From DC

An employee of the Delaware River & Bay Authority Police Department in Lewes faces charges following a Georgetown incident.

Ismael Torres Jr., 32, of Georgetown, was arrested by state troopers Friday. Torres was formerly a corporal at the Milton Police Department, where he received several awards for service in the line of duty.

State troopers and investigators with the state Attorney General's Office were assigned the case Nov. 7 after three employees of the Complete Auto Recovery Company in Millsboro filed a complaint against Torres. The employees alleged Torres identified himself as a police officer and threatened to shoot them as they attempted to repossess a 2002 Ford Explorer parked on private property in Georgetown. Detectives said they were told that Torres allegedly made the threats toward the members of the recovery service while demanding that they vacate the property.

Police said the Ford Explorer was in the process of being affixed to a wrecker for repossession. Torres allegedly entered the Ford and drove it away from the recovery equipment, causing one of the straps to hit a member of the recovery service, police said.

Torres was charged with misdemeanor offenses including one count of offensive touching, three counts of terroristic threatening and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment; he was processed and arraigned at Troop 4 and released on $2,050 unsecured bond.

From Washington

Because he was working quickly, the repo driver did not notice the 5- and 7-year-old children when he arrived at a grocery store parking lot Thursday morning to take the 1996 Ford Explorer, police Officer Jennifer DeRuwe said.

The father had left the children in the vehicle when he ran into the store for doughnuts. He called police when he saw the car and kids missing; the repo man also called police after arriving at the repo lot and discovering the passengers.

It's not illegal to leave children unattended in a car as long as it's not running, is not outside a bar, and the weather doesn't pose a danger, DeRuwe said.

Police said the children were returned unharmed to their father.

"They were fine, saying 'Hey Dad,' when he came to get them," she said

From California

Palm Springs police arrested a repossession agent and a man who sprayed him with a garden house as a vehicle was being recovered, a sergeant said.

The tiff in the 2300 block of Finley Road occurred about 7 Tuesday night, Palm Springs police Sgt. Mitch Spike said. He said 34-year-old Lincoln Walker of Palm Desert went to retrieve a vehicle from someone who was behind on payments.

During the repossession, the owner's roommate, 45-year-old Mark Todd, got Walker's permission to remove personal items from the car, Spike said. But tension rose when Walker asked Todd for the keys, and Todd denied having a set.

Todd "demanded that Walker take the vehicle and leave the property," Spike said. "When Walker refused to leave, Todd allegedly turned on a garden hose and sprayed Walker."

Walker whipped out a collapsible baton and brandished it at Walker, according to Spike.

When police arrived, both were arrested -- Todd on suspicion of misdemeanor battery, and Walker on suspicion of possessing of an unlawful weapon, a felony, and brandishing a weapon, Spike said.

The pair were booked at the Palm Spring Jail and released, he said.

From South Carolina

Two men are arrested for impersonating a police officer. The victim says they ran him off the road to repossess his truck.

Run off the road and roughed up. A man says he was attacked by a repo man and a used car salesman pretending to be law enforcement officers. The men were arrested on Friday on Asheville Highway in Inman. Deputies say they went too far in trying to re-possess a truck.

The victim says he was headed up Asheville Highway on Friday afternoon with other cars all over the road when all of a sudden a tow truck bumped him from behind, and forced him off the road and in a parking lot. He says the man he had bought the truck from and the repo man proceeded to push him around. But he says this actually all started in his driveway.

Kevin Parker says he was sitting in his truck in his own driveway when all of a sudden he was rammed from behind. He says he looked up to see a tow truck hooked up to his vehicle. He says he was afraid so he put the truck in four-wheel drive and took off. He says the men followed him up Asheville Highway, forced him off the road and then started shoving him around. He says the repo man claimed to be a law enforcement officer and then a witness who saw what was going on called 911.

Deputies say the two men are Tony Cooper who works for a repo company and Justin Harness who is the manager of Credit Cars in Taylors, where Parker bought his truck. They were arrested and charged with impersonating an officer, reckless driving and assault and battery.

Tony Cooper works for a company called Professional Auto Recovery out of Greenville. The name may sound familiar to you because we did a story on them back in April after one of their tow trucks tried to tow away a vehicle with a woman still inside.


The Better Business Bureau says 11 people have filed complaints about the towing company, some alleging damage to vehicles or property, others believe they should not have been towed. Cooper adamantly tells us the complaints are "not correct".