EXCLUSIVE: Bay Space couple shocked after tow truck tries to nab their transferring automotive in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — An East Bay couple details the horrific turn of events when a tow truck attempted to tow them away while driving through downtown San Francisco.

“We were standing at a traffic light, minding our own business,” explains Joanne, who asked that we only use her first name. She described running errands with her husband on the morning of April 9th.

While the couple was stopped at Bush and Montgomery, they thought the yellow Specialty Towing truck was driving toward a nearby Waymo autonomous vehicle. But soon it became too close for comfort.

“It came from the side. I thought he was turning right. He put the car in reverse and all the lights came on. Then we thought: Hey, something is really wrong. His lever fell down.”

In the video captured by a witness, you can see the tow truck making multiple attempts to attach itself to his 2017 Toyota Corolla.

On video, a witness can be heard shouting: “What the hell are you doing?”

When the traffic light turns green, the Waymo drives off alongside Joanne and her husband. Then the couple realizes that they are stuck in front of a black limousine.

“We completely freaked out. The first instinct was to get away,” says Joanne.

Luckily, the black car reverses and Joanne's husband can drive away. You can see the tow truck giving chase. Joanne says the truck chased her for several blocks.

“It's definitely really scary,” says Joanne, who looks back on the incident and wonders what would have happened if the tow truck had managed to attach itself to her car.

MORE: New San Francisco program will text you when your car is about to be towed

ABC7 reached out to Special Towing via email and phone but did not receive a response.

The company, along with two other companies, was indicted by prosecutor David Chiu in February on charges of fraud and illegal towing of parked cars. His office described the company as “unscrupulous” in its online press release. Specialty Towing is now prohibited from offering or accepting city contracts.

Joanne and her husband told me that they were finally able to let go of the tow truck and drive back home to the East Bay. They claim they did nothing wrong and are still baffled as to why they were targeted.

“Full disclaimer, I definitely paid off my car, I paid off my registration,” she says.

Joanne plans to file a police report soon and is sharing her story to make other drivers aware.

“Be more careful when driving around and make sure you do your best to protect yourself if something doesn't look right,” she shares.

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