Two truck drivers charged with extorting minority drivers

KSL+

Oct 10, 2024, 3:34 PM

Two employees of a West Valley towing company have been charged with helping their boss illegally target and extort mostly minority semitruck drivers. (Kirkham, Shutterstock)

(Kirkham, Shutterstock)

BY PAT REAVY, KSL.COM

KSLTV.com

WEST VALLEY CITY — Two more people are facing criminal charges tied to a company accused of “predatory towing” that investigators say targeted mainly minority semitruck drivers.

Brad Duwayne Warner, 30, of Taylorsville, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity and seven counts of theft by extortion, second-degree felonies. Danalee Ashlyn Rodriguez, 20, of Taylorsville, was charged with engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony.

Investigators say both worked for the owner of Bailout Towing, Jason Samuel Lovato, 46, of Salt Lake City. He was charged on July 31 with two dozen crimes including: engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, theft, three counts of robbery and 10 counts of theft by extortion, second-degree felonies; six counts of vehicle burglary, theft by deception, and assault with substantial injury, third-degree felonies; and assault, a class A misdemeanor.

Detectives “found that Lovato and his employees would unlawfully impound semitrucks and trailers with strong-arm tactics, holding the semitrucks and trailers for ransom, and/or stealing the semitrucks/trailers” and that the group “would only target immigrant and minority semitruck drivers,” according to charging documents.

In one incident in 2022, Lovato is accused of taking a semi and charging the driver $943 to have it released back to him. The bill allegedly included a surcharge for the fuel used by the tow truck and a storage fee. However, police discovered that Lovato “entered the semi using a skeleton key and drove the semi to his storage facility without the use of a tow truck,” according to the charges. And then the company that owned the semi attempted to contact Lovato to get its truck back, but “Lovato did not immediately respond, resulting in the vehicle being stored for several days longer than it should have been,” for which Lovato allegedly charged the company.

In July 2023, investigators say Warner was with Lovato when he detached a trailer from its semi and hooked it up to a tow truck — all while the driver was asleep in the cab. Both men pressured the driver into paying $800 to have his semi taken off the tow truck, the charges state.

A similar incident involving both Lovato and Warner happened in August 2023, according to investigators.

In September 2023, Lovato hooked up a semitruck to his tow truck, then fought with the semi-driver and pulled him out of his cab, resulting in the driver breaking a finger, the charges allege.

Police say Rodriguez was present for two other similar incidents in September 2023 that occurred just three days apart.

Charging documents list at least a dozen incidents between 2022 and 2023 of Lovato and his associates illegally targeting minority semitruck drivers for towing and charging them large fees to get their trucks back.