Thank God there were dozens of brave Los Angelenos who jumped into action, stripping the keys from the tow trucks ignition and keeping an eye on him just in case he bolted.
A wild scene played out in the city of El Monte, California earlier this weekend (June 6,2020) when a drunk tow truck driver and his flat bed with a full load ran through an intersection, into a strip mall parking lot, and stopped, crashing into first into an electrical box and then into a gate separating his several-tons truck from a house with kids in it. The entire ordeal was caught on camera including his inevitable arrest.
On the intersection of Valley Blvd. and Baldwin Ave, a tiny strip mall with a laundromat, oil change, mobile store, and donut shop was busy with business as the sun set towards golden hour.
Then, from off of Valley Blvd, a flatbed tow truck from Angel’s City Towing 2 came barrelling through the intersection, taking out a new Honda Accord, Dodge Promaster delivery van, another Honda Accord in the shopping center, and, at least seven other cars before coming to a stop in front of a laundry mat.
In the video we can see a handful of those seven other cars, side-swiped, paint stripped and body panels damaged, knocking into each other like dominos.
Before he could do any damage, dozens of El Monte residents gain access to the cab by hurling a rock into the window. The real hero is this dude, screenshots below, who somehow got a street sign, ready to use as a weapon.
Was the street sign already ripped out of the ground?
Did a surge of adrenaline with all that was happening around him give him the strength to rip it out of the ground?
Police arrive within minutes, determine that the driver is under the influence of something, and allow him to crawl out of his two truck under his own power.
His arrest was relatively calm and controlled, police not resorting to unnecessary force or drawing their weapons to secure the suspect (I’m sure that point will ruffle a few feathers.)
The suspect was reportedly treated for minor injuries but is altogether OK. The same can’t be said for the property he destroyed.
One thing’s for sure, this dude’s out of a job and slapped with at least a DUI including destruction of property.
And I’m sure insurance will have a field day working out individual claims. Thankfully, there’s video evidence.
Keep your wits about you at all times, my friends. No one expects a flat bed tow truck to coming barreling within inches of you.
Did you see the videos?!? Brave citizens my ***! Bunch ****** beating on a man! **** off and learn how to report news appropriately, ******** **** *****!
They’re defending their community. Brave.
That’s still no right to beat on him!! What if he was having a heart attack or stroke they didn’t know what was wrong with him they needed to be arrested as well
Brave, and stunning. All at once
Their community? From the sound of it their community would be deep in Mexico, California is still in America isn’t it? They acted like animals, period.
In the article it said the flat bed had a full load, since when is one pallet a full load on any flat bed? Is this really suppose to be a news organization?
Sam Stephens and you back in England by the appearance of your name.
I agree with you
Probably related to the man that got his a** beat
Probably it would’ve been better just let him go ahead into that house. So this poor drunk man could do the same innocent action with the kids in that house. Oh, Did I forget to mention that people under any kind of influence understand perfectly if you talk with them. Next time this bunch of **** must ask politely to stop the truck, cause they clearly didn’t yell at him to stop.
I absolutely agree. I get breaking the window and getting the keys but then they assault him. That last guy that climbed in just punched gon repeatedly in the head when he was already down. I had a situation like this where a guy almost killed me and a few other people at a business and my response was to get his keys and get goin off the road. In my case the guy had blood sugar issues that weren’t properly managed. Cops were called, he was hospitalized, responsible for damages he caused but thankfully nobody was killed. They never should’ve harmed him. He was clearly struggling to even stand probably due in part to alcohol and in part to being assaulted.
I agree with you. The community acted like animals, take the keys and that’s it. Beating him after the fact is a p***y thing to do. Good luck joining society and becoming better citizens. Trying to justify brutality by saying it’s not our property or our kids in the neighborhood, forget that my friend, I’ve seen more garbage in my life that I will always fight for justice and especially defend the defenseless.
At least they were acting on it rather than just recording through a phone.
When you drunk you shouldn’t be driving everywhere or anything he could have killed someone that is why this individuals when into action before more damage could be done
YEA… ONLY WITE PEOPLE CAN ACT LIKE ANIMALS AND KILL PEOPLE TO DEFEND THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD… F*** OFF P***
Lol the world has lost its mind if anyone thinks was brave.
The one guy who jumped in to punch him after the fact needs to be put down like a dog since he cant behave like a human being.
Thanks Paulo – I found your article and coverage great! The before and after videos by locals were wow better the news coverage. The Joke that is Fox News reporter was terrible at reporting the aftermath and shouldnt be at the top of the google search results but yours should be!
Thank you for the kind comment! Honestly, made my day. =)
What about all the blood we can see running from or by the white van and the destroyed cars where a couple was crying on the road? It seems it’s all focused on the damaged cars.
Look at all of that police brutality.
I want to know this as well!
Pretty sure it is transmission fluid, not blood
Thank You, Shellie! Good eye and you’re probably right. The Dodge RamProMaster is FWD with the transmission up front. More than likely the collision knocked off an ATF line.
I was just saying that like how tf you don’t actually show who he really hurt and the guy with the lady crying also was on the phone and said there’s a body pick us up
That’s just Automatic Transmission Fluid. The Dodge Ram Promaster is a FWD-based van with the transmission up front. Just knocked off an ATF line. ATF is red (or deep red/purple.)
That’s red Transmission fluid mang
“when a drunk tow truck driver and his flat bed with a full load”
Some sensationalizing journalism there. He didn’t have a full load. He had a small pallet of what looked like bricks on the bed. Hardly a full load. Report facts.
Exactly, the propaganda machine has totally lost the plot
I don’t think that it matters the full load. He did some damage regardless. Some of us can get see passed the drama that some media outlets portray. Cmon it got you to read it!
“The real hero is this dude, screenshots below, who somehow got a street sign, ready to use as a weapon” He’s a hero? And to use a Street sign? Who does that! He is no hero. None of those people there were heros, brave or defending their community. How did they know he was drunk before entering his vehicle and beating on him? What gave the the right to do that. What if all this was due to the driver having a heart attack, stroke or something else. A hero or brave person would have entered his vehicle taken his keys and make sure this man was okay. He ended up being drunk still didn’t give anyone the right to act that way. That hero with the street sign along with anyone else putting their hands on him should also be charged with assult charges. My feelings are this way because I witnessed something similar with an older woman driving her car, hitting multiple cars in a shopping center then right into a tree, after everyone ran to her car she also looked drunk, turns out she had a stroke. The word hero gets used by so many in the wrong context, this is an example.
Your feeling don’t matter Miriam,
You don’t live in this community and your life was not in danger. I live in this community. When a shirtless gangster full of tattoos plows through two blocks of your neighborhood injuring people and almost killing them as his tow truck driver was doing, action definitely needs to take place. This vehicle was not just a car it was a deadly weapon And needed to be stopped. By the way, the house behind the truck is full of children and they play right there where he was stopped. Thank God, no one was killed. I have never seen a legitimate tow truck driver, driving around without a shirt. We all knew he was drunk. I have a background in nursing and I knew immediately it was not a heart attack or stroke. But thanks for your outside opinion anyways. The true citizens, members of this neighborhood and community and heroes knew what they needed to do to stop this deadly, drunk driver. Thank you everybody for saving lives in our community and thank you for posting this Paulo??
He probably ended up doing about $40k in improvements.
His arrest was relatively calm and controlled, police not resorting to unnecessary force or drawing their weapons to secure the suspect (I’m sure that point will ruffle a few feathers.)
What do you mean by that?
Paulo Acoba, thanks for the article on this incident.
No prob.
Thanks for making this article! I definitely laughed out loud with your description of the man and the sign! I think the public saw how this man was further endangering more people and not condoning violence of course, but I think it’s clear everyone in the parking lot saw this man as a threat with his actions. No one can justify driving under the influence. Thanks man!
Thanks for the comment, Carlotta! =)
I say the drunk b*****d got what he deserved