In typical dramatic and politically calculated fashion, at-large councilman Jerell Blakeley took matters into his own hands, recording a one-man undercover sting operation over the weekend at Hawks Towing.
Blakeley, sporting a red Howard University T-shirt (his alma mater) and gym shorts, said in the video he received numerous constituent complaints about the Trenton towing company’s refusal to accept debit and credit card payments for the release of impounded vehicles.
He claimed the business wasn’t following state law and he was taking it upon himself to investigate.
“They are only allowing cars to be released with cash,” he said in the video posted to “I’m going in here to ascertain the policy on this. I’m really disturbed by this. They have a very lucrative city contract where they’re making a lot of money towing cars. It’s incumbent that they actually follow the state law as it relates to allowing multiple forms of payment.”
Looks like Blakeley was right.
The city on Monday sent Hawks Towing & Recovery owner Brian Hawkins a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he comply with the state’s Predatory Towing Prevention Act.
City clerk Dwayne Harris’s letter cites the part of the law that requires Hawkins’ business, which contracts with the city for police-authorized tows, to accept cash, check or debit and credit payments “unless the motorist is unable to produce requested additional identification or the operator has a bona fide reason to believe the card or other identification is fictitious.”
“The Act states is shall be an unlawful practice for any private property towing company or for any other towing company that provides non-consensual towing services to refuse to accept for payment in lieu of cash or an insurance company check for towing or storage services a debit card, charge card or credit card if the operator ordinarily accepts such card at his place of business,” the clerk wrote. “You must immediately cease refusing to accept a valid debit card or a valid major credit card in lieu of cash if you ordinarily accept these cards at your place of business.”
Hawkins, a well-known business owner who was featured on A&E’s “Parking Wars” and has had his towing practices scrutinized before, said in a phone interview Tuesday he was upset over Blakeley’s political stunt.
“I was a little disturbed that he did that,” he said. “I’ve been in business 30 years. I’m not a difficult guy to deal with. I do a lot of things for the city. I do a lot of things for the community. He made some pretty strong accusations on his video. He has no idea what it costs to do this for a living.
“I don’t know Mr. Blakeley. That way that’s the first time I’ve spoken to him. … All he had to really do was call me or stop by and say. ‘I’d like to talk about an issue or complaint.’ To put it on Facebook, and everybody’s bashing me, slandering my company. Of course people aren’t going to be happy. It’s not like Burger King where you go in and get cheeseburger. It’s a negative business. No one wants to get their car impounded. But you’re going to look for me when you’re in a ditch at 2 a.m. on 295.”
Hawkins said his company accepts debit and credit card payments for transactions other than police-authorized impounds.
The policy, he said, has been in place for years – implemented after he said people called their financial institutions and disputed or canceled the charges after leaving his business.
“You have to remember these cars are [ordered] towed by the police,” Hawkins said. “These people are coming in angry with me. If you’re going to pay with a credit card, they’re going to leave here and cancel. They call and cancel the transactions, and we have a charge back. [Litigating that] would be an all-year process.”
Hawkins said he had not yet received the city’s cease-and-desist letter but welcomed a sit-down meeting with the law department to determine what actions to take next “so it doesn’t hurt me, and it doesn’t hurt the consumer.”
“It’s not like we’re holding their car hostage,” the towing owner said. “I don’t want their car. I just want to get paid for what we did.”
Blakeley, with his video recorder at his side, visited the Trenton towing company Saturday morning to check into its business practices.
He said in an interview this week he plans to introduce “towing bill of rights” legislation, modeled after a similar ordinance in Chicago, to ensure Trentonians aren’t getting rolled by towing companies.
“I’m doing my job as a councilman to ensure that our citizens aren’t being exploited and taken advantage of,” he said about his “hands-on” tactics. “There’s a couple of bad actors in Trenton who take advantage of poor people, and I just don’t like that. I’m looking out for the little guy and woman.”
Upon entering the New York Avenue store, Blakeley, who didn’t immediately identify himself in the video, asked for a manager.
He told the business associates he was there to ask about the cash-only policy and inform them it was against state law.
One of the towing associates was heard in the video saying the policy has been around for a long time.
“The reason why is you can dispute anything on credit card or a debit card to cancel payment,” the towing worker says, adding that if the payment is canceled it becomes a civil case the business must pursue in civil court. “So everything is only cash.”
“The problem is I’m actually councilman Blakeley,” the councilman said, blowing his pseudo, dressed-down undercover look. “I’m a councilman here in Trenton.”
One of the workers then says he thought he recognized Blakeley as he walked in.
“Listen, I think you guys have a very lucrative contract with the city, like you guys make hundreds of thousands of dollars. The policy, according to what I’ve been informed of, is not congruent with the state guidelines. And I can get you the state guidelines,” Blakeley told the workers.
One of the workers then asked Blakeley again to identify himself and asked him if he had a card.
“People are concerned about gouging. People are concerned about being exploited,” Blakeley said.
A worker then phoned Hawkins.
“He came in and said he had a car here because he’s trying to do an investigation on the cash-only thing. He said he wants to speak to a manager,” the worker says as Blakeley panned the recorder toward him.
“Are you recording me?” the worker asked. Blakeley confirmed he was recording.
“You don’t have to record me. I really just don’t want to be recorded,” the worker said, stepping out of the frame.
Blakeley then panned to a sign behind the counter recounting the towing company’s cash-only policy.
The worked handed the phone over to Blakeley, who explained to Hawkins he wasn’t following state law.
Hawkins claimed the state law didn’t apply to impounded vehicles.
“The Predatory Towing Act is separate when it comes to municipal towing,” Hawkins can be heard telling Blakeley over the phone, according to video.
Blakeley told him he would look into Hawkins’ claim.
“If that is not the case I’ll be sure to reach out to City Hall to see if they can get you a cease-and-desist letter. … If what you’re saying is correct, this won’t see the light of day. But if what you’re saying is not correct we’re going to have to figure this out and see if you can change your policy.”
Blakeley pontificated into the camera once more before departing the towing shop.
“Walking out. Figuring it out. Going to my car to figure this out. Hopefully, we can figure it out, a little Jerell Blakeley, Councilman Blakeley investigation,” Blakeley said. “Talk to Mr. Hawkins. It is what it is. We’re going to figure this out. All right, that’s all folks. We will investigate this fully and make sure the people of Trenton are not being taken advantage of.”
Blakeley sent screenshots of a Facebook comment purportedly made by Hawkins under a post on Blakeley’s page.
In it, the towing owner allegedly called the councilman a “f***ing tool bag.”
“This dude is a f***ing tool bag,” Hawkins allegedly wrote. “They make hundreds of thousands of dollars – councilman do you have any idea the costs of operating a towing business. A tow truck is roughly $100K per truck (over $500K for heavy duty trucks), insurance is in the range of 1400-1800 per month per truck. Let alone bonds and other coverages required. Lot rent, fuel costs, employee expenses, etc.”
Hawkins acknowledged the profile picture from the post matched up with his but insisted he did not make the post.
He said his account was hacked in the past and could have been compromised again.
“Anything is possible,” said Hawkins, who called Blakeley to try to clear the air. “I can clearly tell you, on my children, I did not post anything on his page. Not one word. … I don’t have time to play games with Facebook back and forth. I don’t post anything. He can believe whatever he wants to believe.”
The comment was removed but appeared verbatim in a comment posted by Carmen Giannone, who is friends with Hawkins.
Hawkins said he’s not “that guy” to call people names.
“I would never feed into this thing to begin with,” he said.
Blakeley wasn’t buying Hawkins’ denial, calling it absurd.
“He’s wrong, and his idea of the law is wrong,” the councilman said. “All this other stuff is colored bubbles. Here’s the thing: It’s clear that it was him, and I’m not going to get into a back-and-forth, he-said-he-said.”
Blakeley said the towing owner was “caught red-handed breaking the law” and needs to be accountable.
He encouraged people impacted by Hawkins’ policy to call him so he can help them file complaints with the clerk’s office.
“I demand he change his policy immediately,” the councilman said. “I can understand why Mr. Hawkins is upset with being exposed, but he shouldn’t think his anger is any less than the people who he has been mistreating by him breaking the law. If he’s upset about this, wait till he sees my ordinance. That’s really going to piss him off.”
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