Man charged with attempted murder in tow-truck shooting

Jose LaTorre Jr., the J & Son's Auto Body employee who allegedly shot a rival tow-truck driver earlier this week, was formally charged yesterday with attempted murder, aggravated assault and related offenses.

LaTorre, 40, of Vandike Street near Cheltenham Avenue, had surrendered to police Thursday night. He allegedly shot a tow-truck driver from Mystical Complete Auto Service in the thigh Monday at a Feltonville crash scene in a dispute over who would get the tow.

Two days after the shooting, someone torched 13 cars inside J & Son's lot at 2nd Street and Erie Avenue. Fifteen minutes later, someone fired six shots at Mystical's office on Ashdale Street near Front. Each company blamed the other - or other rivals - for those incidents.

The war of the wreck-chasers has prompted city officials and police to tighten the city's policy on dispatching tow-truck drivers.

A rotational-towing system already exists in Philadelphia, but if a driver signs a contract with a tower before police arrive, authorities can't override it.

So cops on Thursday began dispatching accident calls via laptop computers in police cruisers instead of over police radio in an attempt to thwart wreck-chasers who eavesdrop, then rush to tow jobs.

Towing is a big industry in Philadelphia, where last year 4,392 accidents required at least one tow, according to police statistics. As of July 16, 2,635 accidents had required a tow this year.