown has an exclusive contract to tow cars with outstanding taxes due.
In attorney Eisenhandler’s email, he tells a different story of what happened. He said the business card (pictured in photo) was never a receipt. It was simply a reminder of how much Rojonna owed. Someone wrote the letters “pd” in front of the dollar amount, to try to make it look like it was a receipt that indicated the amount had been paid, Eisenhandler said.
What’s more, Eisenhandler went on, Rojonna has been driving the car with a suspended registration and no insurance since January. And another towing company, York, had an order to repossess the car for non-payment of an auto loan, Eisenhandler said.
Here’s what Eisenhandler said happened:
“On September 20, 2012, using the boot finder system installed in tow trucks, the tow operator was notified that Ms. Handy’s vehicle owed a past due amount to the City of New Haven. While attempting to retrieve the vehicle pursuant to town ordinances, Ms. Handy appeared along with several other people to prevent the towing. As per company policy in order to avoid a confrontation, the vehicle was left and a business card with the amount owed written on the back was given to Ms. Handy. Ms. Handy was advised to contact the City to make arrangements to pay her debt.
“On October 22, 2012, again the boot finder system indicated Ms. Handy’s vehicle stilled owed delinquent taxes and tickets. Crown Auto Center towed Ms. Handy’s vehicle to its holding lot at approximately 8:15 p.m. Ms. Handy went to Crown Auto Center and demanded the return of her vehicle. She was advised that she must pay the past due debts before she could retrieve her vehicle. She then showed to the representative at Crown the business card from last month with the amount owed written on the back. The initials “pd” in different ink and different handwriting appears next to the number. She stated that this was proof that this money has been paid and this represents a receipt. It was explained to Ms. Handy that this was not a paid receipt. It was just an amount indicating what was owed and that had been explained to her before. The “pd” indication was not done by anyone representing Crown Auto Center.
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“On Wednesday, October 24th Ms. Handy returned to Crown Auto Center accompanied by a police officer to retrieve her vehicle. The police officer checked the registration of the vehicle and discovered that it had a suspended registration due to no insurance since January, 2012. The police advised Ms. Handy that the vehicle could not be driven unregistered and in order to remove the vehicle from the Crown Auto Center lot the vehicle would have to be towed. The vehicle was towed from Crown Auto Center by York Towing at the direction of Ms. Handy. Unknown to Crown Auto Center and apparently unknown to Ms. Handy, York Towing was in possession of an order to repossess the vehicle issued by the lender for non-payment of the auto loan. Ms Handy’s loss of her vehicle was caused by her actions and not that of Crown Auto Center.
“Ms. Handy is familiar with this process. In 2010 her vehicle was towed by Crown Auto Center for past due taxes and tickets owed to the City.
“No one likes their vehicle being towed. However, it is a necessary requirement in order to collect monies owed to the City.
“Due to the efforts of Crown Auto Center along with the Tax Department, the City’s rate of collection of past due taxes and tickets has never been higher.”
A relevant state law states: “Sec. 53a-20. Use of physical force in defense of premises. A person in possession or control of premises, or a person who is licensed or privileged to be in or upon such premises, is justified in using reasonable physical force upon another person when and to the extent that he reasonably believes such to be necessary to prevent or terminate the commission or attempted commission of a criminal trespass by such other person in or upon such premises…”