What to Know
- A North Philadelphia towing company is accused of taking advantage of vulnerable drivers by overcharging them after serious car accidents.
- Hooked Inc. and its co-owners Dwight Williams and Joseph Moreno face conspiracy, fraud and theft charges.
- Attorneys for both men and the company denied the allegations, saying they provided service at a "fair and reasonable cost."
Prosecutors are accusing a North Philadelphia tow truck operator and its owners of taking advantage of vulnerable drivers by charging them outrageous fees to tow their cars after serious accidents.
Hooked Inc. and its co-owners, Dwight Williams, 29, and Joseph Moreno, 40, are charged with corrupt organization, deceptive or fraudulent business practices, insurance fraud, theft by deception and conspiracy.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said Wednesday that the charges followed an 18-month grand jury investigation.
"A towing company known as Hooked Inc. might as well have been known as 'Hooked on Greed Inc.,'" Krasner said.
The investigation began when both insurance companies and victims began reporting extremely high tow bills from Hooked Inc. Krasner said the industry standard for towing charges is $200 to $400, but insurance companies said they were being billed $1,000 to $2,500.
Towing companies have an agreed upon rotation for who will receive the next towing job, according to Krasner.
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“Much in the same way that if you leave the Philadelphia airport you take a cab, you know what the price is, that’s how it’s supposed to work with towing," Krasner said. "The program is also designed to prevent wreck chasing and price gouging.”
Investigators told NBC10 Hooked Inc. went around the city’s rotational system by racing to accident scenes before officers arrived and getting drivers to sign a tow slip without any charges on it.
“They may be hurt. They may have children in the backseat,” Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Dawn Holtz said. “They might not know where they are and they are coming right up on them and telling them, ‘We have to tow your car and you have to sign this.’”
Krasner cited two examples of how Hooked Inc. allegedly took advantage of drivers.
During one incident in the city's Roxborough neighborhood, a tow operator with Hooked Inc. allegedly approached a woman who was in an ambulance after being injured in a car crash. The operator told her and her husband that they had to sign a tow slip to remove their damaged vehicle from the road, according to Krasner. Feeling pressure, her husband signed the slip after the operator told him insurance would cover the towing charges, Krasner said. Hooked Inc. then allegedly billed All-State Insurance $1,221.25 for one day of storage.
During another incident, two Hooked Inc. operators arrived at the scene after a rental car crashed into a ravine in Northeast Philadelphia, Krasner said. One of the operators allegedly told a woman involved in the crash that they worked for Enterprise Rent-a-Car and would tow the vehicle to their Warminster location.
The woman wasn't allowed to remove her belongings from the car and was pressured by the Hooked Inc. employees to sign a slip, Krasner said. The woman went to the Enterprise location but didn't see the car there. With help from police, she found the rental car at Hooked Inc. and was billed $2,060, cash only, according to investigators.
Williams’ attorney, William Brennan, vowed to fight “each and every” allegation, saying the company has provided service “at a fair and reasonable cost.”
Moreno’s attorney, Richard J. Fuschino Jr., said his client denies the accusations and "nobody was taken advantage of." Company attorney Amato Sanita said towing was always done with consent.
“Hooked Inc. was acting in a legal fashion and a contractual fashion and in a matter that is consistent with standards in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Sanita wrote.
A driver for Hooked Inc., who did not reveal his full name, also defended the company.
“Honestly, you guys are being misled by what the city wants you to think,” he said. “I’m one of the drivers here. Everything I do is legit. Everything they do is legit.”
Williams and Moreno, who were arrested on March 19, are scheduled for a status hearing on April 29.
"I hope today's announcement sends a clear message to area towing operations to follow the law because these scams have no place in our city," Krasner said. "They tear down our city and will not be tolerated."
