OREGON -- With 20 employees and 14 trucks, Nine-T-Nine Towing, of Tigard, prides itself on being the oldest, largest -- and only -- full-service towing company in the city.

For decades, Nine-T-Nine, which was founded in 1947, reigned as the Tigard Police Department's tow truck company of choice, hauling vehicles from accident scenes and traffic stops to its sprawling, well-kept yard: three acres penned in razor wire on Southwest Pacific Highway at 72nd Avenue. At $30 a day in storage fees, each car is literally money in the bank for Nine-T-Nine.

In January, in the name of fairness, Nine-T-Nine's decades-old monopoly abruptly ended. The Tigard Police Department contracted with Fox's Towing, a rapidly expanding business based in Newberg with a lot on Pacific Highway in Tualatin, and began rotating tow dispatches between the two competitors.

Since the new arrangement went into effect, brothers Frank and Chuck Morehouse, who own Nine-T-Nine, have laid off three drivers and have had to ante up $50,000 of their personal savings to keep their business solvent.

But Chuck Morehouse, a Newberg resident who bought Nine-T-Nine from his former boss in 1996, said the company's woes reflect an industrywide economic funk, not just a loss of revenue from the Tigard Police Department.

"There's enough work out there for everybody," said Morehouse, 55. "As far as volume is concerned, we're doing more tows now than we did last year. The profits are there, but we're losing money because our expenses went up. Everything went up. Way up. We're just trying to figure out how to survive here."

That struggle to stay afloat is now leading the Morehouses to find new ways of doing business.

Nine-T-Nine's biggest single expense is the $11,000 monthly rent on its yard, which was $3,500 nine years ago. During the past two years, the Morehouses said, Nine-T-Nine's insurance premium has increased by 50 percent, to $100,000 a year. A new tow truck costs between $60,000 and $70,000; a six-month supply of fuel for all those trucks has increased 30 percent from a year ago, to $8,000 to 10,000. Nine-T-Nine's bill at Les Schwab is running close to $1,000 a month.

The list goes on and on.

In fact, losing a chunk of police tow business has been something of a blessing in disguise for Nine-T-Nine.

"People get arrested, their cars are getting impounded, and they're not coming to pick them up," said Chuck Morehouse, who notes that in the case of accidents, cash-strapped car owners are pocketing insurance money and leaving their damaged vehicles to rust in his yard.

"Last month, I sold $11,000 worth of cars," he said. "With unpaid tow bills, what I had to pay my drivers, and what it cost to file all the lien papers, it wasn't even a wash. . . . The phone is ringing daily -- people who want to buy homes but can't because they say I ruined their credit rating. I get called all kinds of names. I'm sorry people are in bad financial condition, but we've got a bunch of junk that we can't get rid of."

Even the Morehouses' competition is feeling the pinch. Scott Fox bought a stake in Fox's Towing when his father died in 2001 and has expanded it from one truck to five, going after new business wherever he can find it, be it in Tigard or his hometown of Newberg.

Increasing his company's share of police tows has come at a cost: Earlier this month, he cleared his lot of abandoned vehicles, and within two weeks, it was nearly filled to capacity with more junk cars he couldn't sell.

"I'm getting so many of them now, it's killing me," said Fox, 38. "My profits are down, big time."

Gary Coe, a past president of the Towing & Recovery Association of America and of the Oregon Tow Truck Association, owns Retriever Towing in Portland. Known in the industry as the "King of Towing," Coe said just about everybody is hurting these days.

"Things are really skinny this year," he said. "Fewer people are moving around. We're not seeing traffic jams like we used to. . . . More and more people who have their cars towed aren't claiming them because they're unemployed. In addition to that, a lot of repair shops are light on work, and some of that work comes in on the backs of tow trucks. I've been to service departments where you can roll a bowling ball through the place."

And when tow companies get calls from stranded motorists, most now belong to automobile clubs, which typically reimburse at less than half the going rate for a hookup, which is $45. So even the bread and butter of towing isn't profitable anymore.

Which is why the Morehouses are striving to increase their share of one of the only moneymaking niches left in the business: transporting oversized vehicles, such as motor homes, and recovering and cleaning up wrecked tractor-trailer trucks. Nine-T-Nine recently invested $130,000 in a piece of machinery for big-rig recovery -- such jobs can reap as much as $10,000 each for the company -- that's so specialized that Chuck Morehouse has been summoned to spirit away wrecks as far north as the Olympic Peninsula and even the Canadian border.

With fewer drivers, he's spending a lot more time on the road these days, sometimes from 7 in the morning until 10 at night, seven days a week.

"This job used to be fun," Morehouse said. "Now it's just plain work." (Ted Katauskas - The Oregonian)

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TEXAS -- An Austin  man accused of shooting and killing a colleague during a dispute over a parking spot was charged with manslaughter Tuesday.

Juan Solis, 26, was getting ready to leave his job at Austin Express Towing, 500 E. Ben White Blvd., Sunday night when Daniel Higginbotham came in, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Higginbotham, a 22-year-old tow truck driver, had begun his shift and wanted Solis' parking spot immediately, police said.

The affidavit said Higginbotham told Solis to move his car. Solis told him to hold on, that he was getting ready to leave, and suggested that Higginbotham park his truck near Solis' car, the document said. Higginbotham said he didn't want to do that, and Solis again told him to wait, the affidavit said.

Higginbotham told Solis that he was going to tow the car if he didn't move it, police said. "Try it," Solis said, according to the affidavit.

Higginbotham left the building, got in his truck and began backing up to Solis' car, police said. Solis, who had been sitting at the dispatcher's desk, picked up a shotgun, holding the gun where the metal and wood meet, police said. Solis, who told police that he got the shotgun to "mess" with Higginbotham, walked to the door about 10:45 p.m. and fired the gun, striking Higginbotham in the upper left abdominal area, the affidavit said.

"My guess is that he had his finger on the trigger and pulled it," Austin police Detective Manuel Fuentes said.

Higginbotham was taken to Brackenridge Hospital, where he died Sunday night.

A preliminary police review showed that the shotgun was working properly and that someone would have to pull the trigger for the gun to fire. Solis told police that the weapon "just went off."

Although Higginbotham's death was ruled a homicide, it is not considered a murder because police believe that Solis did not intend to kill Higginbotham, Fuentes said. Solis was charged with recklessly causing Higginbotham's death.

Higginbotham's relatives could not be reached for comment. Michael Bradford, the manager of Austin Express Towing, declined to comment. (Monica Polanco -- American Statesman)

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MISSOURI -- Niki Beckman who survived a carjacking and serious accident on I-55 in St. Louis, and wanted to thank the tow truck driver who ran to her rescue.

It happened Saturday when a stranger dove through Niki's window and grabbed the wheel of her car. He steered them across 5lanes of traffic before the car hit the median and flipped. The carjacker ran from the scene, but Niki was trapped in her car.

Josh Gumpenberger, a part time EMT and full time tow truck driver, was on his way to work when he witnessed the accident. He grabbed the medical bag he always carries in his trunk and rushed to Niki's aid. He held her hand and bandaged her wounds until help could arrive.

Niki wanted to thank him, but didn't know his last name. After Josh's mother saw the story on TV, he came forward to meet Niki once again. When Josh came to the door, Niki greeted him with a hug as well as balloons and a special plaque to show her gratitude. Josh said no thanks was needed, that seeing her in once piece was thanks enough.

The suspect in the incident remains in the hospital. 43-year old Ronnie Creech is charged with attempted robbery, property damage, and tampering.

Niki is recovering from her injuries. But she is grieving the loss of her car. She worked two jobs to pay for the one she was driving that day, and says it will be a long time before she can afford another car again. (Thanks Gerald)

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ALASKA -- The Juneau Assembly approved a measure Monday night increasing monthly utility bills by $1.40 for one year to help cover the cost of picking up and disposing of junk cars.

Starting September 1, homeowners will pay a hazardous waste management fee of $5.40 per month, instead of $4.

The city deals with about 700 junk cars a year. The price tag for disposal is about $340 per vehicle, including towing and disposal of hazardous materials, City Manager Rod Swope said.

The city will use the revenue generated by the fees, about $196,000, to help offset the cost of disposing of the junk cars until it can develop another approach, he said.

"In this year, we are going to try to figure out some other way of dealing with the problem," Swope said.

Dennis Harris, who works for Wright Services, a local property management company, testified against the measure.

"The emphasis for the funding of this is totally wrong," Harris said. "It's not the vehicle and the vehicle's owner that's paying the cost. It's the owner of the home. And we own 500 rental units."

Assembly member Dale Anderson also spoke against the measure.

"It is put on the back of the wrong people," he said. "We are hitting people who are paying taxes already."

The measure passed in a 7-2 vote. Anderson and Mayor Sally Smith voted against it. (Julia O'Malley - Juneau Empire)

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FLORIDA -- The tow truck driver responsible for the 7-pound bumper that came loose from his truck and led to the deaths of two brothers in late December was adjudicated guilty for failure to secure load Friday afternoon by County Court Judge Patti Christensen.

Christensen fined Atlantic Beach resident Sheridan Grimm $500 and suspended his license for six months for not properly securing the bumper.

Grimm protested at the end of the hearing in the St. Johns County Courthouse, saying he did not have a job without a license and would lose his son. He would not comment after the hearing to explain further.

"It's a serious, serious consequence," Christensen said, recalling a couple of instances where other deaths occurred on St. Johns County roads because something came loose from a vehicle.

"It's probably something that haunts you to this day," she told Grimm.

The Ponte Vedra Beach mother of the two brothers, Marcy Bartlett, had her attorney speak on her behalf. Randall Rutledge said Bartlett did not wish to hurt Grimm's livelihood. Christensen took this comment into consideration when she suspended his license for six months rather than handing out the maximum penalty of a year.

The wreck caused by the bumper falling from the tow truck happened on Dec. 19 near Nease High School. Sean, 15, and Justin, 20, were heading toward St. Augustine on U.S. 1 behind Grimm, who was towing a 2003 Grand Am. The bumper broke free, causing Justin to swerve to the right shoulder, then overcorrect back into his lane, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The report said the Volvo cut across the median and into the path of a northbound white SUV. The impact split the Volvo in half and the brothers died at the scene, according to the FHP.

Attorney Borden Hallowes spoke for Grimm at the hearing, saying Grimm had more than 20 years experience as a tow truck driver and the tragedy was a "freak type of accident." He said Grimm knew how to secure the bumper. The only reason Grimm could think of as to why it might have come loose was "an unusual crosswind somehow took the bumper off," Hallowes said.

Grimm has 30 days to appeal the decision and 90 days to pay the fine, Christensen said. (Bryan Noonan - staugustine.com)

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CALIFORNIA -- A Pleasanton man changed his plea to guilty Thursday on charges of vehicular manslaughter and underage drunken driving in the death of a San Ramon Tow truck driver.

Justin Andrew Steiner, 20, is now scheduled to appear before Hayward Superior Court Judge Robert Kurtz on Sept. 8 for sentencing, and is expected to receive up to nine months in the county jail, as well as five years' felony probation.

Steiner originally pleaded innocent to the charges. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office said Steiner's decision to change his plea was not motivated by negotiations, otherwise known as plea bargaining.

The case revolves around the Jan. 11 death of Justen Cecil Purcell, 26, of Pittsburg.

According to court documents, Steiner's 1994 Ford Explorer sideswiped a California Highway Patrol car and a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am before plowing into Purcell's San Ramon Tow truck as the vehicles were parked on the side of southbound Interstate 680 near Alcosta Boulevard.

Purcell was struck as he exited the truck, and died an hour later at Eden hospital in Castro Valley. Court papers said Steiner, then 19, told police he drank three beers that night at two parties in Lafayette.

Steiner's blood-alcohol level was measured at .06 percent. The legal limit for adults is .08 percent, but there are zero-tolerance laws for minors. Steiner has been free on $30,000 bail. (Kim Santos - Tri-Valley Herald)

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TEXAS -- Hurricane Claudette caused some headaches in San Antonio, especially on the roads and highways. Slick roads caused a lot of accidents. And towing vehicles is tricky business in bad weather.

Rain turns San Antonio roadways into vehicular slip and slides and that means busy business for towing companies.

"It's hard to keep up, but we usually do pretty well," Jeff Wilson, a supervisor for Texas Towing, said. "We bring in everybody we can that's off and we try to use every available truck we have."

His company handles towing for San Antonio and Bexar county with 40 trucks. If you're waiting for a tow, response times can depend on the weather.

"Thirty minute ETAs is what we use," Wilson said. "On extremely busy days it may run past that but we're pretty good about staying within that 30-minute time zone."

If you're ever in need of a tow, it's recommended that -- if possible -- you steer your vehicle away from traffic to the shoulder of the road.

But if you want to avoid such a situation, how you drive can make an impact on whether or not you need to get pulled from trouble.

"Just look ahead and slow down when the roads are slick and run the speed limit," Wilson advised.

Tow truck drivers said one thing that can help speed up your service time is to know exactly where you want your vehicle to be towed. (Jason Cohn, News 9 San Antonio)

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ALABAMA -- He's walking around after being kidnapped, shot twice and left for dead: 'I was cold and wet'

LaBarron McNeal stopped by City Wrecker Service in Prichard to chat with co-workers Monday afternoon, but he had to leave for a doctor's appointment.

That was understandable, given that a day earlier he'd taken a bullet to the back of the head.

McNeal, 46, somehow emerged mobile and conversational following the pre-dawn ordeal Sunday in which the assailants burst into the office on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, ordered him into the trunk of a car, drove about 18 miles, tied him to a tree and shot him twice. He was left to shout and bleed for several hours before someone at a nearby gas station heard him and summoned help.

"I was cold and wet," said McNeal, who suffered no major harm from the bullet that passed centimeters from his brain and spine.

City Wrecker has long been the main towing company used by the city of Prichard, including the handling of vehicles confiscated by police.

The stage for McNeal's kidnapping and near-death experience may have been set about a week ago, when authorities impounded a blue, two-door, 1986 Oldsmobile Ciera after finding crack cocaine and a gun inside, according to Joseph Sanders, another City Wrecker employee. A Prichard police spokesman was unable to confirm that late Monday.

Immediately, the company started receiving daily phone calls from the car's owners, wanting to know when they could pick it up, Sanders said. He noted that the car -- which ordinarily would be worth about $1,100 in great condition, according to several Internet value estimators -- had a set of custom 20-inch wheels worth about $2,800.

Sanders said the calls continued through Saturday but have ceased since Sunday's attack.

Mobile County Sheriff Jack Tillman, whose deputies are handling the case, said investigators had not identified any suspects as of Monday evening.

"Seems like they were very determined to get at whatever was in that car, or to get that particular car," Tillman said of the robbers, laughing.

According to McNeal, he was manning the City Wrecker office, which is staffed around the clock, alone at 2 a.m. when two men came in wearing bandannas to partially disguise their faces. At least one had a pistol, he said, adding that he didn't know the men but thought he might have seen them before.

The robbers specifically demanded the keys to the Oldsmobile, as well as any cash in the office, McNeal said. He told them there was no cash, but turned over the keys and followed their instructions when they ordered him into the trunk, he said.

McNeal s aid he heard his attackers get into the car and start the engine, and the car began to move.

Twenty or 30 minutes later, the car stopped and the trunk opened, and McNeal was ordered into a wooded area off Theodore Dawes Road near the Interstate 10 exit, he said. The robbers tied him to a tree with a belt and some cloth, he said. Then they shot him once in the rectum and again in the back of the head, and McNeal blacked out.

He's not sure how long he was unconscious. When he came to, he started calling for help, but no one heard him until nearly dawn.

"I just kept hollerin' and hollerin' and hollerin' till help came," McNeal said.

Someone at the Compac Food Store across the road heard him and finally found him, authorities said. McNeal was flown to the University of South Alabama Medical Center, where doctors discovered the slug fired at his skull had come out his neck, causing no serious damage.

"I got a headache," he said, "but I'll live and make it." (Joe Danborn - al.com)

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SOUTH CAROLINA -- A group of impassioned tow truck operator who faced being excluded from doing business for Aiken's police force will tow another day.

About 10 people, some of whom have towed wrecks for Aiken Public Safety for more than a decade, swayed the Aiken City Council on Monday night not to eliminate them from a select list of 19 companies that perform the service on a rotating basis.

The council still might limit its list in an effort to formalize its agreement with tow companies. The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that cities and companies that perform involuntary towing services, such as for wrecks or DUIs, have formed a franchise agreement.

City Manager Roger LeDuc recommended that the council limit the list to companies within city limits, which pay higher business license fees and city taxes.

Some of the companies on the list also are too far away from Aiken, which makes it more difficult for customers to retrieve their towed vehicles, Mr. LeDuc told the council.

But getting cut from the list would mean losing up to a third of their business for some companies, drivers told the council.

"You're talking about taking our livelihood," said an emotional Mary Delaney, who tows trucks for Custom Finish in Warrenville, about five miles outside Aiken.

Public safety calls companies on the tow list almost 800 times a year and selects a different one each time.

"We all depend on that rotation," Ms. Delaney said.

Part of Mr. LeDuc's recommendation called for using companies with $1 million insurance policies and well-lit impound lots that are screened off from public view. Several of the drivers from outside the city said they met those qualifications.

Benjamin Miller, of Aiken Paint and Body inside the city, agreed with the recommendation. Mr. Miller argued that companies in the county paid less money to the city.

"I pay my business license fees based on 100 percent of what I make," he said.

The council will discuss the issue again at its Aug. 11 meeting. (Thanks Tim)

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CALIFORNIA -- A nightmarish freeway crash, described by a veteran Highway Patrol officer as the most horrific he had ever seen, killed three siblings and a tow truck driver Monday afternoon on busy Interstate 280 in San Francisco.

In a bizarre sequence of events, an out-of-control tow truck flew through the air, skidded across the northbound lanes, flipped over a guardrail, plunged 30 feet and landed atop a sport utility vehicle in the southbound lanes, killing the three people inside as well as the truck driver.

Two of the siblings' cousins were following in another vehicle and apparently witnessed the accident through their windshield as the tow truck dropped from above and crushed the SUV.

The freak accident left law enforcement officers shaken -- and shaking their heads in disbelief.

"This was a horrific accident," said California Highway Patrol officer Sean Chase. "I've been working 18 years and haven't seen anything like it."

Killed in the accident were the tow truck driver, Walid Mansour, 53, of San Jose; Lisa Tran, 21, of Pacifica, who was driving the sport utility vehicle; and two passengers -- her brother, Johnny Tran, 16, of Pacifica, and a younger female, who is believed by police to be their sister but whose name was not released pending a positive identification.

The accident, which snarled traffic for two hours, took place about 1:20 p.m. where Alemany Boulevard and the two sides of Interstate 280 run parallel on three levels of a San Francisco hillside just west of the junction with Highway 101.

It started when a yellow tow truck bearing the name "Willy's Towing" was heading northbound on Alemany, and the driver swerved to avoid a minor traffic accident in front of him, said San Francisco Police Inspector Karen Lynch. Police at the scene said the truck appeared to have been traveling at a high speed.

After Mansour lost control of the tow truck, it veered across three lanes of traffic on Alemany, jumped the curb, crossed a narrow median, then plowed through a guardrail mounted atop a 3-foot cement wall separating Alemany from 280. The tow truck was launched into the air, sailed across two northbound lanes and fell 30 feet onto the interstate. It then skidded on its side into the guardrail separating the northbound and southbound lanes before plummeting another 30 feet onto southbound I-280. In its wake, it left a trail of debris and equipment.

The truck landed atop a 1990 Toyota 4Runner in the fast lane, nearly flattening the vehicle and killing the three occupants -- probably instantly, according to the San Francisco medical examiner's office.

"This is as bizarre as it gets," said Sgt. Neville Gittens of the San Francisco Police Department.

Rescue workers had to use cutting tools to remove the bodies.

"I don't think they knew what hit them," said one emergency worker.

They were part of a family caravan bound for their Pacifica home, Lynch said. Two male cousins traveling in a vehicle a short distance behind the Toyota told police they witnessed the crash but did not see the falling tow truck until it landed on their relatives' vehicle.

All southbound lanes and one northbound lane of I-280 were closed while police and CHP officers investigated the accident. Traffic, which backed up to Highway 101, was taken off at the Alemany exit and routed back onto the freeway a quarter-mile up the road. Southbound lanes of the freeway were reopened at 3:30 p.m., and the backup quickly disappeared.

Mansour was the owner of and sole driver for Willy's Towing in San Francisco.

According to his family, he had about 15 years of experience driving a wrecker.

"He was a very experienced driver," said a brother-in-law, Majid Barance. "I'm sure he was doing his best to avoid hurting anyone. It's just a terrible thing that happened. We don't understand it."

Mansour was an immigrant from the Palestinian city of Ramallah who settled in the Bay Area nearly 30 years ago. He married his wife 25 years ago and together they raised two sons, ages 16 and 19.

He spent more than a decade working long hours as a tow truck driver for other companies, including Excelsior Towing, before he finally was able to go into business for himself.

"He started his own company about four years ago," said Barance. "He was very proud of himself. It was his dream."

Just last year, Mansour fulfilled another longtime dream when he purchased a home for his family in residential area of San Jose.

"Everything was going well," Barance said. "He bought a home. He had a son in college. He was working six days a week. . . . Then all of the sudden, he's gone."

"We are all hurting," Barance said. "His family doesn't know what to do. We feel lost right now." (Michael Cabanatuan and Jim Herron Zamora, San Francisco Chronicle)

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FLORIDA -- A Hollywood man is under arrest after he shot his own pickup truck and a tow truck, police said.

Hollywood police said that a tow truck driver arrived at 7321 Branch St. to pick up a Toyota pickup that was being repossessed.

The tow truck driver said that while he was trying to take the vehicle, the owner came out of the house and fired shots that hit both the tow truck and the Toyota.

Police said the man got away before they could find him. He reportedly turned himself in to police Thursday afternoon. No one was injured in the incident. (Thanks Mark)

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TEXAS -- Some days, Denny's manager Eric Campbell can't find a place to park at the restaurant's downtown San Antonio location because much of the lot is full with cars of people not eating there.

"We're losing business because of that," Campbell said.

Denny's hired Bexar Towing to haul the problem cars away. But a month ago, the city, answering complaints from people saying their cars were towed even when they were legitimately parked, began telling business owners that the state's towing law prohibits tow-truck operators from "patrolling" lots.

Campbell said police, at the time, also threatened to arrest managers who didn't follow the law.

"That scared the heck out of everybody," Campbell said.

After that incident, Bexar Towing owner John David DeLoach sued the city and a San Antonio detective and successfully sought a court order that bars the city, through July 21, from enforcing the law.

DeLoach was in court again Wednesday, hoping to convince U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia to make the order last until the lawsuit is resolved. The judge deferred ruling until getting written arguments by all parties who might have a stake in the suit. On Wednesday, several organizations of property owners filed a court brief supporting DeLoach.

In the suit, DeLoach said the city's interpretation of the law interferes with contracts he has with property owners. His lawyer, Carleton Spears, said DeLoach's company has some 2,000 clients, including Denny's, AT&T, the University of Texas Health Science Center and Bank of America.

"This law has been on the books for eight years, and no one in the state has interpreted it this way," Spears said.

The city disputes the incident at Denny's and said police began visiting businesses after receiving "an awful lot of complaints" from tourists and others about improperly towed vehicles. Assistant City Attorney Debbie Klein said the visits were meant to inform the property owners that the law requires them to "be the ones directing that the vehicles be towed" and not have tow trucks watching the lots.

But the city has its detractors. The San Antonio Building Owners and Managers Association, the San Antonio Apartment Association and eight other similar organizations backed DeLoach with a court brief. (Guillermo Contreras
San Antonio Express-News)

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MASSACHUSETTS -- Winchester Police Officer James Covino was involved in an altercation with a Somerville towing company after allegedly parking illegally at Commercial Wharf in Boston and then reportedly refusing to pay the $95 tow fee after his car was towed on Saturday night.

Bill Tauro, whose family owns Pat's Towing Company in Somerville, said Covino reportedly parked his car in a private parking space marked "no trespassing, per order of security" at the wharf. After the vehicle was towed, Covino came to the towing company a little after 9 p.m. and asked the company to release his car. When the company refused, Covino and a family member, reportedly entered the car and left the premises, Tauro said.

"He came in, flashed his badge, and asked for a pass," Tauro said in an interview on Monday. "When we explained to him that he would have to pay the $95, [Covino] said, 'I'll handle this another way.' He and his brother left and drove off with the car. We have it all on video tape."

According to Tauro, the company then called both the Somerville and Winchester police departments, informing them that a vehicle had been stolen from the lot and implicating Covino in the act. Tauro said Winchester Sgt. Peter MacDonnell reportedly called Covino and ordered him to return the car and pay the bill.

"[Covino] brought the car back," Tauro said, "And paid the bill. There are signs everywhere around - 'Police Impound Lot' - 'No Trespassing' - [we] didn't like the idea that the guy wouldn't pay the $95."

Covino, who has been employed by the department for over 17 years, was not available for comment. The Somerville Police Department reportedly has no report on the matter and no arrest warrant was issued in the case.

Tauro said people regularly ask the company to waive the fee, but he noted that this was the first time a police officer has ever been in an altercation with the company.

"We had this happen once before, with a [Boston Transportation Dept.] driver last year," he said. "He left the lot without paying and we pressed charges. He is in court now."

In an interview Tuesday morning, Tauro reported that members of the Internal Affairs Division of the Winchester Police Department - which include MacDonnell and Detective Lt. James Pierce - had interviewed the company's dispatcher, drivers, and other witnesses about the incident Monday night. He also noted that Police Chief Joe Perritano had called the company about the matter.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Perritano confirmed the department would be investigating the matter and also said that Covino would not be put on administrative leave while the incident was being investigated. MacDonnell, who is also president of the patrolmen's union, refused to comment on the issue. Pierce also offered no comment.

Tauro said while "nobody is above the law," the company has decided not to press charges against Covino.

"I don't care if [Covino] is a cop or not," Tauro said. "He should have paid the bill." (Anthony Schinella - The Winchester Star)

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TEXAS -- Police and medical examiners are trying to piece together a horrific scene -- three Hispanic men in their 20s found shot in the stomach, found in the cab of a pickup truck.

"We have three young Hispanic men that were bound and placed in the back of this vehicle. At some point, in this area during the time that they were bound, they are all shot to death," said Houston Police Department Homicide Sgt. Mike Peters.

It wasn't police who discovered the bodies. Instead, it was a surprised tow truck driver who thought he was making a routine check on a stalled car.

Police say the wrecker's first impression was that the men were sleeping. When he looked closer he says he realized they were dead and called police.

One clue, police say signs of a struggle may have led to the shooting.

"There was probably a struggle in this van just prior to the shooting and the struggle probably initiated the shooting itself," said Sgt. Peters.

Police say one man did appear to get his hands free, but not fast enough.

Police are working to identify the victims. They are also searching for at least one and possibly two suspects.

The men were found in a burnt orange Ford crew cab pickup truck. The truck is registered in Roma, Texas. If you have any information you're asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. (Jennifer Joseph - News 24)

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OREGON -- Not long ago, abandoned cars would be moved off Portland's highways seemingly before their engines cooled.

Now, it takes days. Sometimes it seems like weeks before the 30-year-old red compact with the flat tire and suede paint job parked alongside the Sunset Highway gets hauled off.

It isn't that more cars are turning up DOA along major commuter routes. It is simply that it takes longer to get them towed. In the meantime, they are eyesores and nuisances, as some of them slowly get robbed of useful parts by late-night scavengers.

Blame the change on money and the law.

A couple of years ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation's COMET vehicles -- the oversized white pickups driven by the state's version of tire-changing, battery-jumping, gas-toting Eagle Scouts -- could tag a vehicle left along the highway and call for a tow.

Most of the abandoned cars in the Portland area are spotted by COMET crews or by dispatchers working at ODOT's downtown control center, where major highways, intersections and bridges are monitored with a network of cameras.

The tag is the bright orange paint that notes the time and day the car was first reported to ODOT's dispatch center. It serves as a record of how long a vehicle is there and lets other ODOT workers know that it has been reported.

The towing policy became an issue, and Attorney General Hardy Myers issued an opinion that only police officers could call for a tow.

The change came about because the law says that a vehicle must be checked through the Law Enforcement Data System (LEDS) to see whether it is stolen or possibly involved in a crime. With the number of abandoned vehicles -- and COMET's effort to get them off the highway as soon as practical -- police agencies were constantly being asked to run a "LEDS check" on the cars.

To reduce the strain on police agencies, ODOT asked for its own authority to run the vehicles through LEDS.

"That raised a red flag," said Lt. Dale Rutledge, Oregon State Police spokesman.

"The law requires a police officer to check the vehicle," he said. "The ruling said we couldn't let that authority go to ODOT."

Now, the COMET drivers can "move, but not remove" the vehicle, said ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson.

"If the vehicle is in the right of way or if it would be a hazard to other motorists, COMET can move it just far enough that it isn't a hazard anymore," he said.

Rutledge said the biggest towing delays are in Portland on major routes such as Interstates 5 and 84.

Budget cutbacks have resulted in fewer police on the highway, and tagging abandoned cars for a tow is a lower priority than other tasks.

The issue becomes a bit more complicated in that the state has enforcement agreements with local police, who are responsible for state highways within their jurisdiction.

Portland police, for example, respond to vehicles on state highways within the city. Washington County deputies patrol U.S. 26 from Portland to Southwest 185th Avenue.

Abandoned vehicles on Portland city streets are a completely different issue, said Henry Groepper, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.

Those end up in the city's nuisance bureau, the folks who also are responsible for investigating loud parties, screaming car alarms and weed-filled front yards.

"It takes a while to get anything done," Groepper said. "The first thing they have to do is mark the car to be sure it is really abandoned and then try to notify the owner. Because towing it amounts to taking somebody's property, it just takes a lot longer."

Groepper tells the story of a man who lived in his car, parked in a combination residential and business zone. Neighbors considered it abandoned and a nuisance.

"The officer would come by and chalk the side of the tire to determine if the vehicle was being moved," he said. "The guy knew what was going on, so he just pushed it up and down the street so the tire mark moved around. (Jerry F. Boone - Oregonian)

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KENTUCKY -- A tow truck driver for M&M Towing received minor injuries yesterday morning, according to Carroll County Sheriff Charlie Maiden.

Harry D. Mercer, 36, Ghent, was traveling northbound on KY 389 at 11:37 a.m. EDT, when he was forced off the road by a large truck, Maiden said today.

Mercer lost control of the vehicle and it came to rest off the right side of KY 389, Maiden said.

Maiden said the driver of the truck did not stop and was not identified.

Ambulance workers transported Mercer to Carroll County Hospital, where he was treated and released, Maiden said. (Carroll County News)

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WASHINGTON D.C. -- District officials have a new law to help them remove the gray Dodge Dynasty with rusting wheels on Howard Road SE or the red wrecked Mercury on New York Avenue NE and the hundreds of other abandoned vehicles around the city.

Leslie Hotaling, director of the city's Public Works Department, said the law also reduces the amount of time the city must hold a vehicle and clarifies the legal meaning of abandoned or dangerous vehicles.

Municipal wreckers can now tow an abandoned vehicle left for more than 24 hours on public ground or left more than 30 days on private property if it meets at least two of four conditions — no tags, broken down, extensive damage or vermin infestation.

A dangerous vehicle, which now can be towed without notice, is defined as one that harbors rats and other pests, has exposed glass or metal shards or can entrap a child.

The law also allows city crews to tag a vehicle and tow it from public property in 24 hours, instead of having to wait at least six days. And crews can tow an abandoned vehicle from private land 45 days after mailing a warning to the property owner.

If the property owner consents, the vehicle can be taken immediately after a notice is placed on the car. Crews can then remove a dangerous vehicle from private land immediately after placing a notice.

The law also allows the city to impound vehicles for shorter periods of time, said Mary Myers, spokeswoman for the Public Works Department. If a vehicle has no visible identification, the city can auction or scrap it within 24 hours.

The change should clear up clogged impound lots, she said.

"We are always at or near capacity, primarily because the District has been forced to hold on to these vehicles for 45 days until the last owner of record is notified," Miss Myers said.

The law also increases the penalties for abandoning vehicles in the District.

For example, an owner who already has had an abandoned or dangerous vehicle towed from a public place could receive a $500 fine or 90 days in jail.

Cmdr. Winston Robinson Jr. of District 7 said the law will help eliminate the number of abandoned cars in Southeast, where the problem is especially bad.

But the public health hazard extends across the city, Miss Hotaling said. The Public Works Department each month receives 2,400 to 2,600 complaints about deserted cars.

Abandoned cars also tempt car thieves, said Detective Daniel Straub of the police department's auto theft unit.

Towing abandoned cars in the District has been at the center of three recent municipal scandals.

The Washington Times reported in 2001 that a D.C. inspector general's audit found some police officers conspired with towing companies to impound cars illegally.

The Times also reported that year that the city auditor's office discovered the Public Works Department altered statistics about how well it removed abandoned cars and perhaps mismanaged revenue from the sales of impounded vehicles.

Right now, D.C. officials are investigating the city's lease of an impound lot in Prince George's County, according to new reports.

Ms. Hotaling said miscommunications between police and the Public Works Department caused many of the record-keeping problems and that the relationship has improved.

Cmdr. Robinson indicated he agrees.

"I think over the past six to eight months there's been a very, very positive change in their assistance in these areas," he said. (Jonathan York - The Washington Times)

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TEXAS -- Larry Snodgrass was arrested for allegedly illegally towing cars. But he says officials singled him out and tow truck companies all over the city are breaking the law. 

"Here in Lubbock, we have a major problem with towing services not even wanting to abide by the laws," says Snodgrass. "The City of Lubbock doesn't want to enforce anything, but yet I received over $1,000 dollars in violation last year for violations of sign ordinance."

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, signs should be nine feet from the curb and and 60 inches off of the ground.

"On the towing signs ... I believe there are some rules on where they can be placed," says Tom Copeland, of the Texas Department of Transportation.

CBS 13 went to TX-DOT where even they had trouble locating the exact rules.

"I'm not familiar with the rules, I'd have to read them," says Copeland.

City hall is even unsure as to what the law says, and who is responsible. According to the Texas State Motor Division, police should be enforcing the rules. The bottom line: Chapter 6.84 of the Texas State Law book says the signs are illegally placed.

Snodgrass says the law should be enforced for all towing companies. "These wrecker companies have to abide by the same rules and regulations as I do," he says. (Michelle Hayes - CBS 13)

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