Fox59 investigates towing concerns in Broad Ripple

Park with caution and look for signs because towing has become the new trend in Broad Ripple. A Fox59 investigation discovered that the cars that get towed are being moved not once, but twice.

While most people are having fun in Broad Ripple on the weekends, Joe and Manny are hard at work.

"They're towing all these cars."

Most Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights the pair puts up paper signs.

"They're gone like every single 10 minutes. We just put them back up," Manny said.

The two say the tow truck drivers take them down and fold the metal signs that are posted in the lots.

"You can see the crease right in the middle. They bend these signs on purpose. Me and Joe, we bend them back and mend them so they're visible," Manny said.

The pair walk the strip, talk to bouncers and warn people about towing.

"It used to be full every night. Until we found out about it they were towing 20 to 25 cars a night out of here. They'd clean out the whole lot. Once we found out about it we started putting up signs and now you can see there is no one here," Joe said.

The latest hot tow spot is the parking lot at Broad Ripple Station.

"We asked Hanna's Wrecker to remove vehicles that were interfering with business operations at Broad Ripple Station," said the property management firm for Broad Ripple Station.

Our cameras were there after the last business closed at midnight when Hanna’s Wreckers began to clear the lot.

Joel Langebartels was a customer at Three Wise Men, a restaurant-bar the night his car got towed.

"You want me to come back after midnight after four drinks in and move my truck? That doesn't seem responsible," Langebartels said.

Bradley Branch also came back to find his car was gone.

"It's my first time coming up to Broad Ripple to have a good time and I come out and I'm SOL," Branch said.

And Fox59 found that what the tow companies are doing could be against the law.

"The law says that when a car is towed from private property it first has to be determined to be abandoned. And the way that is done is to tag the vehicle and leave it for 24-hours," said Attorney Paul Ogden with Ogden Law firm.

Indiana Code of Law 9-22-1-16-A says that "after 24-hours the person who owns or controls the private property may have the vehicle towed."