Council upholds rejection of Albertson Towing bid after safety incidents and no-show calls

The Omaha City Council on May 20 denied an appeal from Albertson Towing challenging the city's decision to reject the company from the list of approved tow providers for police-ordered tows.

City attorneys and police officials told council Albertson had three notable safety incidents in early 2025, including two failures to secure towed vehicles and a April incident in which an officer was injured when a rolling vehicle struck his legs. City staff also reported a high rate of missed or unanswered calls to Albertson and instances where the company declined dispatches. Based on that record, the Omaha Police Department recommended rejecting the company's bid for the multi-year towing list.

Albertson's counsel described steps the company took after the first incident: suspending and retraining the driver, instituting probationary supervision for new hires, and adding periodic reviews and annual performance checks. Attorney Sean Lavery and owner Lonnie Albertson said they added hands-on training, two-week probationary periods for new drivers, and planned further outside training. Albertson said his operation maintains commercial insurance and cited $1 million limits on towing hooks and a $1 million umbrella policy; the city said the bid specifications require $300,000 certificate of insurance.

City deputy attorney Bernard Inabosch and impound staff presented three incident reports and video clips. The record described an initial January 2025 obstruction/debris incident, a February 27 tow with tires not properly secured, and the April 21 event in which a vehicle became unsecured and an officer was injured trying to stop it. Police and impound managers told council the repeated, recent events and concerns about reliability led the department to recommend rejecting the bid for the current contract award.

Council debated whether to allow the company to remain on the list or to exclude it from the new three-year contract. Members noted a high percentage of unanswered calls and said the safety risk to officers and the public weighed in favor of upholding the rejection. A motion to deny the appeal carried (roll-call reflected a yes-majority); the council clerk recorded the denial of the appeal and the council moved forward with awarding the towing list without Albertson Towing. The city indicated Albertson may be eligible to bid again in the future if it demonstrates sustained, safe performance.