Tow-Truck Wars a Fiery, Bulleted Battle for Turf

Tow-truck war escalates to possible arson and a bullet-ridden storefront

The tow truck competition that ended bloody Monday -- when one tow truck operator allegedly shot another in the leg while fighting over a car accident in Hunting Park -- may have escalated into arson of one tow truck company and a bullet-ridden storefront of another Wednesday.

At about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday at least a dozen cars were on fire at North Philly’s J & Sons towing company on the 3700-block of North 2nd Street. Police are calling the fires suspicious and surveillance video shows a man pouring gasoline around the cars.

Not long after the cars at Jose LaTorre Sr.’s tow company went up in flames, someone shot bullets into the front of John Campbell’s Mystical Towing on the 100-block of West Ashdale Street in the Olney section.

Jose LaTorre Jr., 40, is wanted by police in connection to the shooting of another tow truck operator Monday.

It was just before 10:30 a.m. when the fight broke out between a driver from Mystic Towing and J & Sons Towing at Whitaker and Hunting Park Avenues Monday.

The driver who was shot drove himself to the nearby police station where officers found him bleeding on the steps. He was taken to Temple University Hospital for treatment.


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