Pat’s Towing

By David Phillips

I have a signed order from the Worcester Superior Court for the return of car and contents towed by Pat’s [Towing and Service Station]. They have told me that the car is not there, but in practically the same breath, asked if I had come to pay the bill. I had a witness with me, who can verify what I’m saying.

Why is the car not there? Where is it? Where is my stuff that was inside the car?

“Not my problem,” I was told.

Really?

… The Worcester Police Department, who told Pat’s to tow it in the first place, have NOT been helpful AT ALL in getting this matter resolved, and in fact, have not returned the Certificate of Title (which they took from me at the traffic stop).

WHAT COUNTRY AM I LIVING IN ?!

There’s a little more to the story. The police wouldn’t let me arrange for a private tow. When my attorney cross-examined the cop who did the initial traffic stop (on the witness stand, and under oath), he testified that he never gave me the opportunity for a “private tow.” THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WANTED HIM TO SAY !).

The judge asked him to repeat what has had just said (maybe she couldn’t believe her ears).
AND HE SAID IT AGAIN!

Anyway, they wouldn’t let me go with the tow truck driver to arrange for a private tow from Pat’s to another location, and would not even let me get my gloves out of the car (on an unusually cold night).

I was left to walk off the entrance ramp of I-290, with numb hands, to a gas station in Kelley Square, where I waited for a ride, and a Worcester Police Department cruiser kept circling the gas station until my ride arrived. He witnessed this too, because they kept circling after he arrived to pick me up.

I used to work for a towing company that had police contracts (state, local and turnpike), and I was shocked and dismayed at what had taken place. We would never have left somebody standing on the side of the highway, especially on such a cold night, and drive off with their car (and then “inventory” it to the point where it looks like it went through a tornado).

Several times, when telephone inquiries were made, Pat’s said the car was on “police hold” – which turned out not to be true. My attorney was granted permission by the court to go to Pat’s and recover some documents that were needed in the Hampden Superior Court on an unrelated matter (a foreclosure case), and he was told at that time that the car was still on “police hold” (which it was not), and that Pat’s had a “lien” on the car and everything that was in it.

Now, I know about “Garageeeper’s Liens” and all that kind of stuff, I used to process the paperwork for an automotive concern, and I have also done repossessions, and am quite familiar with that process as well. If Pat’s had a Garagekeeper’s Lien (which I doubt, because there’s a statutory procedure you have to go through to establish it, and I don’t think any of that was done), it applies to the car ONLY, and not to any personal property inside it. Any competent towing company would know that.

Anyway … I challenged the validity of the traffic stop, and had the case thrown out in August. That’s when I petitoned the court again (getting the foreclosure papaerwork back was the first time), and eventually received the signed court order for the return of the car and its contents. And then, I found out the car is not at Pat’s. That was on a weekend, and just the “new guys” were there, so I had to come back during the week. I went back a second time (on a Tuesday – with a witness), and that’s when I got the “It’s not here” and “It’s not my problem” story.

I got a call one morning right after that, from a friend who was driving on I-290, and said he saw somebody driving the car on I-290, and it took the exit near Pat’s. I reported this to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department, and faxed them a copy of the court order. I also called the law department in City Hall and told the about this. I don’t think there’s any point in calling the Worcester P.D, because (1) they are co-conspirators with Pat’s in the (armed) car-jacking in the first place, and (2) the court order has to be enforced by the Sheriff’s Department, not the police.

I want somebody from the Sheriff’s Department with me when I go back the third time. …

And, as far as the Certificate of Title goes, I mentioned it to one of the supervisors at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and he said I should go show the court order to the Chief of Police, and demand the Certificate of Title back. Nobody will let me talk to the Chief about this. They also have not returned personal property (including a small bone-handle folding pocket knife – which was a gift from my uncle a short time before he died in a nursing home) which they “confiscated” during the “Pat down” (for their own safety, you understand).

By Rosalie Tirella

Just got a great letter, which I will run here! But before that, another thought:

If a Worcester Public School teacher was accused (by a student) of sexual assault or just plain old assault, that teacher would be put on paid leave by the City of Worcester. The same thing for one of our police officers. Even Worcester city housing guru Jackie Jackson has been relieved of her duties while she is being investigated by the city/lawyers.

Then why, in God’s name, does Pat’s Towing service, of Shrewsbury Street, get to continue to drive around town (always over the speed limit) terrorizing Worcesterites? They have been accused of beating and kidnapping people! Can’t City Manager Mike O’Brien simply not use Pat’s until the court case has been decided? If the Pat’s crew is found guilty of assault, kidnapping, etc, then O’Brien needs to fire the lot and award the contract to other towing companies. But in the mean time he should put these creeps “on leave.” Why allow them to make more money off the city?

I am beginning to think that our intrepid city leaders are not so fearless – that they are afraid of the tough guys at Pat’s. That they, like the poor folks who are towed by these Good Fellas, would prefer to shut their pusses so as not to incur the wrath (fists??) of Pat’s.

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Here’s the letter:

Pat’s Towing: “greedy,” “no leeway”

Pat’s Towing “succeeds” by having so many Tow Trucks driving around that if someone parks somewhere for as short as five minutes where they are not supposed to park, they are immediately towed. No other tow company is as omnipresent or unforgiving. At the Denholm Building, in downtown Worcester, there is a parking lot adjacent to the building that looks like it is for the building; however, it’s not. Many people entering the building or the nearby St. Paul’s Church who park in this lot are immediately towed. There are places one can park during the day without being towed, but when the clubs are active at night, you are towed immediately.

The bottom line is Pat’s, by being so everywhere all the time, ends up being an unforgiving presence in the city. You could say they are just doing their job well, and you would be right, but because they are so greedy in towing without any leeway or forgiveness, it would be nice to get rid of them.

Randy Feldman
via the Internet

Now it’s up to the City of Worcester to step up to the plate and do the right thing! (Just pretend you’re a business, City Manager Mike O’Brien, and the citizens of Worcester are your customers!)

Here are a few blasts from the “Pat’s”! – R. Tirella

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From a few years ago …

Give Pat’s the heave ho!

By Rosalie Tirella

Word’s gotten out that Mayor Joe O’Brien is hoping to convince city officials to give the assholes at Pat’s Towing the heave ho when it comes to renewing the city’s towing/impounding contract with Pat’s Towing company of Shrewsbury Street, Worcester. (their contract is winding down) For year’s Pat’s Towing has had a lock on the City of Worcester’s towing – earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, probably millions of dollars, while giving Worcesterties the finger – up the ass, twice.

Mayor O’Brien, like all the other city councilors, wants to give another towing company – one run by HUMAN BEINGS – a chance at the lucrative deal. A chance to pick up Wormtown’s illegally parked cars during snowstorms, etc, summer concerts, etc, or on city streets where there is no/limited parking (or other parking violations).

Anyone who has lived in Worcester for longer than, oh, five minutes, quickly learns what bastards the cretins at Pat’s can be. They have turned a city job into a bold, get-outa-my-way-or-I’ll mow-you-down-AND-I’ll-charge-you-hundreds of dollars to get your car back into a weird kind of civic blood-letting. They have had Worcester in a nasty head-lock for years – for way too long.

Two examples:

Last winter, my old dog, my Nova Scotia Retriever, Bailey, was dying of cancer. Nasal cancer so that despite being on chemo and anti-pain and anti-inflamatory pills (we had the tumor biopsied – it was malignant), my Bailey Boy had a bump on his once elegant long nose (the ever growing tumor) and snot and blood dripping from his left nostril, due to the tumor – which I lovingly wiped away with Kleenix. I loved my Bailey so much and he loved life so much (still running after squirrels – caught a skunk!; barking at skateboarders with abandon) that we hung on to Baily as long as we could – as long as HE wanted to hang on to us. Well, one day I had some business in the Denholm Building. I parked in the adjacent lot for five minutes – with my Baily in the back seat. I come out and POOF! The car was gone!

“Pat’s! Fuckin’ Pat’s” I screamed in the middled of the lot. (I just knew) “They took my dog! They towed my dog who is dying of cancer!!! (They would have towed a car with an infant in it!)

Crazed with tears and fears, I called my guy – and told him everything through choked sobs. He was on a job in the Fitchburg area. It took him about an hour to come down to Denholms.

“Bailey!” I screamed to him when he drove up to Denholms. “My Bailey Boy! He’s going to die! He’s going to die!”

It was as cold out that day as it is today – bitter cold.

I jumped into the truck and we drove to Pat’s. Up Shrewsbury Street we sped – and there in the Pat’s lot was my car with poor old Bailey inside, the snot dripping down his nose. He was sitting up straight and tall in the back seat – waiting for his mommy like a brave little man. Serious looking – as if in the “stay” position. He looked “pale,” if that makes sense. My old dog looked cold.

“A hundred dollars,” the attendant/fiend at Pat’s said. ($100 for 2 hours)

“The dog has cancer. He’s 12 years old. You had to tow?” I cried at him, giving him the $100 bill.

He told me my dog was OK. He didn’t remove my dog and keep him in the warm service center. Nope. Bailey was with the vehicles. But he was OK. This “vet” knew.

Shortly after the Pat’s Towing ordeal my Bailey died. He was dying before Pat’s got their hooks into my car, but the bumpy ride, the two-hour wait in 20-degree weather did my dear old Bailey no good.

Story #2

A friend of mine told me an old man – in his 80s – had his car towed by Pat’s Towing. He went over to Pat’s Shrewbury Street holding-pen and asked for his car back. He didn’t have the bucks needed to get his jalopy out. Well, the lovely “boys” at Pat’s taunted him. They teased and teased the old man, and the old man rushed at them, rushed at their fence, a feisty guy, trying to beat the crap out of these young thugs. And guess what? The octogenarian almost gave himself a heart attack trying to mix it up with Pat’s Towing “boys.” He finally called my friend who went down to Pat’s Towing and paid the money. Blood money. The old man got his car out but he had lost his dignity.

And this is the towing company that the City of Worcester wants to rehire? This is the towing company city leaders want to represent Worcester? The people of Pat’s are pond scum – speeding down resdential streets at 50 miles an hour, blasting through urban centers as they race, absolutely RACE to make their next killing, their next Tow Job, while the city of Worcester gives it a Blow Job!

Mayor O’Brien is right! We’ve had enought of the sadism! We want a towing company -not a gang of thugs!

So let’s get rid of these demons – a huge tow truck going 50 miles an hour down neighbrohood streets to pick up a car with a dying dog in it is not what we need. Lots of other blue-collar guys in other blue collar businesses know and HATE Pat’s Towing. They won’t do business with these wolverines because they are so rotten. These blue collar guys and their businesses use other towing companies – a lot of them like Boulevard Towing.

Nice guys, is what they say when they talk about Boulevard Towing.

So why not, City manager Mike O’Brien? Why not follow the lead of Mayor Joe O’Brien and ditch Pat’s Towing – NOT RENEW THEIR CONTRACT? Try Boulevard Towing. Hell, try anybody BUT Pat’s.

The citizens of Worcester – and guests to our community – deserve to be treated with a bit more respect. That is tow, if necessary, but use your heart, have some common sense and SLOW DOWN and stop ripping folks/the city off!

***********************

Another Pat’s Towing Service Horror Story

By Terry Bradley

First: I love InCity Times. The price is right and it is 100% better than the local newspaper that some people pay outrageously for. It’s not sugar coated and you tell it like it is. You cover local news that is pertinent to our city and its residents. You are not afraid or intimidated.

I really enjoyed your piece on Pat’s Towing. And I am very dismayed that they got the towing contract from the city again. You are 110% correct when you say, “get-outa-my-way-or-I’ll-mow-you-down”; “cretins”; “blood money”; “pond scum”; and “demons”.They have no hearts and they do speed through the narrow city streets with their enormous beast trucks. I work downtown and see them daily circling like vultures looking for victims. I’ve come close to being hit by a truck barreling down the street.

My story is about the night I went to see “A Christmas Carol” on the 18th of December at the Hanover. (When we arrived we actually saw Pat’s tow trucks circling the block looking for victims.) After having an enjoyable evening, I came out to find my car gone. Like you, right away I screamed “PAT’S”.

The irony is, I was legally parked in the parking lot for which I pay monthly, with the tag hanging from the rearview mirror. I walked back to the Hanover to speak with the security person on duty. He directed me to the police officers outside directing traffic and crossing pedestrians. They were not surprised at my story and told me what the police think of Pat’s Towing and they told me there was nothing they could do because the city continues to give Pat’s the contract. When I got to Pat’s the dispatcher was very rude. Click to continue »

By Terry Bradley

First: I love InCity Times. The price is right and it is 100% better than the local newspaper that some people pay outrageously for. It’s not sugar coated and you tell it like it is. You cover local news that is pertinent to our city and its residents. You are not afraid or intimidated.

I really enjoyed your piece on Pat’s Towing. And I am very dismayed that they got the towing contract from the city again. You are 110% correct when you say, “get-outa-my-way-or-I’ll-mow-you-down”; “cretins”; “blood money”; “pond scum”; and “demons”.They have no hearts and they do speed through the narrow city streets with their enormous beast trucks. I work downtown and see them daily circling like vultures looking for victims. I’ve come close to being hit by a truck barreling down the street.

My story is about the night I went to see “A Christmas Carol” on the 18th of December at the Hanover. (When we arrived we actually saw Pat’s tow trucks circling the block looking for victims.) After having an enjoyable evening, I came out to find my car gone. Like you, right away I screamed “PAT’S”.

The irony is, I was legally parked in the parking lot for which I pay monthly, with the tag hanging from the rearview mirror. I walked back to the Hanover to speak with the security person on duty. He directed me to the police officers outside directing traffic and crossing pedestrians. They were not surprised at my story and told me what the police think of Pat’s Towing and they told me there was nothing they could do because the city continues to give Pat’s the contract. When I got to Pat’s the dispatcher was very rude. Click to continue »

By Rosalie Tirella

Word’s gotten out that Mayor Joe O’Brien is hoping to convince city officials to give the assholes at Pat’s Towing the heave ho when it comes to renewing the city’s towing/impounding contract with Pat’s Towing company of Shrewsbury Street, Worcester. (their contract is winding down) For year’s Pat’s Towing has had a lock on the City of Worcester’s towing – earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, probably millions of dollars, while giving Worcesterties the finger – up the ass, twice. Mayor O’Brien, like all the other city councilors, wants to give another towing company – one run by HUMAN BEINGS – a chance at the lucrative deal. A chance to pick up Wormtown’s illegally parked cars during snowstorms, etc, summer concerts, etc, or on city streets where there is no/limited parking (or other parking violations).

Anyone who has lived in Worcester for longer than, oh, five minutes, quickly learns what bastards the cretins at Pat’s can be. They have turned a city job into a bold, get-outa-my-way-or-I’ll mow-you-down-AND-I’ll-charge-you-hundreds of dollars to get your car back into a weird kind of civic blood-letting. They have had Worcester in a nasty head-lock for years – for way too long.

Two examples:

Last winter, my old dog, my Nova Scotia Retriever, Bailey, was dying of cancer. Nasal cancer so that despite being on chemo and anti-pain and anti-inflamatory pills (we had the tumor biopsied – it was malignant), my Bailey Boy had a bump on his once elegant long nose (the ever growing tumor) and snot and blood dripping from his left nostril, due to the tumor – which I lovingly wiped away with Kleenix. I loved my Bailey so much and he loved life so much (still running after squirrels – caught a skunk!; barking at skateboarders with abandon) that we hung on to Baily as long as we could – as long as HE wanted to hang on to us. Well, one day I had some business in the Denholm Building. I parked in the adjacent lot for five minutes – with my Baily in the back seat. I come out and POOF! The car was gone!

“Pat’s! Fuckin’ Pat’s” I screamed in the middled of the lot. (I just knew) “They took my dog! They towed my dog who is dying of cancer!!! (They would have towed a car with an infant in it!)

Crazed with tears and fears, I called my guy – and told him everything through choked sobs. He was on a job in the Fitchburg area. It took him about an hour to come down to Denholms.

“Bailey!” I screamed to him when he drove up to Denholms. “My Bailey Boy! He’s going to die! He’s going to die!”

It was as cold out that day as it is today – bitter cold.

I jumped into the truck and we drove to Pat’s. Up Shrewsbury Street we sped – and there in the Pat’s lot was my car with poor old Bailey inside, the snot dripping down his nose. He was sitting up straight and tall in the back seat – waiting for his mommy like a brave little man. Serious looking – as if in the “stay” position. He looked “pale,” if that makes sense. My old dog looked cold.

“A hundred dollars,” the attendant/fiend at Pat’s said. ($100 for 2 hours)

“The dog has cancer. He’s 12 years old. You had to tow?” I cried at him, giving him the $100 bill.

He told me my dog was OK. He didn’t remove my dog and keep him in the warm service center. Nope. Bailey was with the vehicles. But he was OK. This “vet” knew.

Shortly after the Pat’s Towing ordeal my Bailey died. He was dying before Pat’s got their hooks into my car, but the bumpy ride, the two-hour wait in 20-degree weather did my dear old Bailey no good.

Story #2

A friend of mine told me an old man – in his 80s – had his car towed by Pat’s Towing. He went over to Pat’s Shrewbury Street holding-pen and asked for his car back. He didn’t have the bucks needed to get his jalopy out. Well, the lovely “boys” at Pat’s taunted him. They teased and teased the old man, and the old man rushed at them, rushed at their fence, a feisty guy, trying to beat the crap out of these young thugs. And guess what? The octogenarian almost gave himself a heart attack trying to mix it up with Pat’s Towing “boys.” He finally called my friend who went down to Pat’s Towing and paid the money. Blood money. The old man got his car out but he had lost his dignity.

And this is the towing company that the City of Worcester wants to rehire? This is the towing company city leaders want to represent Worcester? The people of Pat’s are pond scum – speeding down resdential streets at 50 miles an hour, blasting through urban centers as they race, absolutely RACE to make their next killing, their next Tow Job, while the city of Worcester gives it a Blow Job!

Mayor O’Brien is right! We’ve had enought of the sadism! We want a towing company -not a gang of thugs!

So let’s get rid of these demons – a huge tow truck going 50 miles an hour down neighbrohood streets to pick up a car with a dying dog in it is not what we need. Lots of other blue-collar guys in other blue collar businesses know and HATE Pat’s Towing. They won’t do business with these wolverines because they are so rotten. These blue collar guys and their businesses use other towing companies – a lot of them like Boulevard Towing.

Nice guys, is what they say when they talk about Boulevard Towing.

So why not, City manager Mike O’Brien? Why not follow the lead of Mayor Joe O’Brien and ditch Pat’s Towing – NOT RENEW THEIR CONTRACT? Try Boulevard Towing. Hell, try anybody BUT Pat’s.

The citizens of Worcester – and guests to our community – deserve to be treated with a bit more respect. That is tow, if necessary, but use your heart, have some common sense and SLOW DOWN and stop ripping folks/the city off!