A Shady Tow Truck Tried to Haul Away a Moving Car, Then Chased After It

A towing company with an alleged history of illegal practices is getting all the wrong kind of attention after one of its drivers attempted to tow a moving vehicle with two occupants inside. Video of a Ram 5500 trying to hook a Toyota Corolla idling at a stoplight in San Francisco has gone viral, and prompted a statement from City Attorney David Chiu, who told ABC7 Bay Area that the truck driver's aggressive behavior is "unfortunately, not surprising," given Specialty Towing's history of breaking the law and generally unscrupulous behavior.

While it may not be surprising to Chiu, the video is still alarming. The Corolla's owners, Harry and Joanne Cho, told the San Francisco Standard they were running errands on Tuesday morning when the incident occurred. While the couple were sitting at a stoplight on the corner of Bush and Montgomery Street—more or less situated in downtown SF—they noticed the yellow tow truck was reversing in their direction. The truck driver deployed its yoke and attempted to hook the front axle of the sedan, but Harry Cho quickly reversed out of reach of the tow arm and went around the Ram to escape. The truck then chased after the Corolla, as footage shared by ABC7 shows:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqvDedeuCl0

The whole incident was captured by SF resident and software engineer, Jeff Ferland. Ferland told SF Gate that he thought the tow truck was there to retrieve a Waymo autonomous vehicle in the adjacent lane, which was flashing its hazard lights. This would hardly be unusual considering the high rate of failure (and overall chaos) that disabled autonomous vehicles have brought to San Francisco traffic.

But when the tow truck sped after the occupied Corolla, rather than moving in front of the robotaxi, Ferland started recording. He told NBC Bay Area he had to get the incident on video because it was the most effective thing to do during the dangerous tow, adding that the attempt was just plain "wrong." Bystanders can be heard trying to get the driver's attention, and someone yells out, "What the f*** are you doing?" as the Corolla swerves around the Specialty Towing truck and escapes.