DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) — Michelle Fonville thought her car had been stolen. She’d lived at the Medical Center Courts apartments since February, across from Detroit Receiving Hospital, and always parked her 2017 Chevy Cruz in the same spot.
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But as she left for work on a morning in September, all she found was an empty space.
“I called the police immediately,” she said.
Michelle’s car hadn’t been stolen. Just after 6 a.m. that morning, a Detroit towing company that contracted with the complex had her vehicle removed.
No one had complained that Michelle’s car was in the wrong space. Instead, a spotter employed by Goch & Sons towed the vehicle because he couldn’t see her parking permit in the window.
Fonville denies this. Even still, she said she brought her lease to the tower’s headquarters in Detroit to prove she had every right to be parked there.
The employee was not persuaded, Fonville said. The cost to get her vehicle back, $750, was more than she could afford. Michelle stopped paying her car note, she said, and her vehicle was repossessed earlier this month.
She’s been relying on friends to drive her to the grocery store, medical appointments and work.
“It’s a burden to call people to do everything for you,” Fonville said, “when I had a car and it was parked at my house.”
‘I don’t find it sleazy’
For Goch & Sons, some of the company’s biggest critics aren’t the people who lost their cars; they’re the ones who towed them.
Today, the company is embroiled in a legal fight after five of its former employees left to join a competitor. Goch & Sons says they did so in violation of their non-compete agreements.
But their new employer — J&T Crova Towing — says they left, in part, because of Goch’s unethical or illegal business tactics.
“Grab the car by any means was the motto,” said Shane Nation, who towed for the company for five years.
“There was plenty of times I would have rather just given the person their car back…and if we gave the car back, we lost our job,” he said.
Goch & Sons is one of the area’s biggest towers, having contracts with Michigan State Police, and cities like Melvindale and Lincoln Park. Private businesses and apartments contract with them, too.
The company relies heavily on the use of spotters, former employees say, who patrol parking lots like those across from Detroit Receiving Hospital, looking for vehicles that don't belong there.
Finding parking at the hospital, especially in an emergency, can be a challenge, and visitors would sometimes park at the apartment complex.
“Cars could be there for two minutes,” said David Lemaire, a former tower. “People walk across the street to the hospital to visit their kid or their family member and their car gets towed.”
7 News Detroit watched it happen repeatedly over the last several weeks. A Goch & Sons spotter would see a car, alert a tow truck driver who was parked around the block, and the car would be hooked within minutes.
“People are going through—maybe some of them—the worst day they could go through,” Lemaire said. “They’re literally just trying to see a loved one.”
That’s what Pavielle DeRamus was doing. She was visiting her uncle, who was on life support following a heart attack.
When she came out a few hours later, her car was gone. The cost to get it back was $700.
Mike Goch, an owner of the Detroit tower, defends the company’s use of spotters.
“I don’t find it sleazy at all," Goch said. "It’s a service that we offer to apartment complexes."
Goch said he understands drivers' frustration, but said his company is looking out for apartment residents who could struggle to find parking.
As for Michelle Fonville, he cited her failure to place a parking permit in her window.
“They’re predatory. They prey on people,” said Tom Berry, a retired Detroit Police Lieutenant. “They prey on people that can’t afford the tow.”
Berry worked for the department for 35 years. Since then, he’s been an insurance investigator specializing in the towing industry, and is familiar with Goch & Sons' towing practices.
“They’re not out in Birmingham or West Bloomfield or Grosse Pointe towing cars out there, and the reason they’re not out there is they can get away with it here,” Berry said.
Claims of excessive billing
The former employees say the company used other tactics to inflate bills, too.
When a vehicle is in an accident, a customer may tell the tower to take their car to a collision shop. But on their way, the former Goch & Sons drivers say they would take a detour.
“Even though it’s going right to the body shop, they would have us pull into the impound and sit there a few minutes, " said Dion Cook, a former tower
Police tows in Michigan are regulated, with fees capped. But stopping at the company’s impound lot triggers a new towing bill where fees aren't capped, the former employee says.
“They would have us drop the cars sometimes and just sit there for 15 minutes with the winch still hooked up,” said Shane Nation.
Former employee Dustin Nation, Shane’s brother, said he was instructed to take vehicles back to the company’s impound lot as well.
"So you’re not ever leaving the car at the impound lot,” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“No,” Dustin said.
“But because you drove through it, you could charge an impound fee,” Jones said.
“That’s...yeah,” Dustin replied.
A recent tow, initiated by Michigan State Police, lays out how costs can add up.
The initial bill came in at almost $360, but instead of going directly to the collision shop—as the vehicle owner wanted—the GGoch & Sons driver towed it to the company’s impound lot in Detroit.
While there, costs for storage, a fuel surcharge, an administration fee, a release fee, yard labor and more were added to the bill, bringing the total up to more than $650.
Then came the second tow to the collision shop, including a $250 towing fee, $150 mileage fee, $150 flatbed fee, $200 for labor and $200 for winching.
The grand total: $1,614.50, billed to the insurance company.
“I’m not a lawyer,” Mike Goch said. “I’ve been told this is the proper way to do it, and this is how it’s supposed to be done and that’s why we’re doing it.”
“Do you do it because it’s also a way to inflate bills?” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“No. But I can see why someone might think that,” he said.
At first, Mike Goch claimed the law requires police tows to be taken to an impound lot. 7 News Detroit could find no police department that said that was true, and Goch’s attorney later said there is no such requirement.
“Everybody in Michigan wonders why are our rates so high," said Tom Berry, the retired police lieutenant and insurance investigator. "This is one of the reasons our rates are so high."
'Beat the police there'
The lawsuit against Goch & Sons also claims the company violated Michigan law by soliciting business at accident scenes, which the company denies.
Shane Nation said he did it frequently.
“The number one goal was to beat the police there, so we could be hooked up when they got there and make it seem like we were already here and ready to flip over this truck," Nation said.
That’s what employees say happened in July, when a moving truck got stuck under an overpass in Detroit. David Lemaire was dispatched to the scene.
“(We) told the customer at that point that we got called out by DPD, and that this was our area to take care of the job,” Lemaire said.
“Was any of that true?” Jones asked.
“No,” he said. “But that is what we were told to tell them.”
And it seemed to be working, employees said, until it came time for the bill. Goch & Sons wanted $2,000 to tow the truck; the moving company said they’d never agreed to that price, and Detroit Police were called to the scene.
In a video recording of the interaction, a DPD sergeant can be heard expressing frustration that Goch & Sons routinely arrives to accident scenes before police.
“You guys show up before anybody else calls you all the time,” said Sgt. Rodney Ballinger. “All the time…you beat us here 9 times out of 10.”
The sergeant ordered the moving truck be returned to the company, but the drivers refused.
“The probable cause is that you solicited them" the sergeant said. "How did you show up here?”
“We got a call,” a Goch & Sons employee responded.
“They didn’t call anybody,” the sergeant said. “They never called anybody.”
Speaking with 7 News Detroit, Mike Goch claimed that “the company called us,” even though they told police that they never did.
“I’m not surprised,” Goch said. “They don’t want to pay their bill.”
The truck would be released, the drivers would be handcuffed and cited for disorderly conduct. The case is still pending.
During the same month, Mike Goch himself was suspected of soliciting a tow at the very same bridge in Detroit.
According to a police report, Goch & Sons arrived on the scene, even though no one called for a tow truck.
Mike Goch was accused of calling the company directly, saying he was “on the scene” and that their truck needed to be towed, according to the police report.
The company declined, saying they’d go with a different tower. Mike Goch would be cited for soliciting a tow, according to the police report, which stated that a citation was mailed to Goch’s home address.
Speaking to 7 News Detroit, he denied knowing anything about the citation and said he has never received a ticket.
A check of 36th District Court register of actions did not show an active case for Mike Goch, though a Detroit Police Department spokesperson said last week that the ticket was sent to Goch by certified mail.
“The only person or people telling you this are disgruntled employees who work for our competitors,” Goch said.
“Well that’s not true,” said Jones. “The companies aren’t disgruntled former employees, they had their vehicle in an accident. The police aren’t disgruntled former employees, they’re here to try to enforce the law. They’re saying you’re soliciting tows.”
“It’s not true, we’re not soliciting tows,” Goch said. “It’s simply not true.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.