North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Charlotte-based towing company and its owner, alleging that it racially targeted consumers and illegally booted and towed their vehicles.
Charlotte-based A1 Towing Solutions and its owner David Jewel Satterfield were previously sued by Stein for allegedly violating North Carolina’s price gouging laws during COVID-19.
“This defendant hasn’t just been breaking the law and harming North Carolinians – he’s done so by purposefully targeting Black people,” said Stein in a statement. “It’s both wrong and illegal, and I’m asking the court to stop him from engaging in this predatory and discriminatory conduct and give full financial relief to his victims.”
Satterfield could not be reached for comment.
Stein’s original lawsuit alleged that the A1 Towing improperly and predatorily booted or towed trucks that were delivering food, water, bleach, or needed medical supplies during the pandemic despite the trucks’ drivers, in many instances, having the necessary permission of property owners to park their trucks on the property. After towing or booting the vehicles, Satterfield allegedly forced drivers to pay exorbitant amounts for their release.
Stein’s office then received additional information that the A1 Towing was targeting African-Americans with the brunt of their unlawful price gouging, unlawful towing and booting, and unlawful debt collection. Of the 14 complaints received, 11 were submitted by African- Americans.
The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Division investigated the concerns and found that Satterfield was targeting Blacks by a process called “reverse redlining,” in which certain communities receive less favorable treatment.
He was allegedly also operating mostly in areas of Charlotte that have a majority African American population. African Americans make up 35 percent of the population in Charlotte; they owned 72 percent of the vehicles Satterfield towed in the city during a specific time period.
Stein added another company Satterfield owned, Automobile Recovery & Parking Enforcement, to the complaint and is seeking injunctive relief, restitution, civil penalties, and attorney fees and investigative costs.