JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax Investigates has learned that both the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office have suspended a towing company from its rotating wrecker list.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
In a letter sent from JSO to ASAP Towing, an investigation determined that the company was warned in January and “continues to ignore compliance with the city’s municipal ordinance.”
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
According to the letter, JSO investigated several complaints about ASAP towing more than a dozen cars from apartment complexes without approval from the properties. Ultimately, the company was forced to return the cars to their owners.
Vince Serrano, President of ASAP Towing and Storage, responded to JSO’s suspension by saying his company operated legally and follows all the Florida state statutes and municipal ordinances.
“ASAP Towing was cited by the Detectives for not having the manager walk out to the vehicles and sign the form at the vehicle,” Serrano said in a written statement. “I discussed the matter with the detective. He said the municipal ordinance stated the person signing the removal had to be present at the vehicle when we towed it.”
Serrano defended his company’s actions, explaining to the JSO detective that the manager signing for the removal of the vehicle only had to be on-premise.
Read: JSO said car went off the road and into the Trout River, driver suffered minor injuries
Serrano’s concern was for the manager’s safety.
“I explained to him that it was dangerous for a manager to go out to the vehicle and sign the form by the car and be seen by the residents as we pull away with the vehicle the manager is left standing there by themselves and residents could get nasty and physical for them removing the vehicle,” Serrano said in the statement.
As for why St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office removed ASAP from the same rotating wrecker list, Serrano answered by saying, “In St. Johns County we removed some cars from the shooting range where the sheriff shoots cars to practice their shooting. Upon the removal of the vehicles, my clerk inadvertently processed the removal as a request by law enforcement instead of a request of private property impound. Due to this one-time clerical error, we were removed from the rotation in St. Johns County.”
Serrano went on to say that JSO will not accept any feedback but their own and that no one at the sheriff’s office has been listening.
Here are complete statements from JSO and ASAP Towing:
To Whom It May Concern,
Asap Towing has been providing towing in Jacksonville Florida since 1995. We have been in business for 28 years. We have been providing towing for the Jacksonville’s Sheriff’s office for 26 years. Vince Serrano ,The Owner, who served in The US Military Intelligence division with the 82nd Airborne Division held a top security clearance and served honorably.
Asap Towing operate legally and follows all the Florida State Statutes and Municipal Ordinance’s
In January of 2023 we towed from a property vehicles per properties violations. The manager signed for the removal in her office. My driver then went to the vehicle on the same property and removed the vehicles.
Asap Towing was cited by the Detectives for not having the manager walk out to the vehicles and sign the form at the vehicle. I discussed the matter with the Detective . He said the municipal ordinance stated the person signing the removal had to be present at the vehicle when we towed it. I disagreed with the detective. I said they only had to be on premise and sign the form. He told me if I didn’t do it his way I was going to be cited. I explained to him that it was dangerous for a manager to go out to the vehicle and sign the form by the car and be seen by the residents as we pull away with the vehicle the manager is left standing there by themselves and residents could get nasty and physical for them removing the vehicle. The Detective David Sciandra said their safety was not his concern. I said, “David there are properties where they don’t send one police unit, but two. And the officers have vests and guns. David Sciandra said, he doesn’t care. Their safety was not his concern. I saw I would not win this discussion. I then told the detective ww would do the towing as he prescribed and would obey his interpretation of the law.
I called one of my Attorney’s Kevin Sanders and explained the situation and asked for his interpretation. Kevin told me we could seek a Court Declaratory ruling or judgement to seek opinion on the word Present. He said this would mean we would have to sue JSO and the City of Jacksonville. I told him it was necessary to understand the law. I have a right to seek an opinion.
We filed our lawsuit in February of 2023 in County Court because we were not seeking monetary compensation, only an Opinion of the Court. The City argued that this belonged in Circuit Court. My attorney Kevin Sanders conceded so it could move forward. Once it was moved to Circuit Court the City Attorney argued it didn’t belong their because we weren’t seeking monetary claims. In the meantime, the Sheriff utilized the towing in January and another matter in May to remove me from the Rotation Towing in July. It was so rushed that they brought out a letter to me not even dated, lol.
I asked for a hearing to Chief Parker. I explained to him if he wanted to hit me financially, he could suspend me for a month or two, I would accept that. Should he maintain the suspension at a year, It was going to cause the employment of about 10 employees. He said he didn’t care.
I told him this was basically hitting me with a $1,000,000.00 fine. He said it wasn’t his problem. He then said, now if you continue doing what you are doing, your suspension will be permanent.
So, because I seek to understand the meaning of the law and I question our Sheriff then I am penalized for being a smart businessman.
I am now also seeking counsel with Attorney Barry Bobek who knows me personally and we just may be seeking financial losses through the courts for the retaliation that is being administered by This current Sheriff TK Waters.
Thank You,
Vince Serrano
President Asap Towing & Storage
— Vince Serrano, President ASAP Towing & Storage regarding Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
In St. Johns county we removed some cars from the shooting range where the Sheriff shoots cars to practice their shooting. Upon the removal of the vehicles, my clerk inadvertently processed the removal as a request by law enforcement instead of a request of private property impound. Due to this one-time clerical error, we were removed from the rotation in St. Johns County. We had failed to have our email contact updated and did not receive the email in time to respond. I called the Officer in charge when I learned of the situation and explained it was my clerk’s error as she though it was a law enforcement tow because these cars were used by law enforcement to practice shooting. He responded that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office had called him to tell him we were being removed from the JSO towing rotation.
JSO is calling our accounts, even fleet trying to cause me financial pain since I have asked for a court opinion on the law so that we can understand what the interpretation of the word present means.
— Vince Serrano, President ASAP Towing & Storage regarding St. Johns County Sheriff's Office
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
