Insurance company challenges $24k bill for storage of stolen vehicle in Scranton

Aug. 10--A Scranton towing company that sought more than $25,000 from an insurance company for storing a stolen vehicle appears to have violated a 2013 contract that prevents city towers from charging crime victims storage fees.

Boots & Hanks Towing, 1500 N. Keyser Ave., sought the fees from Erie Insurance Exchange in connection with a 2014 Nissan 370Z stolen during a Feb. 11, 2018, burglary at a Scranton man's home. The burglar, Daquan Johnson, crashed the vehicle on Route 307 near Snook Street shortly after the break-in, killing a passenger, Angelo Matlock.

Boots & Hanks is one of 15 towers that contracts with the city to tow vehicles for police and other city departments. It initially charged Erie, which insured the vehicle's owner, $3,075 for towing and cleanup of the crash site, plus another $1,425 for 15 days of storage, for a total of $4,500. Erie paid the bill on April 24, 2018.

Erie thought that resolved the matter. It learned in February that Boots & Hanks was demanding another $24,000 for about 10 months of storage incurred because the vehicle remained impounded as evidence in the criminal case against Johnson, according to a lawsuit Erie's attorney, Robert Panowicz, filed in April in Lackawanna County Court. The suit notes a company employee offered to reduce the amount to $12,000, but Erie refused.

Johnson, 27, was sentenced in September 2018 to 63 to 156 months in state prison for his guilty plea to burglary and accidents involving death or personal injury. Erie says police did not notify it until Feb. 14 that the car could be released. It contacted Boots & Hanks on Feb. 25 and was told it owed storage fees from April 24, 2018 up to that date, the suit says.

The suit alleges the fees are excessive and violate the state Towing and Storage Facility Act, which protects consumers from predatory pricing. It does not raise claims regarding violation of the towing contract's ban on charging crime victims storage fees, however, because Panowicz was not aware of the that stipulation until The Times-Tribune advised him of it Friday.

"That changes things completely," Panowicz told the newspaper.

In a reply to the suit, Joan Guari, attorney for Boots & Hanks, contends the charges were not excessive and any financial damages Erie incurred were caused by its own negligence or third parties over whom it has no control. Contacted Friday, Guari declined comment on whether the company is violating the towing contract.

Panowicz said Erie sought to remove the car from Boots & Hanks as soon as it learned it was no longer impounded. The company refuses to release it, however, until the storage bill is paid. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for Thursday before Judge James Gibbons.

The towing contract, which council approved in October 2013, sets rates each company can charge for towing, road cleaning and storage. The current fee for storage is $95 per day, but it excludes the fee if the vehicle "is owned by a victim of a crime or criminal investigation." Crime victims are still responsible for the cost of towing, however.

Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano, who is not involved in the lawsuit, said he believes it's clear that towing companies can't charge crime victims for storage. In the past, he said some have disputed that, but relented after he challenged them.

"When push comes to shove, they agree with us," Graziano said.

Graziano said he was not aware of Erie's lawsuit. Based on his understanding of the contract, he does not believe the company would be owed any storage fees up until the time it was notified the car was no longer impounded. He said he believes it would be owed storage fees from that date forward, however.

"Once it is released, they are responsible for storage," he said.

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

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