CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte towing company is being sued by North Carolina's attorney general over allegations that it racially targeted drivers by illegally towing and booting their vehicles.
Attorney General Josh Stein announced Tuesday he's suing A1 Towing Solutions, Inc., as well as its owner, David Jewel Satterfield, over the allegations. The claims that A1 targeted people based on their race are in addition to an ongoing lawsuit against the company for violating the state's price gouging laws during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trucks delivering needed goods during the pandemic were towed and booted by Satterfield and A1, which also forced the truck drivers to pay exorbitant fees to reclaim their trucks.
“This defendant hasn’t just been breaking the law and harming North Carolinians – he’s done so by purposefully targeting Black people,” Stein said. “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.”
After the initial lawsuit was filed, Stein's office received additional information showing the defendants were purposely discriminating against African-Americans with their illegal price-gouging, towing and booting practices. Out of 14 complaints that Stein's office received, 11 were submitted by African-Americans.
An investigation by the North Carolina Department of Justice's Consumer Protection Division and the department's Civil Rights Unit determined that Satterfield was using a process called "reverse redlining" to target African-Americans. This is a process where specific communities are treated less favorably. Satterfield was also allegedly working in areas of Charlotte that were majority African American.
While African-Americans constitute 35% of Charlotte's population, they owned 72% of the vehicles towed by Satterfield's company during this time.
The complaint is available to view here.