Bob's Towing Unleashes the Dogs, Fullerton Police Bite Back

A week after the Weekly reported that local business Bob's Towing had sued the Fullerton Police department for harassment, the department fired back with a salvo of its own. Tuesday's city council meeting saw the embattled department unveiling a nearly 600 page report detailing a year-long investigation of six service providers who competed for a city franchise.

Nearly 200 of those pages offered a scathing portrayal of Bob's Towing.

In January of 2011 the city put out a request for bids which would award qualified companies a franchise. The city would charge tow companies a $75 fee for each police tow to cover an estimated $250,000 in administration costs.

Competing companies included: Anaheim Fullerton Towing, Metro Pro, Brookhurst Towing, Bob's Towing, Country City Towing and To' Mo' Towing.

The report, filled with inspection records of each companies' buisiness offices, tow trucks and their drivers, summarily recommended the city council grant a franchise to long-time contractor Anaheim Fullerton Towing with a secondary franchise going to To' and Mo' Towing. Both were hailed by commercial enforcement officers as models of professionalism.

But the bulk of the voluminous tome included police reports, court records and other documents not typically released by police to the public. These painted the owner of Bob's Towing, Charles "Charlie" Al-Badawi, who recently sued the city, as a dishonest businessman, fond of hiring shady characters who roam the highways outfitted with substandard rigs and equipment.

Despite the mountains of paper work police presented to the council, no contracts were awarded. Following a presentation by Traffic Bureau Manger Lt. Scott Rudisil, Councilmember Bruce Whitaker remarked about the singular criticism heaped on Bob's Towing.