The horror incident took place in San Francisco and involved a tow truck trying to tow a Toyota, which was waiting at the red light. The driver and his wife were on board, trapped between the tow truck and the car waiting behind them, and were left shaken by the incident. They have no idea why the tow truck driver did this and are planning to file a police report.
People stared in shock as the tow truck driver deployed the latching arm and started reversing toward the 2017 Toyota Corolla that was behind him, trying to hook it several times.
The Toyota driver did not have any space to drive backward because he was stuck in traffic, with the tow truck in front and another car, a black Honda Civic, in the back.
When he realized what was going on, the driver in the back steered to the right and drove off, trying to avoid a potential crash. The car in the right lane, an autonomous Waymo, also drove away when the light went green and cleared the way for the Corolla to escape the unwanted and unnecessary towing operation.
The Toyota driver honked at the tow truck driver while others watched in shock as the truck was trying to latch onto the car.
The couple that was in the Toyota at the time is shaken and can't believe this happened in broad daylight in the heart of San Francisco. The first to notice that the tow truck was getting too close to the car was Joanne, who was in the passenger seat while her husband was driving.
"We were at a stoplight, and we were just minding our own business," she said in a conversation with ABC 7 soon after the incident.
At first, she thought that the tow truck was targeting the Waymo autonomous vehicle that was next to their car in the right line. However, it wasn't it the tow truck driver had set his eyes on.
"We were freaking out calling and basically rolling down our window and saying: Hey, what are you doing? You can't be doing that," Joanne recalls.
The Toyota eventually managed to escape, and Joanne's husband drove off. But the tow truck driver was seen chasing them. Joanne says it was on their tail for several blocks but eventually stopped.
The tow truck company that the truck belongs to had already been banned from operating prior to this incident. It was charged for fraud and illegally towing parked cars back in February.
The video has gone viral on social media. Joanne and her husband have the registration and taxes for their vehicle up to date. As reported by ABC7, they plan to file a police report to find out what happened that day.
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