by Graham Sturgeon, co-editor
Robert Lepley, the owner of Lepley & Sons Towing in Owosso, filed a lawsuit last month in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan against Shiawassee County Sheriff Brian BeGole (left photo). Lepley is requesting $25,000 for “economic damages in the form of loss of income” and “non-economic damages in the form of mental anguish, suffering, humiliation, embarrassment, lifestyle disruption, fright, shock and loss of sleep.”
Lepley and his counsel, Victor Mastromarco Jr. from the Saginaw-based law firm Mastromarco Firm, allege that Sheriff BeGole violated the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause by “unfairly favoring” Allstar Towing & Repair and then by “wrongfully removing” Lepley & Sons Towing from the non-preference towing rotation.
Rob Lepley has owned his towing company since 1996, the same year BeGole was hired by the Shiawassee County Sheriff’s Office. Throughout that time, BeGole has witnessed consistent infighting among the county’s tow truck operators, and more recently, the Sheriff’s Office has seen an increase in complaints from customers alleging improprieties such as overcharging and poor response times, among others.
“I’m in my 29th year in law enforcement here in Shiawassee County, and the rotation has always been a bone of contention,” explained BeGole. “Sheriff Braidwood scrapped the rotation because he got tired of all the complaints among operators. When I became sheriff in 2017, I brought back the rotation because I felt we needed a policy in place to level the playing field for our tow truck operators and protect customers from being taken advantage of.
“The Sheriff’s Office does not have an obligation to have a rotation,” BeGole continued. “We could choose to contract with one company if we wanted, but I understand that this is how these guys make their living. There is enough business to go around, and the policy we instituted in 2017 helps ensure that everyone has a chance to be included.”
The non-preference towing rotation policy implemented in 2017 requires participating wrecker companies to operate on properties zoned commercial or industrial, with road-side signage identifying each place of business, and fences and security cameras for vehicle storage/impound areas. Insured, licensed operators who comply with the new policy and pass inspection can participate in the rotation.
The policy also divides the county into five tow zones – northwest (T1), southwest (T2), northeast (T3), southeast (T4) and central (T5) – with two to four companies comprising the rotations for each region. Towing requests are made by officers to Shiawassee County Central Dispatch, and it is the job of 9-1-1 operators to dispatch the next wrecker in the rotation from the corresponding zone.
Lepley & Sons is part of the T5 rotation with AllStar Towing & Repair, Dick’s Auto Services, M-21 Towing & Recovery and Maximum Towing & Recovery. Tow requests made in the T5 zone are divided evenly between these five companies, excluding instances when car owners request an alternative wrecker. Requests made by car owners do not affect the rotation order.
Records for October and November 2018 provided to The Independent by Central Dispatch show towing rotation calls and request calls, as well as the number of rotation calls that went unanswered. Over those two months, there were 131 towing calls made in the T5 zone – 85 rotation calls and 46 request calls. Dick’s received the most request calls, 24, compared to 11 for Maximum, six for AllStar, three for M-21 Towing and one each for Lepley & Sons and Joe’s Body Shop, which operates primarily in the T2 zone.
As for the rotation calls, Maximum led the way with 23, followed by M-21 Towing with 20, AllStar Towing and Lepley & Sons with 14 each, and Dick’s with 13. Additionally, Maximum missed seven towing rotation calls, Lepley & Sons missed six calls, Dick’s missed five calls, M-21 Towing missed three calls and AllStar missed two calls. Unanswered service calls result in the unresponsive company missing its turn in the rotation.
In response to the charge that he favors AllStar Towing because of a longstanding friendship with the company’s owner, Richard Gokee Jr., BeGole acknowledged his friendship with Gokee but added that he has developed strong relationships with many of the county’s tow truck operators over the past three decades. He also pointed out that AllStar Towing operates wrecker services in Perry and Owosso and is part of the non-preference rotations of zones T1, T2 and T5.
Lepley was removed from the rotation on Nov. 27, 2018, after being cited for multiple rotation policy compliance issues. According to the lawsuit, Lepley lacked adequate signage, and he needed to add interior and exterior cameras and have his property re-zoned. Sheriff BeGole added that Lepley also failed to produce proof of insurance, despite being given two months to do so.
Lepley claims to have taken the necessary corrective actions prior to his removal from the rotation, but the county’s towing policy inspector, Sam Safi, was reportedly not allowed to enter the premises to conduct a follow-up inspection to confirm Lepley’s compliance status.
