By EMS1 Staff
SALT LAKE CITY — A tow company is under fire after putting a boot on an ambulance for parking in a private lot, but a business owner who hired the tow company said they were just doing their job.
Good 4 Utah reported that a Gold Cross Ambulance crew was shown pulling into a Litzas Pizza parking lot, taking up two parking spaces and walking over to Chipotle.
The video then shows an ABC Towing employee booting the ambulance.
A person claiming to be the driver of the ambulance tweeted that the crew was angry about the incident because they had missed a call, but the original tweet was later deleted and the agency would not confirm if they were on duty at the time.
Litzas Pizza owner Mark Hale said parking in the lot became an issue when a new apartment complex opened a Chipotle, and his customers were left with less space to park.
“We went for two or three months just hoping people would be respectful of the signs,” Hale said. “Once we realized they weren’t going to do that we contacted the towing company.”
Hale said he has 19 signs in the parking lot warning that the spaces are for customers only, and he only allows the tow company to boot vehicles for violating the rules.
“ABC Towing has been beautiful in doing their job, it’s a tough job,” Hale said. “But if you don’t protect your property rights than you have no property rights.”
The EMS agency later called ABC Towing and said they are warning drivers to only park in the lot if they are a Litzas Pizza customer.