Man steals tow truck and kills a woman with it

 

NY Post

Police are hunting “a person of interest” in the horrific Mother’s Day mow-down of a Queens mom, law-enforcement sources told The Post on Monday.

Detectives have a photo of the man they suspect stole a heavy truck and slammed it into 49-year-old Florence Ngwu as he fled, leaving her mortally injured on the pavement outside her home Sunday morning, sources said.

As Ngwu lay dying on the ground, her young daughter screamed, “Mommy! Mommy!” video shows.

Ngwu, a mother of four and a nurse at an area nursing home, clung to life with massive head injuries until she died early Monday at Jamaica Hospital, her shattered family said.

The victim’s older daughter, Princess Ngwu, told The Post on Monday that while the family is glad that cops have identified her mom’s suspected killer, “What’s done is done.

“We can’t bring her back,” Princess said. “It doesn’t really change anything.

“It’s tragic what happened, but it is what it is,” she added. ” We’re OK. She trained us all very well. We were her life — her kids, her husband.”

Princess said she wants her mother to be remembered “as a strong woman.”

“She was a fierce woman, the fiercest woman you’ll ever meet,” she said. “All she ever did was just work, come home, care for us.”

Junked cars litter South Ozone Park

"Can you get this on your site. Business called runway towing in south ozone park. They are parking all there junked cars. Trucks and company tow trucks on residential street and sidewalks. For years it’s been like this. These trucks are here 24/7 and never move. Numerous 311 complaints and nothing has ever been done. This is a daily nuances here. The business is located 124-20 south conduit Ave.Here are some pictures." - anonymous

Queens getting a heavy tow truck

From the Queens Chronicle:

Queens residents, civic leaders and NYPD precinct commanders who have grown frustrated with drivers who park their large trucks overnight on residential streets could be off the hook — and the trucks on one — by the end of this coming summer.

The NYPD confirmed on Monday that the city is purchasing a heavy duty tow truck that will be used exclusively within the borough of Queens.

The truck, being built by Mack, will have a towing capacity of 35 tons.

“We anticipate that it will be delivered at the end of August, when it will be checked and prepped for service,” the NYPD said in an email to the Chronicle.

Tow truck company's practices being questioned

From PIX11:

A real-life parking wars situation is playing out in Elmhurst, Queens.

As one private tow company is making quite the bit of cash off of one lot, customers of two restaurants in the same location say they’re being targeted and towed despite following the rules on posted signs.

“Bianca” asked PIX11 not to show her face or use her real name since she is a city employee, but she told us she is furious and feels as though she and others are being scammed.

On Friday night, Bianca said she parked her car in a private lot located on 59th Avenue in Elmhurst, right next to the Queens Center Mall. With plans to meet her family inside Olive Garden, she says she decided to peek into Cheesecake Factory across the street to check out the line.

“That was literally a three minute layover. I literally walked across the street saw the line was crazy and walked right to Olive Garden,” explained Bianca.

Following dinner at the Olive Garden, Bianca says her car was gone and Done Deal Collision out of College Point had towed Bianca's car.

“He was like, 'yeah I took your car. You left the premises,'" Bianca recalled. "I'm like bro your sign says Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouses."

Despite showing receipts and trying to prove she followed the rules of the lot as stated. Bianca said she had to fork over $250, far more than what's indicated on this sign to get her car back that night.

Kim calls out shady towing company

From the Daily News:

Assemblyman Ron Kim said drivers have been victimized at the parking lot on 156th & Northern Boulevard in Flushing by a predatory tow truck company. The lawmaker has been working with the Legal Aid Society and the city Department of Consumer Affairs to document the firm’s bad practices and educate the public.

Queens drivers should be on the lookout for tow trucks from a Brooklyn company waiting to rip them off, officials said Monday.

The city is trying to rescind the license of All About Automotive II Inc. after determining it has been overcharging victims and demanding drivers pay cash to get their cars back, Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing) said.

“We’ve had dozens of people complain at the lot on 156th and Northern Boulevard, and we suspect hundreds have been victimized by AAA’s predatory towing,” said Kim, who is working with the Legal Aid Society and the city Department of Consumer Affairs to document the firm’s bad practices. “We want to make sure the public understands their rights when parking at these lots and report to us they’ve been victimized.”

The company refused comment when reached at its Brooklyn offices.

Don't get hooked!

From CBS 2:

In Queens, convenient free parking in a busy shopping district is costing unsuspecting drivers more than $100.

At the Plaza 48 parking lot in Astoria, it is a very quick hook for the unsuspecting.

Signs posted at the shopping plaza just off Northern Boulevard offer a warning, but many who park there figure they can safely pop across the street for a few minutes to a competing shopping center.

That’s a mistake that will cost you $136.

The cars end up at ASAP Towing in Maspeth.

CBS 2 spoke with one driver who was towed on Sunday. That person was allegedly told to pay with cash and her request for a receipt was refused.

Both of those would be violations of city regulations.

The quick tow is an issue at several other shopping plazas in Queens, so read the fine print on the way in.

The towing company on 48th street is so infamous, livery cab drivers hang out there to give drivers who’ve been towed a ride to the lot.

Burnt out car in Flushing

Union Turnpike and Vleigh Pl (141st Street)

BURNED CAR AT THE CORNER. WHEN WILL IT GET TOWED? BEEN THERE FOR 10 DAYS NOW.

City suspends tow truck company

From the Daily News:

A company that chronically parked junk cars on Maspeth streets has been suspended from a city program that authorized it to tow cars from accident scenes - much to the delight of frustrated residents.

The city Department of Consumer Affairs has removed American Auto Body & Recovery from the program, pending a hearing Thursday.

"DCA inspectors have issued violations to American Auto Body & Recovery, and as of last Thursday they will be suspended from the DARP program," said agency spokeswoman Abigail Lootens.

The company was part of the Directed Accident Response Program (DARP) and Rotation Tow Program (ROTOW), which allow towing from accidents and removing abandoned or stolen vehicles, respectively. The DCA regulates both programs.

DCA officials said that during two separate inspections, the company failed to present its DARP service call records.

Many locals and civic leaders questioned American Auto's inclusion in the program after the NYPD issued 86 summonses to the company in the first three months of this year.

American Auto owner Polina Loumakos declined comment on the upcoming hearing but defended the way her company operates.

"They just caught us on a bad day. Everything is done correctly at my shop," she said, adding that the cars on the street during the day were waiting to be transported. "I feel like all the media is trying to attack me. When you guys come here it's always during business hours," she said.

I guess they are supposed visit you during non-business hours when you aren't there?

Return to the Bermuda Triangle

From the Daily News:

A Queens collision company authorized by the city to tow cars from accident scenes has been dumping mangled and unlicensed vehicles on streets around their shop - causing a major eyesore for neighbors.

American Auto Body & Recovery has turned the area along Flushing Ave. in Maspeth into a junkyard, outraged locals said, leaving them to compete for parking spaces with totaled cars.

"They leave the cars anywhere they want. They don't care about the neighborhood, they just care about making money," said Edison Bonifaz, 43, who lives on the same block as the body shop.

"I'm planning to sell my house because of them - I can't live anymore like this," he added.

The company is part of the Directed Accident Response Program and Rotation Tow Program, which allow towing from accidents and removing abandoned or stolen vehicles, respectively. The city Department of Consumer Affairs regulates both programs.

The company's two locations - on Flushing Ave. and nearby 56th Terrace - have received 86 parking summonses and had five vehicles towed this year, police said.

It's unclear whether the vehicles ticketed were involved with the two city registries, but Consumer Affairs officials said they plan to reach out to the NYPD about the summonses.

A little enforcement goes a long way

From Bayside Patch:

Three car dealerships in Bayside are being told to toe the line.

The 111th Precinct, at the request of community groups, towed away three cars parked in front of Star Nissan, Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Star Toyota on Thursday.

The Auburndale Improvement Association, the Bayside Clear-Spring Council and Community Board 11 members complained that the dealerships are parking cars without license plates illegally on the street. Cars without license plates cannot be ticketed.

“The Dealerships are not in compliance with the laws and were asking them to be more compliant—otherwise we’re going to have to pursue aggressive towing,” said Lt. Dan Heffernan, adding that the Precinct would rather not have to.

Scrap metal thieves busted

From the NY Post:

Five people — including four tow truck operators — were busted for towing cars off the street and selling them for scrap metal.

The 21 stolen vehicles ranged from a 1983 Oldsmobile Delta 88 to a 2008 Ford Econoline van, and brought the suspects $200 to $400 each, authorities said.

The five perps towed the cars to A&J Scrap Metal Processing LLC in Jamaica, Queens, between May 2010 and October 2010, said Queens DA Richard Brown.

The yard has a Web site that offers "instant ca$h for all vehicles and scrap" and promises to pay "on the spot!"

The suspects were identified as Francisco Adames, 40, of Freeport; Lawrence Bellino, 37, of Howard Beach, Queens; Jonathan Colon, 35, of Flushing, Queens; LePaul Gammons, of Catskills, and Michael Olivio, 42, of Richmond Hill, Queens.

All were charged with possession of stolen property and other charges. Gammons is also charged with grand larceny.

Sanders wants to open airport parking lots to city marshals

From the Daily News:

A Queens councilman hoping to land cash for city coffers said the Port Authority won't lift a ban barring the city from towing parking scofflaws at the city's two major airports.

Councilman James Sanders Jr. said the city misses out on much-needed funds since marshals, who tow the worst parking offenders, aren't allowed in lots at Kennedy and LaGuardia.

That's 29,000 spots where scofflaws can park worry-free.

"I'm disappointed," said Sanders (D-Laurelton). "I always think that reasonable people should reason together. Both are reasonable, and both are stuck on their positions."

Sanders said he asked Port Authority officials on Feb. 22 to reconsider the ban. But the Port Authority made it clear that rescinding the restriction was "not a priority issue," he said.

Critics have long slammed the city for failing to tow cars with certain out-of-state license plates, noting the city loses out on millions in unpaid parking fines.

But they support the airport ban since it cuts down on traffic and security concerns.

Answers, pal!

From the Daily News:

Bloomberg rightly pledged a top-to-bottom look at how, with the same number of snow-removal personnel and the same amount of equipment as in previous snowstorms, so many streets, especially in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, took agonizingly long to clear.

He must start that review within days. He must finish it within a week. The next storm could already be brewing. We must learn:

Why emergency vehicles that normally barrel through drifts got stuck in the snow this time.

Why tow trucks didn't or couldn't clear blocked streets.

Why the 911 system was unable to handle a thoroughly predictable flood of calls.

Why some streets - even bike lanes, for crying out loud - were fully cleared before others saw their first plow. The administration's talk of "primary," "secondary" and "tertiary" streets may leave bureaucrats nodding their heads, but most New Yorkers live on those tertiary streets.

Most of all: How on God's snow white Earth, after blowing a response to a storm that was no surprise, is the city going to do better next time, given the resources available today?

That's the key question, because what we have now is as good as it's going to get.

Parking ticket passes for pols

From the Daily News:

Officials with piles of parking tickets will lose a perk that kept their cars from being hauled off to the pound, City Hall vowed Saturday.

The Daily News revealed that Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro owes more than $8,600 in unpaid tickets, but wouldn't be towed because of his "official" plates.

Now, Mayor Bloomberg wants to give the practice the boot.

"The Finance Department is going to find a solution to ensure they can enforce against valid tickets in these cases," Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said. "The standards have to apply to everyone."

Most motorists with unpaid tickets of $350 or more risk a trip to the pound. That hasn't been so for state legislators, City Council members and government agencies.

The city Finance Department acknowledged it has been quietly extending the remarkable favor for more than 20 years.

Signs changed overnight, cars towed

From the Brooklyn Paper:

Drivers on Livingston Street were blanketed with tickets and some had their vehicles towed after the city changed parking regulations overnight, yet left parking meters in place with no notices that they were no longer in operation.

Signage stating the new regulations — no parking or standing from 7 am to 7 pm, Monday through Friday — was installed on the north side of Livingston between Court and Flatbush avenues, but many motorists ignored the subtly altered signs and fed the existing parking meters anyway.

“This is foul,” said motorist Kareem Tyree, who received a ticket and barely missed being towed. “How do you give a ticket [when] they still have meters here? It makes no sense.”

“They have made it a ‘No Standing’ zone just like that,” said Peter Sperry, owner of Trophy World on Livingston Street between Boerum Place and Smith Street. “I’ve already had four customers have their cars towed without the benefit of being told about the new regulations if that is what they are.”

Traffic agents ticketing cars parked legally

MYFOXNY.COM - Someone hasn't clued-in New York City ticket writers or they are not reading the rule book. That is because Fox 5 found that in some cases they are giving tickets that are just plain wrong. The conflict is over tickets being given to cars parked at certain curb cuts at T intersections. In certain cases, it is perfectly legal -- yet ticket writers are slapping the vehicles with fines of $165.

SEE THE DOT'S DIAGRAM

It's about time!

From the Daily News:

Motorists with out-of-state license plates are finally paying parking fines after years of avoiding the fees - pumping millions of dollars into city coffers, the Daily News has learned.

A recent crackdown on scofflaws with non-New York tags has netted $18 million from Connecticut and Pennsylvania in the last 6-1/2 months alone, the Finance Department reported.

The end of the gravy train follows years during which the city did not pay other states for access to driver databases - and thus could not tow or collect from parking offenders from those areas.

Owen Stone, a Finance Department spokesman, said the obstacles to finding the offenders have been eliminated thanks to Law Enforcement Systems, the company providing the records to the city.

A source within the city marshals, which tow the worst scofflaws, said there were six states whose vehicles marshals rarely towed.

But Stone said the city is now towing from four of those six. The number of cars towed in the past 6-1/2 months were 21 from West Virginia, 65 from Vermont, 166 from Rhode Island and 243 from Ohio.

He admitted that the city did not tow a vehicle from Delaware or New Hampshire in that period - exposing one flaw in the crackdown.

City tows cops' cars and issues OT for retrieval

From the NY Post:

Dozens of detectives say they have had their department cars towed — by their own department.

On at least 35 occasions, detectives on the job — in the middle of making arrests, working cases or testifying in court — have walked outside to find their cars hooked by a special detail of the Internal Affairs Bureau that hunts for illegally parked cop cars.

“The policy is ridiculous,” fumed Michael Palladino, president of the detectives union. “It’s an absolute waste of the taxpayers’ money.”

Getting the police cars back from the impound lot can take up to six hours, often while the detectives are clocking overtime.

Shortly after City Hall’s crackdown on city-issued parking permits in 2008, the special IAB detail issued more than 1,000 summonses to city cops and detectives.

Police spokesman Paul Browne maintained that no cars were towed while detectives were making arrests.

“Parking placards have never authorized police to park in front of hydrants, in bus stops or in cross walks or on sidewalks,” he said.

Tow truck driver helps cops nab thieves

From the Daily News:

A hero tow truck driver helped bust a crew of car thieves this week when he followed a stolen vehicle across two boroughs and pointed the suspects out to police.

Cops said the bandits may be responsible for as many as eight other car heists, cops said.

Vinnie Lanzieri, 44, was driving his Performance Automotive tow truck in Queens about midnight Wednesday when he heard on his police scanner that a 38-year-old man had been held up at gunpoint and pulled out of his 2008 Cadillac Escalade in Rego Park, he said.

Moments later, Lanzieri spotted the stolen SUV at a red light at Woodhaven and Yellowstone Blvds. in Forest Hills.

The stolen vehicle made a dash to the Jackie Robinson Parkway with a Blazer following close behind, Lanzieri said.

"They were flying down it," Lanzieri said, adding that the thugs soon dumped the stolen SUV on a dead-end street off Pennsylvania Ave. in East New York, Brooklyn, and began to flee in the second vehicle. Lanzieri saw a marked squad car from Transit District 33 nearby and flagged down the officers, he said.

"I told them what happened," Lanzieri said. "The two cops took them out at gunpoint and had them on the floor in 30 seconds."

Bloomberg's 311 system doesn't do crap

From the NY1:

Some of the cars did not have license plates. Others, like one in Maspeth with a police placard displayed in the window, were too close to hydrants. Still others blocked sidewalks, and one was parked directly in front of a crosswalk.

Armed with stacks of pictures showing cars blocking sidewalks, hydrants and driveways, local residents said they are frustrated.

"We had the car in front of the fire hydrant for 53 days," said one local.

"I can't even park in front of my house. They block my driveway. I can't even get my own car in my own driveway because they leave their own cars there for weeks," said another.

"We've had this problem for more than three years," said a third.

Neighborhood leaders said they have tried for years to get the city to do something about the problem, but the response has been slow.

"We call 311 but nothing happens," said a concerned resident.