Posted on 12/18/2025 7:41:03 AM PST by lowbridge
A tow-truck driver in Florida is facing felony charges after being accused of towing a car that had a little girl inside.
The incident was caught on surveillance video.
The car’s owner told police he was inside a restaurant in Sunrise, Florida, for only two minutes before the tow truck came and took his car and he ran out of the business to try and stop the truck’s driver.
The car was in a fire zone where there were no parking signs, WPLG reported.
The video shows the owner of the car running to the tow truck driver, telling him to stop because his 4-year-old daughter was still in his vehicle.
A witness was heard saying, “His kid in there,” WTVJ reported.
The driver did not stop. Police said in their report that the child fell from the car. Police said she opened the car door, according to WPLG. Her father ran into traffic to save her.
The tow truck’s driver, Sergio Suarez, was arrested on charges of child neglect without great bodily harm.
“This one stood out to me; he towed a vehicle allegedly without checking whether or not there was anyone in the vehicle, and there was a child in the vehicle, who then had to jump out of the vehicle in the middle of the road,” Judge Corey Friedman said in court, according to WFOR.
Police called the towing company and requested that Suarez return the car to the scene.
“He dropped the vehicle away from officers and attempted to leave the scene again,” police said in their report, according to WPLG. They stopped him in the shopping plaza moments later.
(Excerpt) Read more at actionnewsjax.com ...
Yes, especially if it's a repo; there's no telling what might happen to the driver if the current possessor of the car shows up while he's taking the car.
My only point was that the tow-truck driver could get that car in less than a minute.
Wasn’t there a movie called Repo Man?
something is off. How can the guy be in the restaurant only two minutes and some how the tow truck guy immediately on the scene and towing? Was tow guy waiting the parking lot? two minutes is not enough time for anyone to have called it in even.
The last couple of cars I've had require either a flat bed or a dolly for the rear wheels. Who pays for a damaging bad tow?
If truly a crash victim ,that to me says any Responders to the crash didnt do their job completely to check for crash victims.
In the 80s. I haven't seen it, myself.
In my neck of the woods, Tow truck companies get listed on the police roster for call outs and they rotate so as no one gets an advantage of getting all of the calls.
Some one here wrote that in Florida, the police don’t need to be called to have a vehicle towed from a fire zone. Sounds like this driver cruises the area looking to make his own business. They get the cost of the tow plus the impound fee.
Does the tow truck driver speak English?
When not out on a call, the tow guy probably hides out near the regularly violated no-parking zone and gets a few city-paid tows a day. Two (or even five) minutes seems to be awfully quick for a complaint call to the police, a call to the tow company and a tow order.
Regardless, the tow truck driver can’t be responsible for what was all in the car...
???
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My comment was meant to be taken generally and you missed the intent of the word ‘all’...it wasn’t just referring to a child. Is it the responsibility of the tow truck drivers to open the car and do a thorough search inside including the trunk before leaving? Are there any objects in the car that could be damaged by motion? Were the doors locked on the car? How is it even possible to do an inspection with a locked car (and potentially tinted glass) so that a driver can see anything in a meaningful way? I’m sure there is plenty of case law that lays out what a tow trucker can and can’t do and no doubt that will be a jurisdictional thing.
Frankly, there are way too many questions with this story to that much sense of it. Let’s start with this question... What was the exact moment in time when the tow truck driver first became aware there was a child in the car? Was it before or after the hook was put on the car? Was it before or after the tow truck actually started in motion?
It’s more likely he was parked in a Fire Zone, like the story set.
...that to me says any Responders to the crash didnt do their job completely...
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That would be apparent when something is missed but for some wrecks, it’s almost impossible to be thorough without taking the tangled metal apart piece by piece.
WHO THINKS THAT THIS “DRIVER” IS AN ILLEGAL?????
I DO
These predatory tow truck drivers wait to see a car park and move right in.
“He dropped the vehicle away from officers and attempted to leave the scene again,” police said in their report, according to WPLG. They stopped him in the shopping plaza moments later.
That little stunt will cost him.
But not the right to take off with children in it.
They can hook and drive away in less than 2 minutes the way some are rigged up. They don’t even have to get out of the vehicle.
Some tow drivers stake out places like this and wait for people, then swoop in and bang, they are gone with your car.
The tow truck’s driver, Sergio Suarez
Is towers a word other than verticle poles?
Tow man is a ?
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