Owner of ASAP Towing Caught Illegally Towing Cars from drivers in ‘Gay Days’ in Orlando

The owner of a towing company was arrested Friday and charged with illegally towing vehicles of people who took part in last month's Gay Days events in Orange County.

Jason P. Combs, 44, owner of ASAP Towing, faces 29 counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle and other charges. Deputies allege he towed more than 100 vehicles June 5 to 9 from a parking lot at Westwood Town Center off International Drive, which is across the street from the event's host hotel, Doubletree by Hilton. Combs didn't have an up-to-date contract to tow vehicles or have proper signage notifying motorists the lot was a tow-away zone, deputies said.

His attorney, R. David de Armas, said Combs did have a valid contract with the owner and only vehicles that were illegally parked were towed. de Armas also said the fact that it happened during Gay Days was irrelevant.

The fact that the [criminal] complaint said something about Gay Days makes me wonder what's behind it," de Armas said. “If someone shoplifted during Gay Days would the complaint mention that it happened during Gay Days?"
                                                                            

Combs has nothing against homosexuals or the event, his attorney said.

But in one instance a victim said he felt he was targeted because of his sexual orientation.

Cpl. Rick Schmeltzer said the towing company also targeted vehicles the year before during Gay Days activities. During weekends with events other than Gay Days the company completed a "minuscule amount of tows," he said.

Schmeltzer also said the towing company had "spotters" to look for people who left the center so their vehicles so they could be towed.

"With many of these people, their cars were towed within 5, 10 15 minutes [of parking]," he said. "This was total predator towing. There's really no other word for it."

The tow truck would hide around the corner and when a spotter saw someone walk across the street to the hotel, the spotters would call the truck and the vehicle would be towed, the complaint says.

Those whose cars were towed would have to take a cab ride to the towing company and were charged $165 cash to get their car, including a $40 "gate fee," which isn't permitted under Florida law, the complaint says.

International Drive is a transient area, said Schmeltzer, and many patrons park in one place and walk to a different location.

According to the complaint, ASAP had a contract with Westwood, but that it expired in May. The contract was not renewed until mid-June, after the Gay Days event. In an email between Combs and the owner, Combs asked to back date the contract so the Gay Days event would be included and avoid "any technicalities," the complaint says.

"This is further evidence that Jason Combs knew he had no contract in place and was not authorized to tow vehicles from Westwood Town Center," the complaint said.

Combs' attorney said if the contract expired it was an oversight and the two parties had an understanding that Combs' company would tow illegally parked vehicles.

"He's a businessman doing his job," de Armas said.

Authorities say ASAP also violated Florida law because the cars were towed more than 10 miles away to its Belle Isle location. Companies have to be in "strict compliance" with Florida law, and ASAP only followed some of the laws.

"He's one of those [business owners] that wants to pick and choose what [laws] he's going to follow," Schmeltzer said.

Victims also felt ASAP employees were rude and they felt bullied and intimidated

Some of the businesses in the complex were giving out stickers to customers and employees that signified they were patrons at the business, while others were not, according to the complaint. None of the businesses had an agreement with a tow-truck company, the complaint said.

Chris Alexander-Manley, president of the Gay Days event, said he had not heard of the issue until it was released to the media on Friday. He said if Combs was towing cars illegally he should "be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

He stopped short of accusing Combs of a hate crime until more information came out.

"Definitely it will take hearing more of the story," he said.

Schmeltzer said any hate crime charges are under review.

Gay Days, which attracts thousands of people to Central Florida, started in 1991 and has since expanded to a similar event in Las Vegas. It encourages gay and lesbian visitors to gather at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and wear red on the first Saturday of June.

Alexander-Manley said businesses say it is their highest revenue-generating week every year.

“I would hope it wouldn't be the business owners that were complaining about the parking," he said.

By David Harris, Orlando Sentinel

dharris@tribune.com or 407-420-5471407-420-5471