CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Our Defenders team is taking a closer look at a towing incident that led to an alleged assault.
For months, our team has been investigating accusations of predatory towing against the towing company involved.
In the latest case, police say a man tried to remove the boot put on his vehicle and then a towing employee assaulted him. It happened in the parking lot behind Starbucks on East Boulevard in Dilworth.
NBC Charlotte has reported on arguments over towing in the same parking lot, but this incident takes it to a new level. Now, both sides are speaking out.
A jolt of caffeine was only the beginning of the adrenaline rush.
Loren Thompson says he was in Starbucks for about two minutes and he returned to find a boot on his vehicle. He says when his wife called the towing company, things didn’t go too well.
“He just said, ‘when you’re ready to pay’, and hung up on her,” Thompson told NBC Charlotte.
That’s when Thompson says he took action into his own hands; leading to a chain of events between him and a towing representative.
“I actually tried to remove the boot and was able to pry it off and when I had done that he ran up and basically shoulder checked me into the side of our vehicle,” Thompson said. “I filed a police report and assault charges against him.”
Tim Hardin, owner of United Towing, says he is the man being accused of assault. However, he denied the accusation to NBC Charlotte.
“No I didn’t touch him,” he told NBC Charlotte. “Once the man started pulling the boot completely off the wheel, I walked up and grabbed my boot then all of a sudden I assaulted him because I grabbed my boot.”
If the name United Towing sounds familiar, it should. A Defenders investigation previously highlighted the company, after recent complaints of alleged predatory towing. According to the Better Business Bureau, United Towing gets an 'F' rating.
NBC Charlotte asked Hardin why he had that rating with the BBB, when other towing companies don’t.
“If your car got booted or towed are you happy?,” he said to NBC Charlotte.
Hardin admits his company monitors the parking lot, but he says that’s part of the job.
“If I’m not supposed to monitor, that’s where you want to say I’m predatory right?, but I say ‘monitor’,” says Hardin.
“It seems like he’s done this quite a bit, so I personally would like him shut down,” says Thompson.
“If you complain about me that’s a grade A by me because I’m doing my job,” says Hardin.
Police are investigating, but they say no charges have been filed in the incident.