Monica Yant Kinney: Taken in by tow trucks? Kenney sending real help

The good news on the mean streets is that so far in 2011, Philadelphia tow-truck drivers seem to be leaving the guns at home.

Last summer, one wreck chaser shot another wreck chaser at an accident scene in North Philly. Two days later, someone torched a dozen cars on the lot owned by the alleged gunman. That same night, bullets flew through the office where the shooting victim worked.

Tow-truck drivers have hardly mellowed, but these days they're focusing their fury at a common foe: City Councilman Jim Kenney.

Kenney's office hears one horror story a day from drivers left dumbfounded - and in debt - after their vehicles are inexplicably carnapped and held hostage. No one in town has been more vocal about stopping the roadside insanity.

I can hear Kenney heating up over the phone when I say what I'm calling about. When I confess that I've long been more afraid of getting into an accident in the city than being stabbed, he doesn't dismiss my paranoia. Instead, he reminds me that I should also watch my back when parking.

"I had a situation two weeks ago where a young lady with a Zone 1 permit parked her car, went away to see her mother for six days, and came back to find the car gone," the councilman tells me. "From my perspective, that's a stolen car."

Turns out an enterprising tower had erected a sign falsely declaring the block "private parking." When the young woman finally found her car, it was locked in "an old scrap-metal yard with barking pit bulls," Kenney says. The bill for the illegal towing and storage: $900, cash only.

"These guys," Kenney fumes, "are still thieving pigs."

Last month, Council passed Kenney's bill to transfer towing matters to the folks drivers love to hate: the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

"The city can't do it, and the police should be policing," Kenney explains. "The PPA, despite the reputation, is extremely efficient."

In the future, the Parking Authority will vet all towing firms and control the rotation list determining who gets called, in what order.

"Anyone who shows up on a scene without being called will be fined $1,000," Kenney tells me. "Do that two or three times and you lose your towing license. We have to be strict because these guys like to make up their own rules."

Even better, trucks will be allowed to haul cars only to one of the PPA's lots, which charge $25 a day.

"Before," Kenney says, "cars were winding up at body shops or fortresses where they were further damaged and held for ransom."

For now, aggressive wreckers still race to accidents hoping to beat police and get around the rotation list by persuading drivers to consent to being towed.

Last month, student Eric Miller's Jeep Liberty was T-boned as he pulled out of Chestnut Hill College onto Germantown Avenue. Out of nowhere appeared a wreck chaser from 4 Daughters Towing.

"My 19-year-old son was sitting in the ambulance with a head injury and a lacerated left hand - his writing hand - when this tow-truck driver got inside and stopped him from being taken to the hospital just to get his signature!" Mitchell Miller tells me. "He was in shock."

The next day, Miller's own tower tried to retrieve the car, but was told the charge would be $225, cash only. When Geico interceded, the price jumped to $498.

I speak to a 4 Daughters rep who says his name is Moses.

"I'm familiar with this story," he says. "We were more than fair."

Moses denies his tower pressured Eric Miller, but our chat ends when I suggest his exorbitant fees and cash policies are illegal.

"Write what you want. Any publicity for me is good publicity. We have a reality show on Discovery, so I'll get a chance to come back at y'all," Moses says before hanging up.

Kenney's law won't take effect until this fall. Until then, his advice?

"If you get in an accident, sign nothing. Wait for the police."

And mine? Tune in to Wreck Chasers to hear Moses issue his commandments.