KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City police though they’d finally stopped a tow lot owner with a history of illegal tows when he was charged with 31 felonies for forging tow documents.
But a judge’s ruling has put him back in business while awaiting trial. Just ask Becky Dowden.
“I parked my car in exactly this space,” Dowden said, pointing to an empty spot in a lot off Grand Street near 15th. “I came out of the wedding Saturday evening and my car was gone.”
Dowden called police thinking her car must have been towed, but police had no record of the tow. So where was her car?
She finally found it at Private Party Impound, a tow lot owned by Allen “Jay” Bloodworth.
That’s the same Jay Bloodworth who heads to court in December, accused of illegally towing dozens of vehicles with forged paperwork that supposedly authorized the tows.
Under Missouri law, it’s illegal for a tow company to tow a car off a private lot unless the owner or manager of that lot has given written consent.
So who authorized Dowden’s car to be towed?
The pizza company who once used the parking lot is now out of business, so it couldn’t have been them.
The other business connected to the lot, Royal Master Cleaners, told FOX4 they’ve never requested a tow.
We then called the property owner who also said he had never requested a tow and had no contract with Bloodworth and his tow business — even though Bloodworth’s signs are posted multiple places on the property.
FOX4 Problem Solvers called Bloodworth for his side, but he hung up on us.
Bloodworth has a lengthy history of questionable tow practices. We were there when Kansas City police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol raided his tow lot two years ago. The felony charges Bloodworth now faces stemmed from investigations prompted by that initial raid.
According to court records, police accused Bloodworth of forging documents approving more than 240 tows across the city.
The documents were all signed by the same two individuals. Police said both of them testified that they had never approved the tows and had no idea their names were being forged.
Bloodworth has always maintained his innocence. But in September, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged him with 31 felony counts of forgery.
One condition of his bond was that he could no longer operate a tow lot. But last month, over the objections of the prosecutor, Judge Jeannette Rodecap removed that condition — putting Bloodworth back in business.
“That’s a little bit frustrating,” Dowden said.
So watch out Kansas City.