Robert Pollard owns Pollard Towing, one of the area’s largest towing companies.
Recently his company has been embroiled in the controversy over aggressive towing at the Hamilton Dollar Parking lot in Northeast Baltimore.
Patrons accuse Pollard’s drivers of hooking up cars while motorists try to find quarters, the only currency the lot’s sole meter accepts. But Pollard said his company is not at fault, and agreed to an interview to explain why.
Business owners and motorists complain your tow truck drivers are too aggressive. How do you respond?
I think the problem at that particular lot is that it used to be free and people still think it is free. Generally I don’t think they believe they’re going to be towed, and are reacting to that rather than the way we tow cars or why a car was towed.
But area residents said one of your tow drivers was arrested for putting on a car on the hook while someone was in it. How do you explain that?
It didn’t happen that way. The person tried to get back into the car while the tow truck driver was hooking the car up. We had video from surveillance cameras showing the person trying to get in the car. The judge dropped the charges.
City Councilman Robert Curran is introducing legislation at Monday’s city council meeting that would prevent companies from towing cars off a lot that does not accept credit cards, make change, or pay parking taxes. What’s your take on the bill?
It would put us in a bad situation. If I have contract with the lot to tow cars, how am I supposed to know if the company paid taxes or not? How am I supposed to verify that? The law holds us liable for something that we can’t control, so I could end up being sued for something that I’m not responsible for. I do think it’s a good idea in general.
Read Stephen Janis’s story about the controversy surrounding Hamilton Dollar Parking here.
