Former Bowling Green City Commissioner and Fountain Square Towing owner Brian “Slim” Nash alleges his business has been “targeted” in recent months by members of city government, the Bowling Green Police Department and the Kentucky Department of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement.

In a Daily News interview, Nash said he believes the relationship between his business and local authorities has turned “adversarial,” in part due to the number of complaints they have received regarding his towing business.

City officials, including BGPD Chief Michael Delaney, said BGPD has received 30 complaints in the last year regarding towing companies.

Of those, 29 involved Fountain Square Towing.

City Attorney Hillary Hightower said those complaints do not include those made to city officials elsewhere, which are not officially logged.

Hightower added that the city would rather not spend police resources on situations like towing complaints.

“No one is going out looking to see if Slim has improperly towed someone. We are simply responding to complaints, and we would rather not have to do that,” Hightower said.

Nash’s claims arise primarily from two uniform citations issued by KDCVE on Nov. 7 and Dec. 5. The Daily News acquired both uniform citations through an Open Records Request with the Kentucky State Police.

The first encounter began when a KDCVE officer identified as “Anderson, K.” pulled over a Fountain Square driver around 12:33 p.m. on Kentucky Street, the uniform citation states, and cited him for four infractions: No “KY for hire authority,” no medical certificate in the driver’s possession, no fire extinguisher per federal regulation and no warning triangles.

Nash said he received a call from his driver and soon arrived on the scene himself.

Body camera footage provided by Nash’s attorney, Alan Simpson, showed Nash inform the officer an extinguisher was in the truck cab, though the driver was unable to locate it prior. Nash said the officer informed him that it should be located on the exterior.

“There is no designation where it has to be,” Nash said. “I’ve gone back and read the regulation. I want to be in compliance. It was his preference that it be on the outside of the vehicle.”

Nash added that the driver had a digital copy of his medical documents on his phone, though body camera footage showed the driver told Anderson he knew “I’m supposed to carry it with me.”

Nash said the truck was missing the required warning triangles.

The most significant charge was the “No KY for hire authority,” which signified that Nash’s company was not properly authorized to tow within state lines. Anderson told Nash that trucks found to be operating without authority will be automatically impounded with “very, very, very large” fines.

Nash said this was a mistake when filling out forms roughly a year prior, when he accidentally marked “interstate” authority rather than only “intrastate.” Body camera footage showed Nash informing the officer that he was previously told by Kentucky Department of Transportation that he was in compliance after receiving complaints himself.

Anderson informed Nash that anonymous complaints had been made, including “one of them on Facebook,” which prompted the encounter, footage showed.

KDCVE placed the truck “out of service” until the clerical errors could be resolved. Nash ordered all tow trucks back to the lot that day and ceased operations until Nov. 10 to straighten things out, he said.

He contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles and believed the situation would soon be cleared.

“Over the course of a couple of days, we took everything that was on that list and we resolved every single one of them,” Nash said. “I mean, I went through and checked them off as we did them.”

Nash said he also placed all fire extinguishers on the outside of each truck, despite it being “one officer’s preference,” adding the move increases the chance of theft.

Nash said drivers often comment on the presence of KDCVE officers stationed near the Fountain Square lot, which Nash said happens “weekly.”

“My drivers believe that they’re following us. They’ll pull out and drive and then suddenly, Vehicle Enforcement pulls out,” Nash said. “I just told my drivers to ignore that. Do I think that’s targeting? I do.”

The same driver was pulled over almost a month later by a separate officer, “Scott, T.” on Louisville Road. He was cited for “Operating without the Required Operating Authority,” “Operating an out-of-service vehicle” and “No evidence of cargo insurance.”

Nash said the driver was towing a car and had just reported it to police dispatch, which is standard procedure for a tow.

“BGPD (dispatch) asked a question that they have never asked us before or since – ‘What is your current location?’ They’ve never asked that,” Nash said.

Nash again arrived on the scene and claimed that Anderson soon arrived as well. Nash said Anderson handed him a letter from Nov. 27 outlining issues that needed to be addressed to avoid being impounded, but Nash said he never received it.

“What he was now handing me (said) I needed to pay a $67 fee, that’s literally all this was, pay a fee and be done,” Nash said. “In the end, it shut me down for another two days.”

Nash’s truck was impounded by Basham’s Wrecker Service, which he said was relatively close to the scene. He said he was charged $450 due to the size and weight of the truck, though he believes it could have been towed without a specialty truck.

“In my mind, it again contributes to the targeting that he stopped us literally a stone’s throw away from where it was going to be towed,” Nash said. “Now, I get that in the towing business. It doesn’t matter if you tow something across the street or you tow it across town, there’s a flat fee for that, but it’s not $450.”

Nash said he believes Anderson “has an axe to grind” with him and the company, though could not say why. He said he could not find previous towing records that showed Fountain Square had interacted with him.

Nash again contacted KDCVE, paid the fee and soon got the business back in order. Simpson said they now plan to “vigorously defend the citations that have been issued.”

Nash claimed the pattern of targeting has not stopped there and said he is currently facing a pending city citation for towing a car that had parked in a spot without a towing sign. He claims the lot had several other signs present, including one at the entrance, but the sign on the spot had been stolen.

Hightower declined to comment on the pending citation as legal proceedings continue on the matter.

Nash also claimed he was targeted after building a fence around his lot. Code enforcers found it did not meet building code requirements due to its height after receiving complaints, Hightower said.

Nash said he asked for clarification on the code but did not receive an adequate response.

“He applied for a permit. I don’t believe the fence met the building code,” Hightower said. “It was already built, and at some point, I think the building code division gave him a permit.”

Hightower said permits are sometimes issued in similar situations because it is preferable to forcing a business owner to tear down a structure and restart.

Nash also said that BGPD has sought to release cars from his lot without showing proper proof of ownership.

“I had an officer on Friday night that tried to force me to release a car without proof of ownership because he said I had to,” Nash said. “I don’t do that, and I need to see proof of registration or a title.”

Delaney said officers occasionally act as “mediators” for citizens who have had their cars towed. He said they often hear from college students who may drive a parent’s car and lack access to proof of ownership, for example.

“We would show up and say, ‘We have run the tag, we’ve talked to the parents of the owner of the vehicle, this student has permission to drive the vehicle,’ and he still wouldn’t release it,” Delaney said.

Delaney said BGPD follows a different procedure for cars relating to a crime and these instances are only to assist civilians. He added that the longer a car sits on the lot, the more it can hurt a driver.

“We had a case recently where, while we’re trying to get all of this done, it rolls into another fee,” Delaney said. “And now the person says, ‘Well, I don’t have that much money now.’ ”

Delaney added that situations like these seem to occur more often for Fountain Square Towing than for other local companies.

“I’m trying to help those who don’t have a voice for themselves and don’t know the process, so it’s not adversarial,” Delaney said. “We’re just navigating this and trying to be the mediators in all this, and we’re getting resistance from the tow company.”

Hightower said residents are not yet used to private towing downtown, which has only become prominent in recent years as the city grows and several private lots now enforce towing. 

While the city does not have any towing contracts, Hightower said they are trying to increase awareness of free parking so residents can avoid being towed from private lots, hopefully avoiding negative interactions entirely.

“It’s not anything about the city and Slim, it really is just about a change in the way private parking lot owners are handling their business and an adjustment period for the public,” Hightower said.