NEW HAVEN, Ind. (WANE) — A new law passed in Indiana that establishes rates a towing company can charge for emergency and private services has forced municipalities to either revise or create towing contracts for their city.
“The biggest impact is transparency between the citizens and the towing provider that’s contracted by the police agency that’s involved in either an accident scene or an arrest,” said Blue Eagle Towing Vice President Christopher Morgan. “For the average person, it will give them some pushback if they receive an exorbitant bill in those situations where they feel they’ve been taken advantage of.”
One such example is the City of Haven, which held a meeting July 1 — the day House Enrolled Act 1390 went into effect — through its Board of Public Works and Safety to establish a contract for towing services. The city previously did not have an official contract with any company.
In New Haven’s case, the board voted in favor of a contract that will utilize three companies: Reichert-Knepp Wrecker Service, Blue Eagle Towing and Parker Towing.
New Haven Police Chief James Krueger told the Board of Public Works and Safety he would prefer having multiple towing companies on the contract so there would be healthy competition that would be beneficial for taxpayers.
“Blue Eagle they expressed interest in towing for the City of New Haven when I became chief last year, and so we started utilizing them, and they were doing an extremely well job. Their arrival time on scenes was about 10, 15 minutes whenever we called them,” Krueger said. “They were doing such a good job, our officers were actually preferring to utilize Blue Eagle, so they were calling them a majority of the time.”
Kreuger noted the fees for Blue Eagle are “a little higher” than the other two companies but that he had “never received any complaints about their billing.”
Reichert-Knepp, which has a New Haven location off Doyle Road, has invested more than $1 million into the city with the facility, Krueger said.
For Parker, Krueger said they were “grandfathered” into consideration after the company bought out Robinson’s Wrecker Service in 2022. He also said that while Parker has plenty of resources and always responds when called by New Haven police, there have been past issues with response times and billing complaints.
“At times, it was taking 45 minutes or more,” Krueger said.
“It’s been a little bit of a rocky one for me so far,” Krueger said regarding having Parker on the city’s towing contract.
Bob Byrd, a member of the Board of Public Works and Safety who also serves on New Haven City Council, asked a Parker representative about response times and the company’s proximity to New Haven. The company has two locations, with the closest being on 7544 St. Joe Road, while Reichert-Knepp has a New Haven location and Blue Eagle has a location on Pontiac Street near city limits.
The representative told Byrd Parker has an average response time of 15 to 20 minutes when called to New Haven and that he was unsure what led to the “short delays” Krueger referred to.
He also said Parker owns property in New Haven and has considered adding a building at the location, although there are no current plans to do so.
Indiana State Rep. Bob Morris (R-84), who represents a portion of Allen County that mainly includes northeast Fort Wayne, also attended the meeting and opposed the proposed rates set by the City of New Haven, which are capped at $150 as a flat fee for the towing of motor vehicles within city limits.
Vehicles that are impounded at the request of police are capped at $200. Neither caps include potential storage fees.
The amount is higher than Fort Wayne’s minimum towing contract in 2022, but is on par with the Allen County Sheriff’s Department contract, which charges $125 for a base tow and $175 for a medium tow.
“That’s really my main concern today … if I got in an accident or needed my car towed in New Haven … I’d be extremely alarmed by some of these prices that you’re actually adopting … it’s safe to say you guys are going to have the highest rates the State of Indiana,” Morris said.
Morris addressed the podium three times during the meeting. He could also be seen speaking to Parker Towing Owner Dan Parker, several times throughout the meeting.
“I guess this is why I get annoyed at Parker because this is what I deal with,” Krueger said while Morris spoke before the board for a third time.
Should towing companies employ felons?
Toward the end of the meeting, Dan spoke before the board and requested the City of New Haven consider adding an amendment to the towing contract that would prohibit felon drivers, so he claimed to have worked with other departments to establish elsewhere.
“I helped several departments with this amendment, with this new law that came in effect July 1 today. Each one of them put in and amended their contracts and put in there that you cannot have felon drivers … I’m not saying that there’s not a place for felons to work, but it should not be in this industry,” Dan said.
On Wednesday, Morgan spoke to WANE 15 about the circumstances surrounding the ethics of hiring felons, something he is in support of and has done at Blue Eagle on a case-by-case basis.
“I feel like if you’ve completed your sentence and ready to return to society, I don’t understand why towing is a bad place for that to happen,” Morgan said. “I can’t think of much of a better place for a convicted felon to be working than at an accident scene with a police officer. It seems like a pretty logical place for them to be working.”
A lawyer representing Parker provided a statement to WANE 15 Wednesday explaining Dan’s comments and how the reservation toward hiring felons is “widely considered an industry standard.”
Parker Towing is proud to have been selected to enter into a formal service contract with the City of New Haven. They are excited for the opportunity to continue to serve the community in this capacity, as they have for years. They also support the new Indiana law that requires municipalities to enter into formal agreements with towing providers. They believe this law brings important structure, transparency, and accountability to the towing industry across the state, and they are fully committed to complying with all its requirements.
Parker Towing has built a strong reputation over the years for professionalism, reliability, and high standards of service. They are proud of the trust they have earned from municipal partners, numerous Police Departments and the public, and they remain committed to upholding that reputation in every aspect of their work.
Regarding Mr. Parker’s comments at the recent council meeting, he was referencing what is widely considered an industry standard. Towing company employees often have access to private property and are regularly placed in sensitive, one-on-one situations with members of the public. For this reason, many municipal and private towing contracts include background requirements that may preclude individuals with felony convictions.
Mr. Parker’s remarks were meant to reflect what is considered best practice across the industry. Parker Towing will continue to follow these standards to ensure they maintain the trust, safety, and professionalism expected by both their partners and the public.
Andrew Boxberger
Partner
Carson LLP
The contract stipulates that either the city or the wrecker services can terminate the contract with just a 10-day notice.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
