Hurricane Ian Florida is devastated. It was the third-most expensive tropical storm on record and the most expensive in the state’s history, causing $113 billion in damage. The residents of southern Florida had enough on hand to deal with the damage caused by the weather. Adding to that headache, some people discovered that their cars had been illegally towed, according to southwest Florida. fox 4. The county sheriff there shared an update on an alleged theft ring operated by a towing company.
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Lee County Sheriff says that three suspects from Philadelphia — identified as Zulma Robles, Guerrier Marcder, and Joseph Richard-Dunston — purchased a random piece of land in North Fort Myers and called it a “cart yard” (owned by Robles) and started running a towing business called Cau Phuc. Authorities say it all started again in November, shortly after Hurricane Ian dissipated. Robles, Dunston and Marcder (who are also the company’s owners) are said to have towed the damaged cars during the storm, telling the owners that insurance companies had sent them to pick up the cars.
They will then tow the vehicles to this fake towing yard, store them, and charge the owner double the fee to get it back. ONE report from the sheriff’s office said that Blessing allegedly charged the owner a $175 towing fee along with a $75/day storage fee, which in itself is illegal. Lee County has a law that limits storage fees to $35/day. Other vehicles to be towed are those that actually need to be towed; The company is still trying to conduct business as usual. Ironically, trying to do business the right way gets caught red-handed.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said that the breaking point was when Blessing was towing a broken-down vehicle. Authorities were able to find the “trailer yard” and recover the vehicles that had been taken: a trailer, three golf carts, two boats and nine cars.
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The three people involved in the alleged scam have asserted their innocence and said they did nothing wrong. Marcder, owner of Blessing Towing, spoke with fox 4 and admitted to pulling the cars, saying, “Every car we have, we have the papers for it.” But when pressed to produce the document, Marcder claimed that the sheriff’s office had taken it. And it seems that Blessing is a real business, because fox 4 state records show the company has a license to operate in the county. Robles, the owner of the tow shipment, said they were harassed by the county sheriff, though he did not give a reason why.
All three face 23 charges ranging from major auto theft to operating a chop shop. Authorities also said the company violated state towing laws by failing to notify authorities when towing a vehicle. The case is ongoing and Marcder and Robles say they plan to fight the charges.
