99% Invisible Service Request #5: Dude, Where's My Car?
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Apr 7, 2026 
Kelly Prime, an editor whose car vanished from a Brooklyn 7-Eleven lot, follows a baffling tow. Shane Nation, a veteran Detroit tow truck driver, shares life inside routine calls and aggressive private impounds. Tom Berry, a retired police lieutenant and fraud investigator, maps out murky fees, spotters, kickbacks, cash-only lots, and the strange world behind a missing car.
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Kelly Prime Got Towed After A 15 Minute Stop
- Kelly Prime parked in a nearly empty 7-Eleven lot, shopped for about 15 minutes, and came back to a missing car she first assumed was stolen.
- The clerk said 20 cars get towed a day, and Google reviews described the same trap with hidden or obscured warning signs.
How Legitimate Towing Turns Predatory
- Predatory towing turns legitimate parking enforcement into a profit machine through inflated fees, kickbacks, and rapid private-lot removals.
- Tom Berry says some Detroit officers skipped approved tow lists to call friends who overcharged drivers and paid police kickbacks.
Shane Nation Left A Spotter Driven Tow Operation
- Shane Nation says his first towing job stationed spotters in apartment-lot stakeouts so trucks could snatch hospital visitors' cars within minutes.
- He later felt sick towing low-income families and left because private property impounds made him lose his love for towing.