PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — Imagine getting your stolen car back only to be hit with another loss: $615 in towing fees.
Clanford Howard's nightmare started in September 2023 with this exact storyline.
“If someone steals your car and police find it you would expect to go get your car and go home,” Howard said. “But that’s not what happened.”
Thieves got caught on security camera stealing his BMW off the street in front of his house.
“They drove off like casually and that was it -- I never saw the car again until Saturday,” Howard said, nearly six months later.
Police recently found Howard's car in Montgomery County and towed it to back to his home.
“I looked through the car and it was trashed,” he said. “But what got me was this bill.”
The bill he received for the tow of his stolen vehicle was $615.
“I mean there’s not much we can do about it,” Howard’s son-in-law, David Roberts, said.
WUSA9 called the towing company, Auburn Towing. A man on the other end said the car was recovered by Takoma Park Police but Montgomery County Police called Auburn Towing to tow Howard’s BMW. The man said they charged Howard the normal towing fees.
“The police said they couldn’t do anything about the cost,” Roberts said.
WUSA9 looked through other jurisdictions to see how common it is for the victims to pay for their towing fees of their stolen cars.
In D.C., if your car is stolen and recovered, an MPD spokesperson said the victim still pays the towing fee. But in Baltimore, the city passed legislation in 2022 to cover stolen auto towing fees.
Unfortunately for Howard, that’s not the case in Montgomery County.
“The car was stolen, but it did feel like the city stole from him too,” Roberts said.
Roberts said they’ve pitched in tohelp his father-in-law covering the towing costs. But now Howard is stuck with a broken, beat up car and a $615 loss.
“Definitely the car was abused -- I can look at the car and tell,” he said “They stole it again, that’s how I feel about it.”
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