CIVIL RICO RACKETEERING LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR IGNORING COMPLAINTS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN OVERCHARGES TO CONSUMERS BY TOWING COMPANY HOLDING EXCLUSIVE PERMIT TO TOW VEHICLES FROM NINE NEW YORK CITY HIGHWAYS
The lawsuit alleges that NYC turned a blind eye while a Queens towing company monopolized highways and ripped off thousands of drivers.
GREAT NECK, N.Y., Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rosen Law LLC filed a class action Civil RICO lawsuit against the New York City Police Department Police Commissioner, the NYPD, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection ("Consumer Affairs"), and Runway Towing Corp. ("Runway") for participating in, maintaining and continuing to operate a racketeering enterprise in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (19 USC §1961), a Federal Statute which has usually be used against organized crime figures.
The 154- page class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of consumers, businesses and former employees of Runway in New York State Supreme Court alleging that the NYPD, Consumer Affairs and Runway caused consumers and businesses to lose millions of dollars by Runway's overcharging of consumers and businesses for towing services on New York City highways.
The lawsuit alleges that NYC turned a blind eye while a Queens towing company monopolized highways and ripped off thousands of drivers. The lawsuit alleges that for many years, the NYPD, Consumer Affairs and Runway maintained the racketeering enterprise by forcing motorists to use only Runway to remove their disabled vehicle off of nine (9) arterial highways in New York City: (i) the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, from the Queens side of the Kosciusko Bridge to Clinton Street, in Brooklyn; (ii) the Cross Island Parkway; (iii) the Gowanus Expressway; (iv) the Prospect Expressway; (v) the Belt Parkway; (vi) the Staten Island Expressway; (vii) the West Shore Expressway in Staten Island; (viii) the Richmond Parkway in Staten Island; and (ix) the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway in Staten Island (the "Highways"). There are approximately over 1,300,000 vehicles per day that utilize the Highways for which Runway holds the exclusive right to tow and remove disabled vehicles from the Highways.
The NYPD has permitted Runway to operate with a no-bid monopoly for over ten years, and ignored and closed their eyes to complaints of Runway's overcharging of consumers and businesses.
It is alleged that Runway, who admits to towing over 26,000 vehicles per year, overcharged consumers and businesses in excess of $10,000,000 while the NYPD and Consumer Affairs stood by and permitted Runway to operate in an illegal manner.
While the law only permits Runway to charge a motorist $125 for a tow of up to 10 miles from the New York City Highways, Runway routinely charged motorists $250, $400 or more for the ten (10) mile tow. As Runway towed over approximately 150,000 vehicles over the past several years, these few hundred dollars overcharges per tow, generated millions of dollars in revenue to Runway. Runway also charged the consumers (i) illegal, unlawful, excessive tow rates and charges, (ii) unlawful credit card charges, (iii) unlawful "pull-out fees", (iv) unlawful storage fees, and (v) unlawful administrative charges, and the NYPD and Consumer Affairs was aware of this for years.
A copy of the complaint is available at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ve0vlW5UbU6kUiqQ198Gam1QNkdCspwu/view?usp=sharing
For information: Gary Rosen, Esq., Rosen Law LLC, 516-437-3400 X223
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