Tow Company Accused Of Illegal Activities May Get Off The Hook
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MESQUITE (CBSDFW) - A state agency's effort to shut down Black Bull Towing has hit a roadblock.
An administrative judge Thursday recommended the Fort Worth company pay "no penalties or other sanctions" after he says a state prosecutor failed to prove it had acted illegally.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the agency charged with regulating tow companies, argued Black Bull broke the law when it towed Ranner Carter in January of 2015.
"I was very upset," she told CBS11.
Ranner cares for her disabled uncle and was parked outside his apartment. She says she parked exactly where the complex's management told her to, but court records say Black Bull towed her for backing in to the parking spot.
"If you park in the correct spot, what's the harm?" said Ranner.
She paid nearly $300 in fees to get the car back.
TDLR also argued Black Bull illegally towed LaKisha Cooper's car from outside a Forth Worth Dollar General store.
Cooper, her husband, and the Dollar General manager testified there were no signs, warning drivers could be towed. A signed affidavit from the property manager for Bridgewood Plaza also showed the property owner had not authorized Black Bull to tow and ordered them to "cease and desist" any activity on the property.
But the judge questioned the witnesses' credibility and whether Black Bull should have known new ownership had taken over the previous year.
More persuasive was the testimony of the tow driver Thomas Abram, who said he ensured the signs were in place.
The judge recommended TDLR's request to revoke Black Bull's license be denied.
"I think that's wrong. I think that's wrong," said Carter.
TDLR has tried to shut Black Bull down before and managed to get only a $8,300 fine against it. It currently has twelve more cases pending against the company, the latest filed just this month.
The same driver who testified in court, Thomas Abram, meanwhile, was ordered two weeks ago to pay a nearly $7,000 penalty after CBS11 caught him towing another car from Bridgewood Plaza in April with its driver dangling out of it.
The judge's recommendation today, though, makes it unlikely Black Bull will close its doors anytime soon.
It will be reviewed by a state commission, which will make a final determination.
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