Mass car towing leaves greater Blufftonians angry, rideless

The unexpected towing or booting of about 15 cars in a greater Bluffton community Wednesday afternoon angered residents, who said they received no warning about the aggressive parking crackdown.

Pro Tow, which has a contract to enforce parking at Shady Glen Mobile Home Park, began towing and booting vehicles parked along the street or in the grass near homes Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, at least four tow trucks patrolled the neighborhood, pulling roughly 15 vehicles to the nearby Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, where owners had the option of paying $300 or losing their vehicles temporarily.

Those who couldn't afford to pay on the spot saw their cars towed to Pro Tow's lot. Those owners will have to pay $385 plus an extra $30 a day to get their vehicles back, said Preston Oates, owner of Pro Tow.

The situation quickly turned chaotic when dozens of upset neighbors and church elders arrived in the midst of Wednesday's mass towing. At least one group sat on their car, successfully preventing it from being towed. They removed the wheel of the Mazda Miata and said they planned to saw the boot off.

Beaufort County sheriff's deputies responded several times to keep order by advising the residents to work with the management of Shady Glen to resolve myriad parking issues.

In the past, deputies have accused Pro Tow employees of arbitrarily enforcing parking rules, according to police reports, but there's not much else that can be done because the Shady Glen incidents took place on private property, said Capt. Toby McSwain.

"How can we solve the problem if the manager's not even here?" asked resident Earline Osbourne. "People use these cars to drive to work. How are we going to be able to go to work (today)?"

Osbourne's Ford Thunderbird was towed from her front lawn while she was inside her home, watching, in a bizarre twist, a reality show called "Parking Wars" about parking enforcement officers in Philadelphia.

When she heard the truck, she ran outside to plead her case, but the tow truck driver wouldn't budge, she said. He towed the T-Bird to the church and, later, to Pro Tow's lot.

"There was no announcement," Osbourne said.

"Nobody knocked on the door."

However, there is a sign that forbids parking on the grass.

Many in the crowd accused Pro Tow of selectively enforcing parking rules in Shady Glen, which allows on-street parking until 9 p.m.

The pre-dominantly Hispanic neighborhood is designed so each mobile home has a small gravel driveway that fits one or two cars. Many residents have three or more.

The area suffers from poor drainage, which further restricts parking, residents said.

Oates said he cracked down on illegal parking in the neighborhood at the property manager's request.

"Every day, week, month, it gets progressively worse," Oates said. "Tomorrow, everyone will follow the rules and then, over time, it'll start progressively getting worse. It doesn't matter who or what it is. If it's parked in violation, we tow it."

Residents could not provide the name of Shady Glen's manager.

He was not on-site during the towing operation Wednesday and did not respond to phone messages seeking comment left at the number he provided residents.

The situation, and what some view as an absentee manager, clearly frustrated the working-class residents, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford to pay to get their cars back.

"We don't have a voice," said Guillermo Mejia, whose friend's truck was towed while the two checked out a construction job. "We can't do anything. This is not fair."

The towing also angered elders of the church, who filed a trespassing warning against Pro Tow for using the hall's parking lot.

The elders said they had granted permission for the lot to be used to temporarily store a broken down vehicle and, the next thing they knew, 15 towed vehicles showed up.

"It's unfortunate," said elder Jay Beaver. "Times are tough, and no one deserves this."