2 Investigators: City Tow Truck Damages Car, Leaves Scene
(CBS) -- A city of Chicago tow truck hit a woman's car. What happened next left her outraged.
2 Investigator Dave Savini actually witnessed the crash.
She says she called 3-1-1, 9-1-1 and the Department of Streets and Sanitation, but no action was taken until CBS 2 got involved.
City tow truck drivers use a special hooking device to slide tightly parked vehicles out of their spaces. It was one of those devices Alex Cipolla says damaged her Nissan while it was parked on Ontario Street near State Street.
"First I saw this hole, which is pretty deep," Cipolla says.
After causing two puncture holes in the front end, and other damage, Cipolla says the city driver fled the scene.
"Someone left a note that said the tow truck had hit me," she says.
A good Samaritan saw it happen from a neighboring apartment and gave Cipolla the number of the city truck. There were numerous other witnesses on the street, including Savini, who called 3-1-1 and the victim.
Since the Nov. 28 incident, Cipolla says no one from the Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation, which operates the tow trucks, called her or looked at the damaged car. She also filed a police report, but police are just calling it an accident and not ticketing the city driver. And no one will tell Cipolla the driver's name.
"It makes me angry," Cipolla says about the city's response.
She also worries about the cost of repairs. Last year, only 17 out of the 77 motorists who filed tow truck damage claims received any compensation from the city. In 2014, $113,000 in damage was reported, but records show the city paid less than 10 percent of that -- only $11,000.
Cipolla questions whether she will be fully reimbursed for the damage.
The Department of Streets and Sanitation investigated and now the driver faces yet-to-be-determined disciplinary action. A department spokesman says they take damage complaints very seriously and complaints should be called into 3-1-1.
There is still no answer from Chicago police as to why the driver was not ticketed for the accident and leaving the scene.
