New Canaan Police on March 3 arrested a 72-year-old Stamford man by warrant following accusations that his business charged excessive rates for the “nonconsensual” towing and storage of motor vehicles, for example, following car crashes.
Under state law, the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles establishes rates for “nonconsensual” towing (mileage and drop fees) and storage. Towing rates vary based on the vehicle’s weight. Storage rates vary depending on the size of the vehicle and whether it’s kept inside or outside and, if outside, whether the lot is secure and lighted.
According to an affidavit from New Canaan Police Officer Owen Ochs that forms the major part of an arrest warrant application signed last month by a state Superior Court judge, local authorities were alerted last November by Norwalk police that a local auto body business had been “violating various wrecker/tow laws in regards to towing storage rates in instances stemming from police tows occurring in Norwalk, Wilton, and possibly New Canaan.”
Capt. Joseph Farenga assigned Ochs an investigation into tows requested by NCPD to find out whether any such laws were violated, Ochs said in the arrest warrant application.
Norwalk police had launched an investigation following complaints lodged in 2023 from people “who had their vehicles towed by Norwalk PD for various reasons (collisions, motor vehicle law violations, etc.) and that the rates [the business] charged the driver and/or owner of the vehicle in question was excessive by law,” the arrest warrant application said. Norwalk police charged the business owner with 14 counts of violation of towing rates, a misdemeanor offense and the man “was found guilty of all counts by a magistrate” in November 2024, the police affidavit said. [Note: The man’s record in the Connecticut Judicial Branch arrest database shows no convictions.]
Contacted by Norwalk, police in Wilton also conducted their own investigation that included a complaint filed in October 2024 “by an individual who had their vehicle towed due to a motor vehicle collision in Wilton stating [the business] was charging excessive rates,” the arrest warrant application said. Wilton police found two more violations, charging the business owner with three counts of violation of towing rates and telling Ochs that the man “admitted to him over the telephone that he acknowledged the excessive chargers,” the arrest warrant application said.
Using records from a company called Copart that sells vehicles rendered unsalvageable by insurance companies, New Canaan Police determined that excessive rates had been charged in three NCPD incidents:
- Tesla Model Y stored three days, charged $192, maximum allowable amount $69 (February 2025);
- Honda CRV stored three days, charged $78, maximum allowable amount $69 (June 2025);
- Chevrolet Traverse stored nine days, charged $900, maximum allowable amount $225.
Ochs noted one additional apparent overcharge, for a tow of about .9 miles from Main Street and Old Norwalk Road to the local auto body shop.
On Jan. 21, Ochs went to the local business to discuss the charges. There, the business owner’s son said that the Norwalk police officer who investigated the auto body shop only did so because “he has a personal grievance” with an uncle.
Ochs “mentioned the three overcharging incidents” to the men “and they stated that they did not have the billing invoices in front of them at the moment, so they could not provide an answer in regards to the amounts written down.”
Police charged the man with three counts of the offense.
According to Connecticut Judicial Branch records, he was released after promising to appear April 28 in state Superior Court on the charges. He is being represented by the Norwalk-based Maddox Law Firm LLC.
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