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Chattanooga: Tow company penalized for selling vehicle

By: Jacqueline Koch
(Contact)

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Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board

The Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board on Thursday punished Gant Motors after owner Winston Gant sold a vehicle he wasn’t authorized to release.

The board voted 7-1 to remove Gant Motors, 2913 Rossville Blvd., from a list of wrecker companies for two rotations, meaning the tow company will not be called until the list — one of several specific to districts across the city — has been gone through twice.

Last July, Mr. Gant towed a 1998 Toyota RAV4 on which a Chattanooga police officer had placed a hold. The officer ordered that the Toyota was not to be released without authorization from him because it was believed to have been stolen from an elderly woman who left the title in the car.

Mr. Gant told the board he didn’t know the vehicle was stolen and contacted the appropriate agencies to obtain possession of the car, which he then sold. He said he was unaware he’d done anything wrong until he was contacted by the Hamilton County district attorney’s office eight months after the tow and charged with fraudulent transfer of a motor vehicle and theft.

Charges officially were filed June 18, according to Hamilton County Criminal Court records.

“I thought I did everything I was supposed to do by state law,” Mr. Gant told the board.

The board clarified that it was not discussing whether Mr. Gant sold a stolen vehicle, but whether he violated city ordinance by releasing a vehicle held by a police officer.

“They’re not saying he tried to defraud anybody,” Chairwoman Kathy Jones said. “The issue is simply that it states on the tow order, ‘Do not release the vehicle without the authority of the officer,’ and you did.”

Officers request holds on vehicles when they could be used as evidence in court cases or when they are thought to be stolen, among other reasons, said Sgt. Mark Haskins of the police regulatory division.

“You just don’t release a vehicle with a hold,” he said. “If we still had it here, we could get it back to the rightful owners, but we can’t.”

The board’s lone “no” vote came from Ed Fricks, who said he didn’t think Mr. Gant knew he was doing wrong.

“In his mind, the state gave him permission to sell it,” Mr. Fricks said.

Mr. Gant again may appear before the Beer and Wrecker Board depending on the outcome of his criminal court case, set for Sept. 23. If he is found guilty of the charges, Officer Glenn Lemley, an investigator for the regulatory division, said he will ask Mr. Gant to appear before the board to face further punishment, including additional suspensions.

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