Trouble with private towing companies is a common complaint across Chicago, but what happened to Jermall Harvey last October stands in stark contrast to other stories.
What started with Harvey’s understanding of the law and his pleas for a tow truck to not take his car illegally, ended with him hanging onto the hood of the moving truck and the truck’s passenger pointing a loaded gun at him, all in motion while the truck drove through a busy intersection in Wicker Park.
“At this point, I’m like, 'Are you going to die over this?'" Harvey told NBC 5 Responds.
It was a harrowing experience, Harvey said, that ended with the tow truck’s passenger under arrest and the infamous Chicago company behind the tow, Lincoln Towing Service, facing $1,500 in fines for several alleged violations of state law, including the fact that the tow was unlawful to begin with.
“It’s just really been frustrating,” Harvey said. “What’s going to change? Who’s going to change this?”
The inciting event occurred on Oct. 12, 2022, at a historic Wicker Park building where Harvey works on the corner of Ashland and Division.
Harvey said he parked in the CVS Pharmacy parking lot below his office while he ran up to grab something. On his car’s dashboard, he showed NBC 5 a pass that CVS Management had given him to park in the business’ lot when needed.
But on this day, his business partner called him to say what every Chicagoan dreads: a tow truck was eyeing his car.
"He had seen the tow truck approaching,” Harvey explained. “That’s when he essentially called me and told me, ‘The tow truck is down here,’ and I was like, ‘I’m already coming downstairs.’”
Illinois law is clear: If the driver of a car approaches during a tow, before it’s complete, towers have to unhook it.
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Yet, surveillance video obtained by NBC 5 Responds shows that’s not what happened with Harvey's car.
The video shows a red towing truck backing up to Harvey’s car as his business partner tries to get the driver’s attention. Regulators with the Illinois Commerce Commission determined the truck was operating for the company “Protective Parking Service Corporation dba Lincoln Towing Service,” according to an investigative report obtained by NBC 5.
In the surveillance video obtained by regulators, Harvey can be seen running up as the tow truck lifts his car and hits the gas, moving forward. All despite Harvey’s pleas to drop it.
“I’m like, ‘Yo, you’re taking my car illegally! I know what the law says!’” Harvey recalls. “And he hit the gas, [and] essentially ran into me … pushing me out into the oncoming traffic.”
What happened next, both explained by Harvey and the tow truck operators, sounds like a scene ripped from the pages of Hollywood: As Harvey moved in front of the tow truck, it accelerated.
With nowhere else to go, Harvey said he grabbed onto its hood while it drove out of the garage and turned into moving traffic.
Then, Harvey said the dangerous situation took an even more drastic turn.
“His partner, who was an employee of the tow company, pulls out a pistol, pointed directly through the glass, and says, ‘Get the [expletive] off the truck,’” Harvey said.
Harvey said at this point, he was able to fall off the truck and roll away, uninjured. Luckily, he said he had already dialed 911, and the dispatcher was in his pocket the whole time.
After sharing his location with the dispatcher, Chicago Police responded within minutes, met up with Harvey, and were able to track down and pull over the red Lincoln Towing truck.
Chicago Police body-worn camera footage shows officers approaching the tow truck with guns drawn and commands to the truck passengers to keep their hands outside of the vehicle.
The tow truck passenger who allegedly pointed the gun at Harvey was identified as Timothy Tyler. Officers located the gun on Tyler and confirmed he had a valid concealed carry permit.
When the officers asked Tyler what happened and why he pointed the gun at Harvey while he was hanging onto the hood of the truck, Tyler said he feared for his life.
“He [Harvey] jumps on the vehicle [hood while] we’re in the middle of the street,” Tyler told the officer. “He was reaching for his waistband, acting like he’s going to shoot us or something.”
Chicago Police did not find any firearms on Harvey, and after reviewing surveillance footage from the CVS, Tyler was arrested for a misdemeanor aggravated assault charge.
The Cook County Public Defender’s office is representing Tyler, and told NBC 5 he plans to contest the charge at a trial later this year.
Lincoln Towing did not respond to NBC 5’s request for comment.
Even after the arrest, Harvey still had to pay Lincoln Towing Service $218 to get his car back from their tow yard.
Harvey filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission, the state agency that regulates private towing companies, hoping regulators would investigate.
Investigators with the ICC found Tyler was not a registered towing operator, which is against state law.
The tow company was also cited for not producing records tied to the Oct. 12 incident, as well as for “relocating a vehicle where the owner or driver is present.”
If found guilty, Lincoln Towing Service could face up to $1,500 in fines. An Administrative Law hearing on the violations is scheduled for Feb. 16.
In the citations issued to Lincoln Towing Service, regulators requested that the company refund Harvey the money he paid to get his car back.
But NBC 5 Responds found there’s a chance Harvey will never see a refund. Why? Watch the second part of our series, on NBC 5 News at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan 17.
