Sometimes, a guy just doesn’t want to let his gold Lincoln-Continental Navigator go, even if it’s being repossessed.
Two employees of a Puyallup-based towing company had the gold SUV on the truck’s lift and a tire strapped in at about 3 a.m. on July 25 when the SUV’s registered owner, a Westport man, came running out from a house.
The tow-truck’s driver told the suspect not to try anything. Instead, according to police, the SUV’s owner got into the vehicle, started it and tried to drive off the lift.
The truck driver drove off, with the owner in the SUV – and still trying to drive it off the lift, according to police.
In about the 200 block of Rainier Avenue, the strap broke and the suspect drove the SUV over the lift and started ramming the tow truck – more than 30 times – in an effort to get the SUV off the the tow truck.
A police officer was dispatched at about 3:15 a.m. to a report of a suspect trying to drive his SUV off a tow truck. The officer witnessed the SUV driver ram the tow truck about six times.
The officer managed to get the SUV’s owner to stop the ramming and get out of the SUV.
Asked why he rammed the tow truck, he answered, “Because they were taking my vehicle.” He said he understood that his SUV was being repossessed.
He was arrested and booked into Renton City Jail.
Later, the tow-truck driver told police the lift was damaged and a hydraulic hose was leaking. The company owner told officers that based on experience, the repair could cost about $15,000.
Because of the potential repair cost, the SUV driver was booked for felony investigation of malicious mischief.