POLICE TOWING SERVICES
FACILITY AND TOW VEHICLE INSPECTION REPORT
PACIFIC TOWING
FACILITY INSPECTION
INTRODUCTION
On 12/28/2021, Officer Barclay and Officer Feaster (collectively “staff”) conducted a facility inspection at Pacific Towing’s facility, 2840 E Coronado St., Anaheim. The inspection began at approximately 1030 hours and terminated at approximately 1130 hours.
The inspection generally covered the requirements contained in Chapter 3.74 of the Fullerton Municipal Code (FMC), the Fullerton Police Department Tow Policy Guidelines and Requirements (“Tow Guidelines”), and the California Vehicle Code (CVC).
A check list was used to ensure the key requirements were reviewed by staff.
The inspection staff was met in Pacific Towing’s front office by onsite manager, Nick Feghali. Mr. Feghali accompanied staff throughout the inspection.
Generally, the inspection covered the tow yard, evidence hold area, main office interior, and main office exterior. During the inspection, Officer Barclay took photographs of the general scene and specific items of interest.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Pacific Towing is located within the city of Anaheim and is within a 5-mile radius from Fullerton City Hall as required by Chapter 3.74 of the FMC. The property is in an industrial zone surrounded by businesses on all sides.
The facility resides on the south curb line of Coronado St. east of Blue Gum St. in Anaheim. A concrete driveway leads from the cul-de-sac to the main chain link gate. The chain link gate is attached to a hinge that swings open toward Coronado St. The tow yard lies beyond the gate to the south. The grounds of the tow yard are comprised of asphalt. There is a parking lot to the front of the location for customers, however, there are multiple vehicles parked there that are owned by Pacific Towing.
There is a single building on the property that lies in the center. The building contains the main office spaces, interior evidence hold area, and additional space for storing vehicles.
The location was not inspected at night. Therefore, the lighting at the location could not be documented.
Pacific Towing’s prior inspection did not meet RFP standards by failing to meet the storage capacity qualification. It should be noted, I have had many conversations with Mr. Feghali regarding the use of his other tow yard, 391 E Commercial St., Anaheim. Mr. Feghali has expressed to me his desire to store Fullerton Vehicles not designated for immediate release, in this yard, to meet the qualifications of the RFP. I informed Mr. Feghali to provide me a written proposal regarding his plans for storing vehicles at the location on Commercial St., and how he could meet the RFP qualifications. I have yet to receive the proposal.
Additionally, Mr. Feghali no longer contracts with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, therefore, is no longer requiring space for their vehicles. Mr. Feghali also informed me that he is storing other agencies vehicles in the tow yard at 391 E Commercial St. These agencies include Anaheim PD and California Highway Patrol. He also said he stores vehicles that are going to be sold through lien sale and junk cars at the location on Commercial St. He informed me FPD was the main agency that stores vehicles in the main yard at the Coronado location.
TOW YARD
I asked Mr. Feghali the dimensions of the lot’s size. Mr. Feghali informed me the lot size was approximately 31,464 sqft. The main and only building on the property is a warehouse that is roughly 9,000 sqft.
The tow yard is approximately 14,125 sqft. This approximation was taken from measurements obtained by Google Maps. The measurements excluded the warehouse and the front of the location north of the gate. The surface of the yard consists of level asphalt. The following describes the security of the perimeter. The entrance to the main driveway is governed by a swinging chain link gate that is topped with razor wire. The gate itself is approximately 10 feet tall. The driveway, extending about 113 feet, south, into the yard, is enclosed by the Pacific Towing’s main building on the west and the building of a neighboring business to the east. The driveway extends down into the main portion of the tow yard which is approximately 113 feet by 91 feet. This portion of the lot is contained by a cement wall topped with a chain link fence and razor wire on the east, a building from a neighboring business to the south, a 6-foot-tall chain link fence with paneling topped with razor wire to the west, and Pacific Towing’s main building to the north. The walls and chain link fences lining the property appeared to be in good condition.
The property had lights fixed to the main building pointing out toward the tow yard. As mentioned prior, the facility was not inspected at night leaving no comment for lighting conditions.
Looking throughout the tow yard, staff observed multiple security cameras were positioned on the exterior of Pacific Towing’s warehouse, providing wide coverage of the exterior tow yard. Staff was impressed with the number of surveillance cameras lining the property. The overall security of the tow yard exceeded expectations.
STORAGE CAPACITY
Pursuant to the Tow Guidelines, tow facilities must meet the following requirements relating to storage capacity:
• The tow facility shall comply with all requirements of Chapter 3.74 of the Fullerton Municipal Code
• The facility shall contain adequate open storage space to accommodate a minimum of 100 stored, impounded, and disabled vehicles resulting from FPD calls for towing services. In addition, the facility must contain adequate space for storage of two (2) eighty (80) foot tractor- trailer combination trucks for up to seven (7) days and space for long term or evidence storage of one (1) such truck. Each tow service operator may have more than one lot in order to meet the storage requirements. All storage lots must be within a five (5) mile radius of Fullerton City Hall and meet all facility requirements.
While at the location, staff learned that Mr. Feghali was using a portion of the warehouse space in the main building to store vehicles separate from inside evidence storage. At the time of inspection, there were approximately 12 vehicles occupying this space. Staff estimated the warehouse could fit a total of 25 vehicles. Staff inspected the exterior yard and noticed the tow yard was relatively empty. Staff counted the number of vehicles in the yard and estimated there to be 61 vehicles in the exterior yard at the time of inspection. At the end of the day, I requested Mr. Feghali provide me a list of the vehicles currently stored at that location.
Mr. Feghali was able to provide an excel spreadsheet listing the vehicles currently stored at Pacific Towing’s Coronado location. According to the spreadsheet, the number of vehicles stored at the location not designated for inside storage was 69 vehicles. Separating the total vehicles per agency resulted in the following: FPD had 48 vehicles, APD had 14, and CHP had 7.
Based on the 14,125 sqft. estimated for the size of the exterior storage area, staff estimated the number of vehicles the lot could hold by approximating the average size of a passenger size vehicle to be about 15 feet by 6 feet. Based off this estimation, Pacific Towing could hold approximately 156 passenger sized vehicles if they used every square inch of their lot. In addition, Pacific Towing has the warehouse space to store vehicles which adds another 25 vehicles to the total, making the total available storage space about 181 passenger sized vehicles.
The Tow Guidelines also require the capacity to store two 80-foot tractor-trailer combinations. Mr.
Feghali informed staff, if need be, he could store two tractor trailer combinations along the east side of the business. Given that Tractor Trailer combinations are approximately 8.5 feet wide and the RFP requires space for 80 foot tractor trailer combinations, the approximate amount of space two tractor trailers would be occupy is about 1,360 sqft. Subtracting this from the total lot size, Pacific Towing is left with about 12,765 sqft. This amount of space could hold approximately 141 passenger sized vehicles.
With Mr. Feghali’s changes in where he stores other agencies vehicles and by him not contracting with OCSD, I believe there is adequate space to meet the needs of the Tow Guideline’s storage capacity requirement. Even with space taken by two 80 foot tractor trailer combinations, the exterior yard approximately holds 141 vehicles. Taking into account the number of vehicles that can be stored in the warehouse is about 25, brings the total number of stored vehicles to about 166. When looking at the current number of vehicles stored by Pacific Towing by respective agency, Pacific towing meets the Tow Guideline storage requirement of having a space for a minimum of 100 vehicles. This remains true if Pacific Towing continues the ratio at which they are storing Fullerton PD’s vehicles at the Coronado location. Currently, Fullerton PD consists of 69% of the vehicles stored at the Coronado location. If this percentage drops below 55%, Pacific Towing could find itself in violation.
Vehicle Evidence Storage
Pacific Towing has separated its warehouse to accommodate the inside evidence storage location. The evidence storage is comprised of the west side of the warehouse and is approximately a 4,000 sqft. space. There are three entrances into the evidence storage area. This includes an interior pedestrian door on the north end and two roll up doors on the east side of the space. The roll up doors were governed by locks at the base while the pedestrian door had a residential locking doorknob with no deadbolt. There is one key for the door, and it is kept in a locked box in the dispatcher’s desk. The key to the locked box is only accessible to the dispatcher, Mr. Feghali, or the lead driver on the weekends. The only way to access the pedestrian door would be to gain access into the warehouse, which is locked from the exterior by higher security locking mechanisms. The roll up doors are used to withdraw and deposit vehicles from the evidence area. At the time of my inspection, Personnel from FPD’s Property Crimes bureau were inspecting a large van that had been collected as evidence. The van had been pulled out from the evidence area through one of the roll up doors. Staff was able to observe the ease of access to vehicles with this system.
The evidence storage area was spacious and contained more than enough room to fulfill the tow guideline’s requirement of 7 passenger sized vehicles. At the time of inspection, there were 13 vehicles in the evidence storage area, with enough space to store at least 10 more vehicles. It should also be noted the space is enclosed on all sides by walls and a ceiling. The flooring was solid concrete with no change in height from the area outside the evidence storage location. There is adequate lighting illuminating the space as well as functioning outlets on the wall allowing an immediate source of electricity. A running log is hung on the wall by the pedestrian door logging everyone who accessed the evidence area.
The aspects listed above exceeded the qualifications listed in the Tow Guidelines.
BUILDINGS/FACILITY
There is only one building on the property and it is an approximately 9,000 sqft. sized warehouse. The north end of the warehouse had been converted into an office space and a front desk area to interact with customers. Most of the facilities records are kept in the front office space. South of the office space was vehicle storage for both evidence and non-evidence. These storage areas are separated by a large wall. The doors accessing the evidence storage area are located on this waled partition. A hallway connects the two storage spaces on their north ends. In this hallway, is a bathroom and lunchroom lie on the north side, west of the main office space. Separating the evidence area from the rest of the warehouse, Mr. Feghali had an office that was accessible from the east side of the partitioned warehouse. In addition to Mr. Feghali’s office, were two other rooms, both appeared to be for maintenance housing tools, mechanical parts, mechanical fluids, and other miscellaneous items.
Offices
The front entry door of the office is located off the parking lot on Coronado St. on the north side of the warehouse. Lettering spelling out “Pacific Towing” is hung on the wall of the business facing out toward Coronado St. The front door to the location the company’s name written on it. There is a Ring doorbell system next to the front door for after hours customers to utilize to gain access to personnel. Once through the front doors of the office, there is a desk where customers interact with employees. Behind this desk, is a space for the tow dispatchers and office work. Beyond this room, to the east, is another office designated for office work where and it houses most of the company’s records.
In one of the front desks designated for the tow dispatchers, there was a file cabinet containing paperwork for vehicles that were in process to be sold by lien. I was instructed that once all the necessary paperwork was collected from the lien company, these files were then transferred to Mr.
Feghali’s office, which is located in the non-evidence vehicle storage area inside the warehouse.
Posted Notices
There are several notices required by the City of Fullerton that Pacific Towing must display to be in compliance with the contract. The following items and their posted locations are listed:
• Fullerton Tow Rates, posted on the front windows of the business and on the wall in the office. • Fullerton Business Registration, posted on a cork board inside the main office. • The CVC 22651.07 consumer protection notice, posted on the west wall inside the business just past the front door
Staff found that Pacific Towing complied with FMC 3.74 and the Tow Guidelines where it related to posted notices.
Records
The records kept by Pacific Towing were inspected. As mentioned prior, the business keeps its records of lien sales in progress throughout the office. The process starts at the dispatcher’s desk. Once the packet is filled with the lien certificate, the bill of sale, and the facility’s lot card, the packet is sent to Mr.
Feghali’s office, where he awaits confirmation from FPD and other agencies that the vehicles are cleared for the lien sale. Once the vehicles are cleared and sold, the packets find there way to the office on the north-east end of the building.
The office on the north-east end contained records of completed lien sales, records of vehicles that had been released from the tow yard, files regarding tow trucks, and files with the driver’s information.
The records were kept in metal file cabinets along the north wall of the office. Each cabinet was designated for a specific record category, presenting a professional and efficient filing system.
Released Vehicles
The file for released vehicles was organized by months of the year. Each month contained a packet of a vehicle that had been released. The contents of this packet included:
• The registration information
• A photocopy of the identification of the individual who collected the vehicle • Emails and/or written confirmation from the owner for an agent to pick up the vehicle • The Tow Company and Driver who towed the vehicle
Lien Sales
The file containing finalized lien sales were also organized by the months of the year. Inside each month tab contained packets regarding vehicles that had been sold by lien. The contents of the packet included:
• Copies of the lien paperwork
• Vehicle registration information
• Vehicle’s release of liability
• A copy of the Police Agency’s release of the vehicle
Tow Trucks
The file containing tow truck information was organized by the unit number (every truck is designated a unit number). The contents for a random unit’s file contained:
• Vehicle’s registration
• A complete history of maintenance conducted on the vehicle • A complete history of parts that had been ordered pertaining to any maintenance conducted Drivers
The file containing driver’s information was neatly organized by driver’s name. The files were extensive containing:
• The driver’s application with the tow company and request for live scan • The employee’s driver’s license
• Paperwork from the CHP giving the employee clearance to tow vehicles • Results from random drug testing
• Records of citations that drivers had been issued while on duty • Paperwork and documentation regarding the employee’s certifications and training After a complete inspection of the records held by Pacific Towing, it was found they were neat, orderly, and extensive. The records kept by Pacific Towing was found to be in compliance with the Tow Guidelines and FMC 3.74.
According to previous inspections, Pacific Towing lacked Class A licensed tow truck drivers with the proper endorsements. Mr. Feghali was asked the progress he had made in obtaining more Class A tow truck drivers. Mr. Feghali stated he and another employee are the two drivers at the company with Class A driver’s licenses. Mr. Feghali’s other Class A licensed driver had recently obtained the necessary endorsements to tow special vehicle configurations such as doubles, triples, haz-mat vehicles, and tank vehicles. Mr. Feghali advised he is constantly encouraging his drivers who do not have Class A licenses, to study to obtain it. He currently has two other drivers who are in the process of obtaining their Class A driver’s licenses. It was also conveyed by Mr. Feghali, he is continually searching for new drivers to hire with Class A drivers licenses and the proper endorsements. FPD staff recently received the criminal history background check of a potential Class A tow truck driver applying with Pacific Towing.
Unfortunately, the applicant’s background was not acceptable to FPD staff, and the applicant was rejected. Even though the driver was not accepted, Pacific Towing has demonstrated persistence in their effort to obtain more Class A tow truck drivers with the appropriate qualifications.
OVERALL EVALUATION
Overall, it is staff’s conclusion that Pacific Towing met and, in some areas, exceeded the expectations listed by the Tow Guidelines and FMC 3.74. Pacific Towing has corrected their previous storage issue by storing other agencies’ vehicles at their yard located on Commercial St. This has freed much of the yard space for Pacific Towing to allocate more vehicles for Fullerton PD. In addition, they cancelled their contract with OCSD, freeing up more space. Pacific Towing is efficient with the space they are given and are able to fluidly move vehicles in and out of the yard. The inside evidence storage meets all FPD’s guidelines. The office space and record keeping are tidy and organized. Pacific Towing’s facility passes the criteria set by the Tow Guidelines and FMC 3.74.