A video circulating online showing a tow truck trying to attach itself to a car in San Francisco while the owner is driving it raises questions.
When he saw the strange sight, Jeff Ferland stopped near the corner of Montgomery and Bush Streets, calling it “very bizarre” and “very frightening.”
“I saw a Waymo with its hazard lights on and then I saw a tow truck pull up in front of me to tow it,” he said. “I thought, 'Oh, I'm going to see this one hook up to a broken down Waymo car and take off.' And then he walked up to the car next to it that had people in it and started loading it up. They started backing up and he started chasing them with the tow truck.”
Ferland took out his phone and filmed most of the incident.
“The most effective thing I can do now is to record it, because it's wrong,” he said.
Ferland said he had never seen anything like it.
“He had the thing down, he maneuvered the forks under the front tires, he kept backing after them with the forks down, and then when he wanted to drive off, as soon as he started driving off, he raised his arm,” Ferland said.
It all happened very quickly.
“The car behind them maneuvered around and overtook. At that point they had a clear path to escape the tow truck and they took advantage of that opportunity,” Ferland said.
City Attorney David Chiu said his office is investigating the incident.
“We are currently investigating this,” he said. “I also understand that the San Francisco Police Department is aware of this incident. We encourage the public to contact them if they have noticed anything about the behavior of this company.”
Earlier this year, Chiu announced that he had banned auto towing services and related companies, including Specialty Towing and Recovery, from doing business with the city.
The tow truck in the video had “Specialty Towing” written on the side, but it is unclear if it is the suspended company since several companies use “Specialty” in their name.
“Assuming this is Specialty Towing, this is the same towing company that our office previously suspended and barred from awarding city contracts,” Chiu said.
NBC Bay Area contacted the company listed on the tow truck's door by phone and email, but did not immediately receive a response.
