Southern tow truck drivers are a bit fearful after the recent brutal murder of a repo man. Believe it or not, towing trucks can be dangerous work.
In early June, tow truck driver Steven Hughes Jr. died. He was repossessing a vehicle in Lexington County near Columbia, South Carolina. That's when 20-year-old Raheem Jackson confronted him. Police later found Hughes dead inside of his truck. He had been shot five times. Emergency responders announced him dead at a local hospital.
Police arrested Jackson and his sister for Hughes' murder. The kicker is that wasn't even their car that Hughes was repossessing. Just take a look around, and you'll see that towing can be dangerous. In May, Greg Hostetler died in Illinois after a pay dispute. He owned a repo business. Meanwhile, in February, a New Jersey man shot and killed a worker over a dispute on a vehicle.
In March, a tow truck driver barely survived after getting stabbed and shot while trying to tow a Ford Focus. A homeless man was living in the car. When the driver gave the man a chance to retrieve his belongings, he instead got a steak knife in the hand and shot as a result. A frantic 911 call alerted police.
Tow Truck Drivers Are Reluctant
Due to these brutal attacks, operators are dealing with an employee shortage. Workers aren't wanting to take the job, and if they do, well they don't stay for long. Anna Wingard, president of the Towing and Recovery Association of South Carolina, who also owns Wingard Towing, told Fox News Digital that it's been a real struggle
"Violence is on the upswing against tow truck drivers," she said. "The economy is difficult right now. People are choosing whether they're going to pay for their groceries to feed their family or their car payment and that's a stressful situation to be in."
That's despite the fact that Wingard's company doesn't even handle repossessions. They found that it wasn't worth the hassle. That decision came after a driver ran over the vice president's hand in a brutal exchange. However, towing is just dangerous period. Tow truck drivers are 15 times more likely to die than employees in all other private industries combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"In every arena of towing any which way you look at it, it's very dangerous," Wingard said.
