"This past weekend on Sunday there was an accident on Rt. 50 & Hobbs Rd. in Salisbury.Parsonsburg fire dept. responded to the call. I have just one question, why is a parsonsburg EMT responding to an accident call in a TOW TRUCK? This is not the first time this has happened either. It was then that the Maryland State Police contacted Gary Pusey's Towing to remove one of the vehicles, and also contacted Delmarva Towing for the other vehicle. All of a sudden there are 3 TOW TRUCKS on the scene for two vehicles.Gary Pusey's truck arrived before the second Delmarva Towing truck but they sent him packing empty. I believe something needs to be done because isn't that a little like "ambulance chasing"? If a registered fire fighter or EMT responds to an accident shouldn't he have to be an EMERGENCY vehicle? Last time I looked a TOW TRUCK is not!!!!"
Sent in by a loyal reader.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
34 comments:
hmmm.. It seems everytime I go by an accident...i see one of their rollbacks.. I used to thing they were just busy but now I bet they have a scanner and try to be 'towing pirates'... something is fishy.....
Have you ever heard of a second job. Some people do that to make up for the crappy economy.
GEZZZ PEOPLE THE MAN HAS TO WORK,AND OH HE VOLUNTEERS AS A FIREFIGHTER WHAT A SHAME . GET A GRIP POEPLE.
If my wife and kids were in an accident i wouldnt care if he showed up in a space ship as long as he was there.
How about the tow companies make up little sticks you can place on your windshield saying you want THEM to tow you in the event of an accident or anything else. That way we can have who WE want to tow our vehicle and now who someone else picks
It is fine to say he has a second job. It is fine to say he volunteers, that is fine.I commend him for that. Even so I have nothing against him being a volunteer fireman. The problem I have is showing up to the accident in a tow truck and towing the wreck. That is why companies submit an application and buy a license to be on the list. It is not fair to the other companies that this company is allowed to get away with this.If I were Gary Pusey's I would raise so much hell that something will be done.Look at the time and fuel that was wasted responding to the call.
This is not Delmarva Towing up to their old tricks, it is Chris Wilgus. Chris works for Delmarva Towing, and is also a member of the Parsonsburg Fire Department. He is truly a legend in his own mind.
This is the same guy who is allowed to sexually harass the women in the Parsonsburg Fire Department and get away with it. He is also allowed to assualt the officers in the Parsonsburg Fire Department and get away with it. This is also the same guy who has emergency lighting and a siren in his personal vehicle, and uses it on a regular basis. I hope that Sheriff Lewis and his boys can catch this guy using this equipment, and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.
Come on Chief White, get control of this guy before he hurts someone or gets your department sued. Show the community that you have the balls to discipline this guy. Make him stop living at your firehouse. He is truly a disgrace to your department, and to the fire service. His "I'll do it my way attitude", and lack of respect towards your officers and the members of your department can no longer be tolerated.
A concerned citizen
Isn't that a little like ambulance chasing?! Towing Pirates....maybe they should change their name from Delmarva Towing to Towing Pirates. Just goes to show you the calibre of person running that company. I agree, Gary Pusey needs to raise holy hell about this! His trucks and employees don't run for free!! This type of bad business needs to stop!! The second Delmarva Towing truck should have been sent on his way empty by whatever police agency was handling the accident and let Gary Pusey's truck get the vehicle that they were called out for. The police are just as much to blame as Delmarva Towing!! Can you say kick-back!
Anonymous 11:57:
I've been saying "kick back" all along.
Concerned Citizen(Anonymous 10:30):
Hopefully your words will get through to the appropriate people! This punk needs to be cut down a notch or two! As far as Delmarva Towing is concerned, they need to be removed from the tow lists until they can learn to "play fair"...but that'll never happen!!
My name is Roger, I am the driver for Pusey's Towing. It was me that got turned away from the scene. My personal opinion is that EMS and towing duties should be kept seperate to keep everything fair to all tow companies. It ultimately falls on the police agency in charge to determine who tows the car, and the Trooper on scene directed me to leave with no car.
I also would like to say to anonymous 9:17 , 9:19, and 10:00am ,that if my wife and kids were in an accident I too would not care who showed up to help me. BUT , I have three kids that need to be fed and clothed and I do support them by towing cars. So when I get called by the State Police to go....I go. I, just like you, do not like to work for free. I am sorry that there was an accident, but it happens and someone has to clean it up. When you have a situation like yesterday and the police call two trucks, and three show up, then there is a problem. I only hope that the individual in question does not volunteer his towing services while being on the scene as an EMT. None of the other fire personnel benefited financially from this, as he did.
If anyone has a problem with any towing company in this area they can contact the police dept that had it towed. It should be left at that.
By the way, Parsonsburg Fire Dept gets my respect 100%, and in no way should any scrutiny fall on them.
Whoever posted the original post had nothing to do with any of this, and I don't know why it was even brought up. We like to handle our problems internally.
The point that some of you are missing, is that Delmarva Towing STOLE that tow from Gary Pusey's and that's just wrong!! I wonder if Gary Pusey can press charges?
If the rules that are set in place by the police departments are not followed then this is what you get. Blame the cops.
Roger:
You stated your point very well. Hopefully, "handling your problems internally" means Mr. Pusey is filing a formal complaint and that the appropriate action is taken and not just swept under the rug. I can only imagine the amount of fuel and money wasted because you guys got robbed.
the problem is not with chris wilgus responding or in essence going to the accident it is some crazy volunteers going to the firehouse. I live in parsonsburg and i am always dodging a guy in a big white ford with his flashers on. Isnt that illegal?? He was going at least ninety on many occasions. I commend chris wilgus for doing that at work however he should not get volunteer accreditation while doing it.
Has anyone from Delmarva Towing thought to respond to any of this stuff? I'd love to hear what they have to say.
Roger, you're a good guy. Its not right to have your personal time and your company's fuel be invaded like that just to get turned away and not get paid. I hope the officer who made the judgment call realizes what they did. And Chris--Shame on you!!!!
11:57 I think that this is absolutely ambulance chasing, almost literally. Not right!
To anonymous 8:58----dont blame the economy for a bad judgement call. Dont get it twisted here. Follow the facts.
Ok, I guess someone can only take so much BS from such ignorant people in the community.
Here is the chain of events....upon a police officer arriving on scene of a motor vehicle collision, the first question is to be "...are you alright and do you need medical treatment?" The next question should be, "...do you have a predetermined tow company to tow your car?"
If the answer to the first question is either "....yes I am ok" or "....no I need an ambulance." the answer to the second one isn't influenced.
If a victim does not know who they would like to tow their car, a victim is offered "....the next available on the list." That list is accumulated once a year (runs for 365 days a year) and is made up of companies who meet a stringent criteria. The tow companies are randomly inspected twice a year and must hold certification as legal businesses in the area. Their driver's licenses are checked for good standing and a criminal history is checked by police departments to ensure drivers are not "WANTED" in the United States.
Once the "nearest reliable" is sought, the dispatcher or supervisor on duty pulls a book out and goes to the respective patrol area in the manual. There the next company on the list is contacted. The company can either pass on the request, accept the list, or even not answer the phone. If they accept the tow, the tow truck's are requested to be able to respond to the scene of the accident with 15 to 20 minutes from the time of the call. This alleviates the problem of closing down roadways for huge amounts of time. It allows the vehicles to be removed and life returns to normal
A motorist has the right to refuse the "next on the list" or "nearest reliable" and provide their own tow company. Officers on the scene make every attempt to allow you to choose your own company, all the while keeping in mind the time it would take to respond and remove the vehicle. Officers will not wait 90 minutes with the road closed if your tow is coming from Dover Delaware.
As far as the tow truck being on site already, well that's up to the company and the owner allowing the vehicle to be used a "personal vehicle." Officers should not be allowing the operator of the tow truck to "influence" a decision to use them as the tow company. THAT WOULD BE ILLEGAL. In rare occasions, passing tow trucks have been placed into action to clear the road thus allowing everyone to move on their way freely, but that is a rare occasion.
As far as "accident chasing." That is not illegal. Using a scanner to come to the area and await to see if they can be used as the tow truck is not a common practice and is indeed the responsiblity of the police officers to prevent.
No police department gets a kick back for using a tow truck company as their own. Each department has their own policies as to who they choose and who responds. Police officers are usually forbidden to moonlight as towtruck operators as there is a conflict of interest regarding these policies. If a police officer on site were to work at a tow company and have the inside edge at accident scenes, it violates a code of ethics set forth by many departments. I would encourage fire departments to use the same logic. There should be SOME sort of ethics in your departments.
I encourage everyone who wishes, to request police policies if they so wish as they fall under the public information act. Reach out and ask someone.
Stop talking out of your asses and get educated. Actually get off your asses and learn something. I did.
2:18 - I agree, If I'm near enough to hear that Parsonsburg siren go off, I pull off the road as far as I can get 'cause them boys are a comin'! There comin' real fast too! Surprised they haven't killed someone yet with their crazyness.
Kevin Griffin:
To get YOUR facts straight, there certainly are some officers (not all) who use "certain towing companies" in exchange for either free personal tows or monetary compensation. Get YOUR head out of YOUR ass and wake up. This is a fact!!!
You're absolutely incorrect!
When Officers call for a wrecker they call through their communications and they use the next company due on the list. NICE TRY!
The bottom line is even if the owner of Delmarva Towing lets Mr. Wilgus use the truck as a personal vehicle which he has his own anyway. He should not be allowed to drive it to the accident scene. If he is a fireman/emt he should arrive in the apporiate emergency vehicle. If this is the case than there would not be any issues with whatever tow company receives the tow. What the State Police needs to do is to rework the towlists. look at the city of Salisbury. They have a rotation with no sectors, no 3 trucks per company, and 30 minutes to respond. I don't think they have ever had any issues like this because the officer in charge polices his departments officers and the dispatchers.Also there is no owners request once the police arrive on the scene.
I think that the maryland state police should be taking care of this accident and for allowing 2 different delmarva towing trucks to pick up only 1 car like they were called for not two cars and pusey not to get niether of them after he was called to tow one of them.. calls should be made to cpl kelly austin about this at maryland state pd.410-749-3101
Actually Joe, you're wrong. What Kevin stated was fact, straight from the MSP Duty Officer. Maybe YOU should do some fact checking, instead of engaging your fat ass fingers. You low life fat piece of shit, you're nothing but a pussy.
I wonder if we can get Mike Lewis to look into his departments policies on tow truck calls. I know that there is NO way they follow rotation guidelines.
Kevin Griffin wrote:
"I encourage everyone who wishes, to request police policies if they so wish as they fall under the public information act."
I have tried to get a look at the call logs for WCSD and MSP. NOT HAPPENING....maybe you would have better luck.
Rotation guidelines are pretty much only followed by Salisbury City Police, believe it or not. Some MSP and WSD officers pretty much suggest a towing company and will call into dispatch "owner's request" when it is actually "officer's request". That is where the unfairness kicks in. MSP has gotten a little better here lately, they will call for "nearest reliable". I personally have seen some tow companies get 4 to 5 calls from the same agency and other companies on the same rotation list get no calls. Now you can't tell me that there isn't something going on here!
Good luck calling MSP's Cpl. Austin, she doesn't return phone calls!
Are they the Company that is on the P.D. rotation?
Blame this towing on the maryland State police for this happen to pusey towing something needs to be done to stop this with Delmarva towing NOW!!!!! this is not the first time to happen
i think this post was started by a jealous company lookiong to focus all the bad on delmarva towing to take the focus off him and his wife being convicted felons that own a tow compoany. sound familiar steve? arent you the owner of automdeic towing?
worry about your company and stay outof evryones way.
To John Q Public or whoever you are.Why din't you use your real name and oh by the way learn how to spell you dumb S.O.B. Lets have a sitdown so I can shove your comments so far up your ass and big mouth so you won't even be able to write. You need to get your facts straight, If I wanted to say something about Delmarva Towing I would not hide behind anonymous or john q public. So come out of the closet and show who are are you BIG PUSSY!!!!
Dear Gary,
God doesn't like hatefullness. I will continue to pray for you.
Dear John Q. Public,
God doesn't like hatefullness. I will continue to pray for you. We all knew who wrote this.
Whoever John Q. Public is, has about the same intelligence as the jerk who posted the crap about Jeff Simpson in prior blogs. It was very unnecessary and totally childish. I wonder how many skeletons you have in your closet? Steve and Nancy are good people and have helped our family out many times. Grow up!!!!
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