California security company owner sentenced to jail in “predatory tow scheme”
Monterey County CA June 22 2020
A 48-year-old Lake Tahoe resident was sentenced last week to felony probation and 300 days in the Monterey County jail for operating a “predatory tow scheme” in which he directed vehicles to be towed by a company he owned, prosecutors said.
At a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Mazzin Hussam El-Hosseiny was also ordered to pay approximately $88,000 in restitution to victims of the tow scheme.
From April 2016 until October 2017, El-Hosseiny owned a security company, Integrity Protective Services, which provided security for Salinas-area homeowners associations. During that same period, prosecutors said, El-Hosseiny also co-owned a towing company, A-1 Towing, which performed tows for the same HOAs where El-Hosseiny provided security.
During this time, prosecutors said, El-Hosseiny personally, as an Integrity Protective Services guard, authorized hundreds of vehicles to be towed, which his A-1 Towing then performed.
Residents of those Salinas neighborhoods challenged the basis for many of those tows, alleging that their cars were legally parked, or that required warnings were not provided before vehicles were towed.
The state Vehicle Code prohibits towing companies, or affiliates of towing companies, from authorizing vehicles being towed, except in specific circumstances including vehicles parked in a fire lane or blocking the entrance or exit to private property.
El-Hosseiny previously pleaded “no contest” to four felony counts, including two counts of taking a vehicle without the consent of the owner and two of felony conspiracy.
Aaron Brant Button, 42, of Marina, the co-owner with El-Hosseiny of A-1 Towing, had previously pleaded guilty to two felony counts of conspiracy. Button’s sentencing date has not yet been set.
Bay City News
