Latest Arlington Towing 'Victim'? ESPN Sportscaster

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Just what are the rules when it comes to a tow truck backing up to your car and towing it off? Arlington residents are wondering, after recent incidents that saw a tow truck nearly tow away a car with children in it and now ESPN sportscaster Britt McHendry says her car was towed while she was dining Sunday in Arlington. McHendry tweeted a message about her mishap to ARLnow.

Last Friday, Advanced Towing hooked its tow truck up to a car with children in it at a CVS store on Columbia Pike, according to a report by NBC-4. Dad Max Daout had left his 17-year old step-daughter and 7-year old son in the car.

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“The car started to lift up,” Max, 7, told NBC-4. “I was like scared. I looked out the back and then saw the tow driver and then I opened the door a little bit and said, ‘Wait, wait wait.’”

“I was ticked off,” dad Max Daout told the TV station. “I was very upset. I got right on the phone to the tow company,” said Daout. “I would like them to be held accountable for the predatory practices that they are implementing by towing cars that are there legally parked.”

Daout said he had yet to hear from the company’s owner.

In December, the same company, Advanced Towing, towed a car with a dog in it, Big Red, an 8-year-old Golden retriever, NBC-4 reported.

People who get their car towed by Advanced Towing look to be paying $135 to get their cars back, according to reviews on Yelp.

Wondering how to keep from getting towed? Arlington County has an entire page devoted to questions and answers about towing.

Last fall, there was a towing flap in McLean, where a property owner had posted “no parking” signs in an empty parking lot next door to a brand-new sandwich shop. Patrons’ cars were towed left and right until Patch published a story about the flap.