City alleges Volusia County Towing charged unlawful fees, denied card payments; hearing continued

At the City of Daytona Beach special magistrate hearing Oct. 14, 2025, city attorneys and police presented evidence they said shows Volusia County Towing (doing business under Thompson Holdings Enterprises LLC) repeatedly violated Daytona Beach towing rules by refusing credit-card payments, charging fees above the city rate schedule and withholding vehicles or property without legally required documentation.

City attorney Melissa Diaz told the magistrate the city would show by a preponderance of the evidence that the company violated four provisions of the city code — Section 110-2 (compliance required), Section 110-9 (acceptable payment methods), Section 110-38 (rates) and Section 110-39 (prerequisites for towing from private property) — and that the city would seek fines allowed under state law of up to $15,000 per violation. Diaz said the city would prove multiple incidents in which customers were told they could not pay by card, were quoted lower prices by phone and charged substantially more at the tow yard, or were denied itemized receipts required by ordinance.

Detective Ashley Cooper and Sergeant Shawna Connolly, police code liaisons who led the investigation, described multiple citizen complaints and officer contacts. Connolly said the case file produced to the magistrate included a table of contents and 17 incident reports the city plans to use to prove repeated violations. Detective Cooper testified in detail about an incident in which a rental car was towed, the person attempting to retrieve it said Volusia County Towing would not accept card payment, and staff at the tow yard declined to produce the itemized receipt required…