An East Bay couple is shaken and angry after a shady tow truck attempted to hook their 2019 Toyota Corolla while it was effectively in motion approaching an intersection in downtown San Francisco. The ordeal was caught in a video that has gone viral on social media.
The couple was behind a tow truck from iBestTravel while held up at a red light when all of a sudden the passenger, Joanne, noticed that the tow truck’s lights came on. “We were at a stoplight, and we were just minding our own business,” Joanne told ABC 7.
Initially, she thought the truck was targeting the Waymo autonomous vehicle adjacent to their Corolla in the right lane. However, when the tow truck’s car-latching arm came down and the truck began to reverse toward them, she sensed otherwise. Joanne’s husband, who was driving, tried to reverse the car, but there was another vehicle behind them. The tow truck continued to advance and attempt to latch onto their vehicle while they remained inside. Her husband honked, and onlookers yelled at the tow truck driver, but the attempted hookup persisted.
“We were freaking out, calling out and basically rolling down our window and saying, ‘Hey, what are you doing? You can’t be doing that,'” said Joanne.
With the black Honda Civic sedan behind them preventing further movement and the Waymo vehicle still blocking their path, they found themselves briefly trapped.
As the tow truck continued to reverse, both the Waymo and Honda Civic moved, finally clearing the way for Joanne’s husband to escape. Even after breaking free, the couple’s Toyota was pursued by the tow truck just before the video concluded. Joanne noted that the truck chased them for “several blocks,” but eventually it stopped, allowing the couple to return home.
Joanne asserts that her registration is up to date and her vehicle payments are current, indicating this is not a legitimate repossession attempt. She plans to file a police report with the city.
ABC 7 reached out to iBestTravel to obtain their perspective on the incident; however, the operator hung up. Following up with another business, Auto Towing, which is affiliated with iBestTravel, they were informed that they were out of business and had no connection to iBestTravel.
If this activity appears exceptionally shady to you, it certainly seems to be. According to San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, iBestTravel has already been suspended from city contracts due to its notorious history of illegally towing vehicles from private lots without authorization.
“This company [iBestTravel] appears to be the same towing company that my office previously moved to suspend and debar from receiving city contracts,” said Chiu.
After viewing the footage, Chiu confirmed that the tow truck “could likely be violating a number of laws,” including criminal statutes. Chiu also mentioned that prior to this incident, the city has received numerous complaints from individuals claiming to have been scammed by iBestTravel.
iBestTravel is also known for deliberately limiting the hours individuals could retrieve their vehicles from their lot and pressuring them to pay cash for their car’s release. If this towing company does not appear questionable enough, Chiu even mentioned that the business has previously committed welfare fraud.
The San Francisco Police Department urges any additional victims of iBestTravel to come forward. “It is insane. We ask victims who have had similar experiences to contact the police department immediately,” stated officer Paulina Henderson with SFPD.
