A couple from East Bay, California, experienced a shocking incident when a tow truck attempted to steal their moving car while they were driving through downtown San Francisco. According to ABC7, the couple, identified only as Joanne and her husband, were running errands on the morning of April 9 when the incident occurred.
"We were at a stoplight and minding our own business," Joanne said. They were stopped along Bush and Montgomery when they noticed a yellow Specialty Towing truck moving towards a nearby Waymo autonomous vehicle. However, the truck soon got uncomfortably close to their 2017 Toyota Corolla.
"He came from the side. I thought he was turning right. He started in reverse and all the lights came on. That's when we were like, hey something's really wrong. His lever was coming down," Joanne explained. A witness captured the incident on video, showing the tow truck making several attempts to hook onto their car. The witness can be heard on the video shouting, "What the f**k are you doing!"
When the traffic light turned green, the Waymo vehicle drove off, leaving Joanne and her husband stuck in front of a black sedan. "We were freaking out. The first instinct was to get away," Joanne said. Luckily, the black car backed up, allowing them to drive away. However, the tow truck gave chase for several blocks.
Reflecting on the incident, Joanne said, "It's definitely really scary," and wondered what would have happened if the tow truck had successfully hooked onto their car.
Specialty Towing, the company operating the tow truck, was charged by City Attorney David Chiu in February for fraud and illegally towing parked cars. The company was described as "unscrupulous" and is now prohibited from bidding or receiving city contracts. Joanne and her husband managed to lose the tow truck and returned home to East Bay. They insist they did nothing wrong and are still puzzled as to why they were targeted. "Full disclaimer, I definitely paid off my car, I paid my registration," Joanne said.
Joanne plans to file a police report soon and is sharing their story to raise awareness for other drivers. "Be more careful when they're driving around and making sure if something doesn't look right, make sure you do your best to protect yourself," she advised.