Cops put Staten Island tow-truckers on the hook

 From SIlive.com
  By John M. Annese  
  1/26/11

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A driver for a tow truck company considered to be one of the more aggressive on Staten Island came to grief when he put the wrong car on his hook: It belongs to a cop.

Image by andrew mace— via FlickrThe driver and a confederate ended up in handcuffs on charges they have been towing illegally from a private lot in St. George.Image via Wikipedia

About 3:15 p.m. yesterday, Erik Pastori, 36, of Brooklyn, a driver for County Recovery Corp., hooked up two cars — a 2002 Lexus sedan and a 2002 BMW sedan — parked in the lot outside 160 Richmond Terr., the home of a former Country Donuts in St. George.

It turned out the Lexus belongs to Rudy Anzalone, a police officer at the North Shore’s 120th Precinct, and when police came out and saw the car towed, they arrested both Pastori and Ellis Cordero, 34, also of Brooklyn, who was sitting in the tow truck’s passenger seat.

According to police, Pastori and County Recovery had no business towing any cars from the lot.
Cordero — whom authorities identify as an employee of PSJ Management — presented a signed authorization form for the vehicle to be towed.

But police said the property’s owner, identified in court papers as Eduardo Ortiz, gave no permission to tow vehicles from the property, "and did not sign any written authorizations for the towing of said vehicles as required by the Department of Consumer Affairs."

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