Wilfredo Richiez parked his car at a shopping center in the Wheaton Triangle a week ago and went into Hi Super Spa for a massage. When he came out 30 minutes later, his car was gone. Richiez, a New Jersey native in town visiting a friend, had parked a few doors down from the spa, in front of another business at the strip mall, a business that had hired a towing company to ensure that only its customers parked in its spaces. Because he went to another business Richiez was considered a walk-off, his car was towed, and he paid $150 to get it back.
Officials with the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection said such cases are part of a growing trend of predatory towing practices. In the last six months, there’s been a spike in complaints from drivers whose vehicles have been towed from the Wheaton Triangle, Silver Spring and Bethesda.
