American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
The Hidden Epidemic: Youth Mental Health Crisis in America
The mental health crisis claiming America's youth has reached epidemic proportions, and it's happening in families from all backgrounds. Our recent podcast delves into this growing tragedy that's claiming lives through addiction, overdoses, and suicide at an alarming rate.
We explore how even "good families" with strong support systems are losing young people to these devastating outcomes. The conversation reveals how COVID isolation accelerated the crisis by depriving developing minds of crucial socialization opportunities that build coping mechanisms and resilience.
The fentanyl epidemic emerges as a central villain in this story. This synthetic opioid, frequently used to lace other substances, makes drugs exponentially more dangerous – as evidenced by the heartbreaking story of seven West Point cadets who died after taking what they believed was Tylenol. Today's drugs are significantly more potent than previous generations, creating deadly situations even for first-time or casual users.
Perhaps most troubling is how we respond as communities. When families lose someone to addiction or suicide, they often face ostracism rather than compassion. Some communities turn away from these families at their time of greatest need, while others simply "put their heads in the sand," unable to confront the reality that such tragedies could happen to anyone.
The most powerful takeaway is a call to action: if you see someone struggling, reach out without judgment. The people who appear to be doing well might be fighting the hardest battles behind closed doors. A simple act of kindness could make all the difference. Don't be afraid to tell people you love them, give them a hug, and be there when they need support.
Join us as we examine this critical issue affecting communities nationwide and discuss how compassion might be our most powerful tool in addressing America's youth mental health crisis.
This episode ends with Industry News, stay informed with Towing News Now
you're on the train to success with April and Wes Wilburn. I'm DJ Harrington, the co-host, better known as the Toe Doctor. We're all on our way to the town of proper towing and recovery, along with our producer, chuck Camp, in the studio. Don't go to the town of woulda, coulda, shoulda. You coulda had done this. You should have done that. Listen every week to thought-provoking wisdom from great guests iTunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia or the number one podcast, or maybe Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn in on Wednesday and be turned on all week long. If you are a state association and want your announcements or upcoming state association news announcements or upcoming state association news, or maybe a co-show that's coming up, let us know. Our podcast studio phone number is 706-409-5603. I'm proud to be part of a great team at the American Dorm Recovery Institute. Let's make 2025 our best year ever. I will turn it to April and Rich. Alright, dj, thanks so much as always. I appreciate the kind words.
Speaker 1:I appreciate all the effort you put into this podcast. I can't thank you enough for dragging me into the 21st century and being involved in this podcast with you. I really am appreciative of that. April, how are you today?
Speaker 5:I'm doing pretty good. I actually just got back from a little trip. I really am appreciative of that April. How are you today? I'm doing pretty good. I actually just got back from a little trip, a little like a sales trip, because I am the new towing equipment direct person. So I spent a little bit of time in Virginia for a few days on the disarounds and seeing some people, so I'm happy to be home.
Speaker 1:Well, it's good to have you home. Absolutely happy to be home.
Speaker 3:Well it's good to have you home, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Um, we're in the middle of the heat wave here, uh, getting geared up for a big fall. We got a lot of schools planned.
Speaker 1:Uh, we'll, of course, do it run through our schedule here in a minute but, yeah, things are good here, short of the heat wave, and it looks like we're just a couple days away from the heat, going from about a constant 95, 98, 100 degrees here in north carolina down to it's going to be in the low 80s. So we're really looking for forward to that this weekend as well. A lot of stuff going on in the industry we had a great interview plan for today but unfortunately the interview that canceled for professional reasons we had a big week with uh.
Speaker 1:In the news that went with new york city, the uh government the other night I was going to add to that that.
Speaker 5:That um, the night I was going to add to that that. That, um, the thing that happened in new york city, I guess can happen anywhere usa, um, but it does seem to happen in the bigger cities more than it does in some of these southern states, and again it could happen well, you know what happens in northern states too, but when you're in a place like michigan, where uh folks, uh folks have a different attitude about guns and how they're handled, and I'm not gun crazy by any stretch, but I believe the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
Speaker 1:And the person in Michigan this weekend at the Walmart stabbing people with a knife wasn't a person with a bad guy with a gun, but it was a crazy person with a knife. I think it was what nine or 11 people that were injured with that knife.
Speaker 5:He got a lot of people.
Speaker 1:And citizens took action. One of them was properly armed, knew what to do, knew how to do it, and when you watch that videotape, that was a couple different citizens coming together and taking control of the situation, got the bad guy to stop stabbing people. They not only did that, they disarmed them and neutralized them. I would say, getting them on the ground for police to get there. You saw that, didn't you, dj? Yes, I did.
Speaker 1:And you know I want to bring up something of the. I saw the one where the stabbing took place in michigan. But the one that really got me was the police officer working a second job, because when you first become a police officer your pay is not that high officer, your pay is not that high. So he is also working a second job, dressed in his uniform, and, of course, the gunman, who had driven three days from Vegas all the way to New York, got in there, shot him, shot an executive from a finance company was getting on the elevator and, course, committed suicide himself. But this is something to think about. You know, our listeners have helped with tunnel to towers and tunnel to towers today made an announcement that they are going to help this guy with his taxes. He already had paid off his home isn't that incredible.
Speaker 5:I heard heard that today too, dj Frank Stiller was on Fox and he was working a second job, but his home was already paid for. Yes, that's just incredible.
Speaker 1:So Frank Stiller is going to help with that. He has two children and he had one in the oven so he has one in the oven, and so Tunnel to Towers is going to help that family, continuously making sure their taxes are paid every year, making sure that the children are going to school, and if they need anything, tunnel to Towers is going to be there. That's the reason why they ask for $11 a month, and millions of families do $11 a month and it helps cases like this.
Speaker 1:So I want to thank our listeners, but, wes, I'm prepared that when we, after we take our break and come back, I'm prepared to talk what you would like to talk about.
Speaker 5:So I'm going to just say one thing, which is going to go into our second segment to some extent the two things that happened, the one in Michigan and the one in New York- you there is something obviously very wrong with you to give you the capacity to even do that either one is the one of them stabbing, stabbing people I don't even know what it takes to do something like that and shooting people.
Speaker 5:In our second segment we're going to talk a little bit about something else, but we do have a huge final crisis issue in america, and the one reason we have it is because I think compassion is a wonderful thing, but sometimes, when we're too compassionate, it leaves too much leeway, um, for somebody who needs help not to get it. And I don't know with the gentleman that did what he did, or the guy in michigan who did what he did. I don't know if there were any signs beforehand, but I I I'm gonna bet that there was yeah, um, I mean, it's just a tough situation all the way around.
Speaker 5:Absolutely Go to Walmart or go to New York City and you don't know, you know it happens.
Speaker 1:Things like this happen all over America. And one of the things to keep in mind is New York City in particular, and New York State in general, has very aggressive gun laws. So there's all the gun laws stopping people from doing this type of thing, but when someone's ready to kill somebody gun laws mean nothing to them. They mean absolutely nothing.
Speaker 5:It also hinders a law-abiding person from protecting themselves from somebody else that wants to do them harm.
Speaker 1:Yeah absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker 5:Well, if you're law-abiding, you're law-abiding, so you don't own a gun, because you are not allowed to in New York City.
Speaker 1:Wes off the air. You and I talked about something very serious because we have friends that have overdosed and they took their own lives, and some not intentionally, but some have. So I'm going to turn it over to you and april started and then I will blend in with you as we go. Well, this conversation started because recently I know three different people in my extended family when I say said the family, I consider the towing industry, my family. That have been great. And let me back up. There's been three different people that I know in that extended group of friends and of course, nowadays with Facebook and whatnot, they keep up better with people, what they're doing, what's going on in their lives. And three different people I know have been affected tremendously by what I'm going to have to call an epidemic for young people and when I say young people teenage to their 20s is what I'm talking Either committing suicide being drug addicted and overdosing.
Speaker 1:And these are good kids coming from good families. Some of it's being affected by fentanyl, some of it's being affected by other stuff. But there's, an epidemic of we're losing a lot of young people, a lot of young people.
Speaker 5:So I think that is I'm with Wes on this. This is a lot. True, it's been going on for a long time, but it does seem to be ramped up these last few years and there's a lot of speculation as to why that might be now. One of them was coded when we were very isolated as adults. You can handle that because you have moving mechanisms, you have social skills which you can't. We just kind of to protect them, we didn't let them socialize the way that they would have normally had they been going to school, going on play dates and further isolating this next generation that's coming up. I think that's the gasoline that's on the, that we already put on the fire.
Speaker 1:I don't know, there's a lot, and you know I'm talking drugs overdose, but it's also suicide. I don't know if this is the one I just saw. I was connected with somebody that I know Also. I just saw on a local Facebook group here in Fayetteville, north Carolina. I think the group's called what's Happening in Fayetteville Now or something to that effect police responding to a call two young parents, I think it was their early 20s in a car passed out overdosed from heroin.
Speaker 1:I believe it was with two children in the car, and the police took care of the children until the grandparents could arrive, took care of the children till the grandparents could arrive. And again, I think it's for many reasons the whole opium epidemic, the use of them for painkillers. There's just a lot going on.
Speaker 5:There's a lot going on. And also I know I've heard it too, and I don't know if this is true, but I've heard it that a drug from 30 years ago is a lot more potent today with what they lace it with. So fentanyl is something that America is trying to combat. That's why some of that border issue is more of an issue than just illegals coming over. It's also the fentanyl. Fentanyl is a very inexpensive way to lace this stuff and amp it up and make it more addictive. And so when you're already taking something that might be lethal if you do too much of it, but if you do a little bit, not so bad and you add that fentanyl in it, what you're doing is just amplifying the effect of it and you're amplifying the locality of it hey, wes.
Speaker 1:I want to tell our listeners April and I talked about the seven West Point cadets that had rented a home down in Fort Myers, florida, and this was last year. I want to tell the listeners two of my brothers have graduated from the Naval Academy. One graduated third in his class, the other graduated 33rd in his class. The one who graduated 33rd became an astronaut. And the one who became the third graduate, he was number one until he fell in love and he became then number three. He fell off his book knowledge. But the seven cadets from West Point a family member rented a home in Fort Myers, florida and it was a gorgeous home on the beach. They all went out and partied one night and they had too many beers, beers. They went home and the one cadet said hey, there's some Tylenol in the cabinet. They thought nothing of it because it read Tylenol and every one of them died the next day of fentanyl poisoning.
Speaker 5:Wow, day of fentanyl poisoning.
Speaker 1:They had laced the Tylenol with fentanyl, put it in a container and the poor family that rented the house felt so bad that in the medicine cabinet was Tylenol laced with fentanyl. And all seven cadets from West Point passed away.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that fentanyl is definitely a big attribute in. It was terrible yeah there's a root cause that's beyond that that we need nationally to delve into, and that's why is this addiction thing, you know, getting so much more and happening so much more. But fentanyl, definitely, like I said, it's the gas on the fire already.
Speaker 1:So let's just hang around and we'll take a quick break.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Of course you know you're listening to the new Towing News Channel. We are over 20,000 listeners now, so I want to thank all of you. On behalf of Wes April myself, I want to thank you because this is really having over 20,000 listeners every week is wonderful. Remember to like, review and share everywhere. So, without further ado, let me send you back. Thank you, dj. There's probably many reasons for these problems and Lord knows, I don't have you know all the problems, much less the answers. But I do know if you see someone in your circle, your community, especially if you're close with them. But even if you're not, reach out and talk to them. If you see someone in crisis, try to help them. Don't be judgmental. When a family loses a young child, a young person, to addiction, sometimes it seems some communities do not rally around that family and support them. They're more ostracized.
Speaker 5:Ostracized yeah.
Speaker 1:Them and maybe even ridicule some. I've seen it happen to the most upright standard family. I've seen it happen to people from all walks of life and all classes of life.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah. Sometimes it's being ostracized and sometimes it's kind of putting your head in the sand too. You don't want to see what happens to another family and think about this could actually have happened to mine. But that's not a fair thing to do to your family because you may be able to see signs with that that you may see in your own family that you could kind of get ahead of it is.
Speaker 5:It is an epidemic. It is something like I said that there's many causes and there's many reasons for it. Sometimes it it can happen in a family that's a good family that never had that situation. Sometimes it's in that family and that's what you see, and that's what you a family that's a good family and never had that situation.
Speaker 5:Sometimes it's in that family and that's what you see and that's what you're around, that's what you're used to and it becomes a normal thing and you, I think you think when you're younger, you're never going to turn into that person, you're never going to be like that, and it's just too easy to reach out for that, whatever that drug is, or whatever the alcohol is, as a self-medicating type of a thing. And then there's the middle, there's the mental health issue that we have. That I think that we also either ostracize or we put our head in the sand about that. We don't want to see, but it is a thing that's happening there's, just like teen suicide, the same thing Most of the time.
Speaker 1:when you see that happen to a family, it'd be some of the last folks you suspect, but you never know what's going on with people.
Speaker 5:You don't ever know what's going on with people. You see what you see when you're out in public with them. You don't know what happens. There's a whole world and there's a whole universe that goes on when you go into your house and you close that door. Um, you run, you have a wife, you have kids, you have.
Speaker 1:There's all the things that are happening if they another person doesn't see so one of the things I'm going to strongly suggest is try to reach out to folks and give them some support and, um, if you see someone that you think, might be in a crisis situation, see if you can't, as a friend, delicately approach it and definitely if something happens to people in your circle, whether they're close or not so close, you should try to be supportive, supportive as you can.
Speaker 1:Again, I've seen it happen to all kinds of people. All kinds of people from all kinds of different walks of life, economic status, et cetera. It could happen anywhere in the USA, anytime in the.
Speaker 5:USA.
Speaker 1:I know it's kind of a depressing subject, but it's something we've got to talk about, something as a society we're dealing with more and more each day, and there's a lot more pressures out there.
Speaker 5:it seems like we have a lot more at our fingertips and a lot more accessibility to community assistance and things, but with that comes pressure and stress too.
Speaker 1:So don't be afraid to tell people in your life you love them, give them a hug, tell them you care about them and be there for them. Hey, thanks, Wes. This has been a great podcast. Wow, let's jump right over to the Towing News. Now desk for the latest in towing news.
Speaker 9:I'm Wesley Wilburn and this is Towing News. Now We'll start this segment with towing reform happening around state houses across the country. A new Connecticut law provides comprehensive towing reform in the state House. Bill 7162 starts with a towing bill of rights. The Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner will develop the bill of rights by the end of August. As of October 1st, towing companies must make available the bill of rights to the public.
Speaker 9:Another provision overrides the current DMVlished rate schedule for medium and heavy-duty non-consensual tows. In its place, the agency is responsible for establishing a new rate schedule. Starting July 1st, temporary rates will be placed for medium-duty, heavy-duty and oversized overweight vehicles. The temporary rates will be used until the new rate schedule is established. The DMV is required to create separate rate schedules for private property, trespass towing and police-ordered towing. There will no longer be one schedule for all non-consensual towing. Maximum hour waits that could be charged for heavy-duty non-consensual tow will be $700 per hour. The amount is up from the current $390 rate. It includes recovery. Rates are required to be reconsidered and potentially amended every three years.
Speaker 9:Next, in Arkansas, state law permits a towing or storage company to hold a vehicle for a lien or claim for unpaid towing and storage fees. The new law permits vehicle owners to get their cargo returned for a fee. The new rule ensures that towers will get 20% of the value of truck cargo up front. They can still have a lien on the cargo. Also covered in the new law is a process to file towing complaints. Towing services must include on invoices notice of the state's compliance system. Services must include on invoices notice of the state's compliance system. The new rule takes effect July 1st. The new rule requires notification prominently printed in bold letters at the bottom of each invoice to include the phone number and web address of the Arkansas Towing Recovery Board. The towing board is also being overhauled. An emergency clause immediately removed all nine existing board members. The new law stipulates that the board must include one member who represents the trucking industry, another member who represents the commercial trucking insurance industry.
Speaker 9:In Illinois a bill is heading to Governor JB Pritzker's desk targeting bad actors in the towing. Senator Selina Villanueva of Chicago introduced a bill that she described as going after towing operators to ignore penalties and continue operating under new business names. House and Senate lawmakers approved a bill that would allow the commission to impound tow trucks of unpaid fines. Senate Bill 2040 would also permit the state to suspend plates from tow trucks of unpaid fines. In addition, fraudulent towers will be denied from tow trucks of unpaid fines. In addition, fraudulent towers will be denied from obtaining new licenses for three years. One more provision would forbid tow truck operators from placing liens on essential personal property left in a towed vehicle.
Speaker 9:North Carolina House Bill 472 would outlaw immobilization of a commercial vehicle for parking enforcement purposes. The ban would apply to any deviceization of a commercial vehicle for parking enforcement purposes. The ban would apply to any device such as a boot. Violators would face a Class 2 misdemeanor charge. Vining court costs for such offense can top to $430.
Speaker 9:Including the bill is a provision for return of cargo. A tow company involved in a non-consensual or government-initiated tow would be required to return any commercial cargo to the truck driver or owner of the cargo. Upon request. A trailer swap would be permitted under the condition that a different trailer is of similar type, that is in working condition and was manufactured within five years of the manufacturing date of the original trailer or newer, as arranged by the cargo company. The bill errates consideration in the Senate Rules and Operations Committee.
Speaker 9:Lastly, a Pennsylvania bill is intended to make it easier to get a large truck to a preferred facility for service. Trucks requiring emergency service can be towed to a nearby garage or other place of safety. Sponsored by Representative Stephanie Bowarix, the bill is described as easing regulations on the towing industry to allow for safer operating procedures. House Bill 188 would permit a truck tractor with up to two trailers that require emergency service to be towed to a location of the owner's choosing or other places of safety off a highway. The change would also apply to overweight combinations, as long as the tow truck travels directly to the place of repairs or places of safety. She said the bill would ease regulations on tow truck drivers and increase safety on roads across the Commonwealth. The House bill is now in the House Transportation Committee.
Speaker 6:Tow truck operators from the Metro say it's time to fight back. One impound company is filing suit against the city, saying new restrictions will force them to break the law. Fox 4 News has been following this story for you for months. Sean McDowell takes us to Smithville now, where tow truck operators say this is not fair.
Speaker 11:Kansas City's private party impound is filing lawsuit against Kansas City and Jackson County. That company's owners say they have the support of at least 20 other metro towing and impound operators. A new Kansas City ordinance meant to lessen predatory towing will force impound companies to face liability of their own. The lawsuit says tow companies will now be forced to release cars to people who don't own them. Kansas City Council members approved the new ordinance May 1st, but it won't take effect until the first day of 2026. The council says it heard numerous complaints from the public about predatory towing.
Speaker 12:The rule puts private businesses in a position where we're regulated out of business.
Speaker 11:Private party impound operator, jay Bloodworth, contends the new ordinance would potentially allow impounded cars to be stolen by people who aren't registered owners. The lawsuit also says this ordinance conflicts with Missouri statutes regarding towing.
Speaker 12:If we have to release a vehicle to someone that is not the owner of the vehicle, then we open ourselves up to all kinds of lawsuits and we actually are violating state law by doing that up to all kinds of lawsuits and we actually are violating state law by doing that.
Speaker 11:On May 13th, bloodworth was arrested as part of an investigation by the Missouri Department of Revenue into allegations of illegal towing. Drivers from other tow companies, like Ron Rogers from GT Towing in Smithville, believe Bloodworth's lawsuit is justified.
Speaker 7:The law has as they've written. It is allowing us to release a vehicle to anybody, not the registered owner, and why would we want to give somebody's car to them if it's not theirs?
Speaker 11:Also on Wednesday. A Kansas City spokesperson tells Fox 4 News the city does not comment on pending litigation. The first courtroom appearance regarding this case is coming up on October 7th. Sean McDowell Fox, fox 4 working for you.
Speaker 6:So police are now investigating another Kansas City towing company. An employee with Max towing tells Fox 4 police raided it this week. Investigators continue to crack down on alleged predatory impound companies.
Speaker 11:One employee told me on Friday that the staff at Max towing in East Kansas City didn't expect a Wednesday morning visit from Kansas City police investigators. A KCPD spokesperson said on Friday that one car was taken from that impound lot on Wednesday. One neighbor says this section of Doctor Martin Luther King Blvd outside Max towing slot was filled with police cars on Wednesday morning. Fox 4 News is aware of a viral video clip that shows that right as it happened. Kcpd Sergeant Phil DiMartino says several items of interest were taken in addition to that confiscated car as part of a follow up to a previous inquiry police conducted. The police spokesperson couldn't elaborate, though. On Friday morning Fox 4 News approached employees at Max towing but they locked the gates on us and refused to answer our questions.
Speaker 11:Kansas City police have directed their attention toward allegations of illegal towing practices since May 1st. Kansas City Mayor Quentin Lucas and Jackson County Prosecutor Melissa Johnson worked together on new ordinances to crack down on impound companies after hearing complaints from the public. Ordinances to crack down on impound companies. After hearing complaints from the public, the Missouri Department of Revenue's investigation into private party impound led to the arrest of company owner Jay Bloodworth, who faces charges of forging documents related to towing calls. Bloodworth continues to deny these accusations. Fox 4 News also attempted to contact Max Towing's owner via telephone on Friday. We haven't heard back from anyone yet. On Friday afternoon a spokesperson for the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office could not confirm as to whether or not an investigation into Mack's towing's practices was being conducted. However, an overall inquiry into allegations of illegal towing at various locations in the metro continues.
Speaker 9:Next story is in Horn Lake, Mississippi, where a man suits tow truck driver while his car is being repossessed.
Speaker 3:Horn Lake police investigators looking for a man they say pulled the trigger in a Sunday shooting. Marshawn Colbert is wanted for aggravated assault and authorities say you need to consider him armed and dangerous. You need to consider him armed and dangerous. Colbert is said to have shot a man who came to repossess his vehicle after an argument over the driver towing a car. The incident happened in the parking lot of the shopping center on Interstate Boulevard. A woman was also hurt when the car fell off the tow truck. Following the shooting, she's expected to be okay. The repo driver is in critical condition.
Speaker 9:Next story is in Florida, where a tow truck driver was able to lead investigators on a month-long investigation for a driver on a hit-and-run crash in Melbourne.
Speaker 6:An 18-month-old hit-and-run case was cracked thanks to the help of a repo driver.
Speaker 13:They've been working so hard to bring justice to the family of a 23-year-old. They needed Takaya Hardy's DNA to put her behind the wheel of the car in that crash. They could not find her, though, and then that repo driver showed up and gave them a workaround.
Speaker 9:Her leaving high rate of speed after she struck someone down in downtown Melbourne is kind of concerning to me as a danger to the community.
Speaker 13:Takaya. Hardy's arrest and her $100,000 bond took 18 months and several strokes of luck for investigators who struggled to prove she was behind the wheel when her car hit 23-year-old Andrew Sofranco on Christmas morning, 2023, leaving his newly married father to mourn. Documents show the first bit of luck came from them finding the car quickly tracing it to an apartment complex moments before a tow truck, they say Hardy hired tried to take it away, but they couldn't prove she was behind the wheel until a repo driver came to their impound lot. Investigators say that driver showed them a GPS tracker the dealership hid inside the car, which let them trace the car's movements and match its location to Hardy's cell phone, putting both at the scene of the crash and leading to her arrest. The documents show Hardy had a green light when the crash happened, so the trouble that she's in comes from the fact that she left and didn't stay. Her record included two convictions for driving without a light-ballad license.
Speaker 9:Next is some international news up to Canada, where now police have arrested 20 individuals and over 100 charges have been laid in the greater Toronto area revolving around tow truck violence 20 people are facing more than 100 charges tonight after a multi-jurisdictional police crackdown on a criminal network known as the Union.
Speaker 6:Police say that network was well connected with the GTA's tow truck industry.
Speaker 10:Police say these suspects were the ones calling the shots, so they also released some surveillance footage today of what they say was crimes in action on behalf of this organized crime group. There was one video from Whitby and another one from this area of Toronto's East End.
Speaker 8:A form of intimidation directed at a victim who is part of the tow truck industry.
Speaker 10:In Toronto's East End near Broadview and Queen Street East back on March 15th. The suspect throws what officers say is a Molotov cocktail at something just off screen.
Speaker 8:The group was believed to be responsible for numerous acts of violence intended to gain control over the towing industry.
Speaker 10:In another video, suspects, also allegedly working for the union, appear to be lighting vehicles on fire at what investigators say is a rival towing yard in Whitby on February 17th.
Speaker 4:Numerous people are now facing charges related to directing and participating in the activities of a criminal organization, along with multiple conspiracies to commit murder.
Speaker 10:Toronto Police announced the arrest of 20 suspects leading to 111 charges, including dozens, for conspiracy to commit murder. Two guns and four vehicles seized, including armoured plated vehicles.
Speaker 8:We are at the upper echelon, we are with the group that was organizing and hiring the acts of violence, and it's quite telling that none of them have criminal records or are before the courts, because they are the higher level.
Speaker 10:Police say many of them operated tow trucks in the city for a long time. In corporate documents obtained by CTV News, one of the suspects, joseph Jensikumar from Oshawa, is listed as the director of Joshua Roadside as of March 13th of this year. The social bar and lounge, mansion kitchen and bar both in Pickering and Pundi Bakery in Scarborough are all listed in court documents obtained by CTV News as the target for conspiracy to commit murder charges. The date of the alleged plot court documents list as between March 7th or 8th, the day after gunmen fired rounds at the Piper Arms pub in Scarborough.
Speaker 4:Acts of violence on a mass scale were deterred and prevented.
Speaker 10:The joint investigation with York Region, durham, the OPP and Toronto Police, dubbed Project Yankee, began in October 2024 and led to wiretaps targeting individuals associated with the union and its members.
Speaker 4:What they've done essentially is cut the head off that snake.
Speaker 10:Police say this will make a difference, but did not say how many other organized crime groups could potentially be at work in the GTA.
Speaker 4:They're either going to go underground and hide because they think they're next, or, as we've often seen, with drug gangs that have been taken down before that they will try and move in and backfill this void that is now out there.
Speaker 10:Police say, as of now, all 20 suspects remain in custody. The project came to an end a week ago, on the 11th, with the execution of 14 search warrants. Police say 15 percent of the city's shootings and firearm discharges are linked to the towing industry.
Speaker 9:Lastly, this story is in Kansas City where, on June 21st, 100-plus tow trucks led a funeral procession across Kansas City honoring Bobby Jenkins of Jackson County Tow Service. His son, robert Jenkins, is now an owner of Jackson County Tow Service. His son, robert Jenkins, is now an owner of Jackson County Toe Service. Quote from Jackson County's Toe Service Facebook says In his 45-plus years of towing, bobby has spent the last nine watching his son chase his dream being an owner of Jackson County Toe. Bobby's endless amount of knowledge and advice was shared with many people in our industry. We have no doubt his legacy will live on through all the people he has trained.
Speaker 9:Jenkins' impact was clear. As a Saturday, dozens of tow trucks filed across Kansas City. Their instructions were simple Bring your tow trucks, honk your horn, flash your lights. This is what Bobby would want. Jackson County Tow posted last week, promising Jenkins would be transported to his final resting place in style. The procession started in Blue Springs at the business lots and headed west across I-70 before exiting south onto I-635. It ended at a funeral home in Kansas City, kansas, where funeral and graveside services were held soon after. Bobby was loved by many people and we all ask is that you never forget what he's done out on our highways. Jackson County Toe wrote. This has been Towing News Now.
Speaker 1:Well, there you have it a great podcast, the latest news and the great information. We'll see you next time on Towing News Now.