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Tow truck carries away good will
By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer LARGO -- Juan Guitron had that feeling of being watched. But the meat driver ignored his gut and parked his refrigerator van alongside Amici's Italian Eatery. He slung the leg of veal over his shoulder and walked inside the restaurant's cooler to make his weekly delivery. Across the street, a tow truck began making its move. As Guitron collected his money, the tow truck hooked the white van. Guitron finally noticed as his van disappeared from the lot, only minutes after he first arrived. "I swear, I went out the front door and he was gone," said Guitron, who had to pay $106 to get his truck out from impound. "It did not take him 30 seconds to hook up the van. He was watching me, no doubt. I was being scoped." Seeing the van disappear was new for Guitron, but it has become an all-too-familiar sight at Village Plaza Shopping Center. Directly east is an empty lot, and the owner has authorized a towing company to keep his property clear. But the plaza tenants say the tow truck driver has taken some liberties, towing cars on land they say Henry Meister does not own. A waiter's car was taken last week from this area. So was Guitron's van. Customers are now warned about the tow truck driver, who sits patiently across West Bay Drive, waiting for someone to cross the line. "Everybody is losing business because of that, big time," said Camelo Mantione, a part-owner of Amici's with his brother. His brother, Guiseppe Mantione, agrees. "The guy has a right to do what he wants with his property, but he's abusing his right," said Mantione, who has seen eight cars disappear in one day, "sometimes one after the other." The lot's owner said inconvenience and steep impound fees are the only legal means he has to keep unauthorized vehicles off his land. And John Barten, manager for Advanced Towing, said complaints are unfounded -- he's just doing his job. "They say that all the time," said Barten, adding that the poles clearly show the property line. Meister said motorists should know better. For years he has watched people park all over his property, land he said he hopes to develop. He tried to be nice by putting up wooden posts, concrete and wire cables so people would respect his property line. One way or another, they came down, he said. "I can't tell you who took it down, but I don't think a customer went to the trouble of taking it down." Finally, he had enough. Five months ago he called Advanced Towing. Now, the tow truck takes care of business. He does not pay the towing company, and he gets no money in return. But he gets peace of mind by authorizing it to keep the land clear, and the company can keep the cash. "If you choose to ignore the signs, you get towed," Meister said. As for the disputed area, Meister had this to say: "If the tow truck company is in error, they need to be dealt with. But not by me. We gave them boundaries." Largo police say they have no way of knowing. Lt. Brenda Way said officers were called out twice, and both times they arrived after the cars had been towed. The property has a visible sign out front, so the driver is within his legal rights to patrol the area. The businesses are trying to adjust. Guitron now parks out front and walks his leg of veal around back. Owners are warning customers to beware. "People don't know he hides over there," said Jerry Resulovski, owner of Suncoast Family Restaurant. He learned when his Chevy truck was towed. The Mantione brothers, Resulovski and Joe Britt, owner West Bay Clippers barber shop, say they tried to negotiate with Meister, offering to lease his property, even buy it. They say he is not interested. Britt said he can't understand Meister's motive. They know he owns the gas station east of his lot, a business many of the customers he tows often patronize. It's bad business for all and not a nice thing for a neighbor to do. "It's his right, he owns the lot," said Britt. "I don't know why he has to do it. It's rude."
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