Co. may lose contract and Dina Bass University Police stopped a George Smith Towing truck Saturday night and arrested the operator, Herman Fields, for driving under the influence of alcohol as he towed a student's car from the front of High Rise South. After the arrest, the student who owned the car filed a complaint with University Police, alleging that Fields damaged the car in the process of towing it. George Smith Towing is responsible for monitoring the Superblock area and removing vehicles in violation of parking codes. Police officers at the scene on Saturday night believed that Fields was intoxicated and arrested him, according to Sgt. Thomas Rambo, the supervisor on call at the time of the incident. The officers took Fields to Philadelphia Police's Accident Investigation Division at 20th and Pennsylvania streets for a breathalizer test, he said. Fields had refused to submit to the test at of the end of Rambo's shift, he said. Rambo said yesterday that police could not determine whether the damage to the car was the result of towing. They were also unable to assess the monetary damage to the car. George Smith, owner of George Smith Towing, said he went to see Fields at the police station, and that he was not intoxicated. Smith said his driver has sickle cell anemia and was having an attack. Smith refused to answer further questions about the incident. Both Rambo and Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said they had received complaints about George Smith Towing in the past. Rambo also said the complaints were not surprising. "There have been complaints, but with any tow contractor, there are going to be complaints," he said. An officer at the Accident Investigation Division said she could not reveal whether Fields actually refused to take the test, due to privacy laws. The officer said that in general, if someone refuses to take a breathalizer, their license is suspended for a year. She added that a trial is held to determine if the person was intoxicated at the time of the incident. After the trial, the person goes before a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation hearing board to decide if they are allowed to keep a license. College sophomore Josh Rockoff , an Undergraduate Assembly representative who has been tracking the towing company, said that Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush told him that Public Safety will be terminating the company's contract. But this is not the only misconduct complaint against George Smith Towing. Graduate student Frederick Furia posted to the upenn.talk newsgroup last week, publicizing a possible theft from his car by the company. Furia explained that after his car was towed, he noticed that a pair of binoculars -- which had been in his car -- were missing and that other things in the car had been moved. When Furia went to the company asking that they locate his property, he said he received a hostile reaction. This prompted Furia to determine whether anyone else had problems with Smith in the past. According to Rockoff, Furia has since received more than 30 e-mails complaining about the company. Rockoff has also reported the company to the Philadelphia Consumer Protection Agency and the Better Business Bureau, which could result in the removal of the company's license. In the past, Philadelphia Police have had to file auto theft charges against the George Smith Towing Company to obtain the release of an illegally towed car. The company was also kicked off campus several years ago. Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Jaclyn LaPlaca contributed to this story.
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