Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110037
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In a $1 million federal lawsuit, Margaret Harrell alleges two Christiansburg officers unlawfully interfered with her attempt to tow a car, then falsely arrested her in front of a jeering crowd.
The incident occurred in May 1993 at Christiansburg Bluff Apartments. As a result, Harrell claims she has suffered emotionally, physically and financially.
Jim Guynn, a Roanoke lawyer defending the two officers and the town of Christiansburg, called the suit baseless and predicted its dismissal.
Harrell, characterized in the suit as a "small and physically unthreatening woman," says she was handcuffed and jailed for about 45 minutes before a magistrate dismissed a grand larceny charge and ordered her immediate release.
Harrell and her husband, Morgan, owned AuTow Inc. until the business was sold in April 1994 to its present operator, Tek Tow. They have moved to North Carolina.
During its five years of operation, AuTow Inc.'s 24-hour tactics of patrolling for illegally parked cars sparked hundreds of complaints to the State Corporation Commission from owners of towed vehicles.
In response, Blacksburg Town Council considered an ordinance barring AuTow Inc.'s practice of patrolling - rather than responding to individual calls from merchants, residents or property managers - but took no action.
The Harrells maintained they were legally providing an unpopular yet necessary service in congested parking areas such as downtown Blacksburg.
Margaret Harrell's suit says AuTow Inc. had a contract to remove illegally parked cars from the lot at Christiansburg Bluff Apartments at any time.
It gives the following version of what happened on May 17, 1993:
The Harrells were at the lot connecting a car without a permit to their tow truck when the owner arrived and "demanded" its release. Margaret Harrell said she would do so for $25, a legal disconnection fee.
The owner refused and began to argue. After another "threatening" resident of the complex joined the quarrel, Margaret Harrell used the radio in her tow truck to summon Christiansburg police.
Officer Brad Roane and his supervisor, Lt. James Epperly, arrived, as a crowd of residents - issuing "threats and taunts" - grew. Harrell said Roane ordered her to release the vehicle.
When she refused and began to drive away with car in tow, she claims the officer ordered her to stop, get out of her truck and put her hands on the hood. Then she was handcuffed, charged with attempted grand larceny, and "paraded past the crowd of laughing and jeering onlookers" to a patrol car.
After spending 45 minutes handcuffed in a holding cell at the county jail, Harrell says, she was arraigned by Magistrate Robert Alderman and released after the official found no probable cause for her arrest.
The suit claims Harrell's rights were violated during the incident and that Roane used excessive force. It says she still suffers from unspecified physical and emotional problems caused that day. "Her business was destroyed as a result ... and she has had to relocate out of state," it adds.
The Harrells could not be reached for comment. Their attorney, Marc James Small of Roanoke, declined comment. They are also being represented by an attorney for the Towing and Recovery Association of America.
Ron Lemons, Christiansburg's police chief, also declined comment.
No date has been set for a hearing for the suit, which has been filed in the federal court's Western Virginia district in Roanoke.
by CNB