TAMPA, Fla. – After a SUV crashed near downtown Tampa over the weekend, a fake tow truck driver came along and stole the vehicle, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
In a release, troopers said that the crash happened along Interstate 275 near mile marker 44 on Sunday night, leaving the left lane blocked by the SUV.
However, a tow truck soon pulled up on the scene of the crash, troopers added.
“The driver exited the tow truck and told the (SUV) owner to stand to the side so he could hook up to the crashed vehicle,” the release reads. “The owner refused and told the two truck driver not to touch his car (and) that he was waiting for law enforcement.”
However, the supposed tow truck driver told the SUV owner that he didn’t have a choice, hooking up the crashed vehicle anyway and telling the owner it would be dropped off down the street, investigators reported.
But after the SUV was taken to a nearby 7-Eleven station, the owner asked the driver to stick around until law enforcement came, investigators explained.
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“The driver refused and handed a form for the owner to sign,” the release continues. “The owner/victim refused to sign the form, and the two truck driver told him he had to and there was no choice. Reluctantly, the owner/victim signed the form, and the tow truck driver got back into his tow truck and left the scene.”
Troopers said they were ultimately able to track the tow truck and its driver — identified as Abrahim S. Ahmad, 23 — in Land O Lakes, and he claimed that the SUV owner had asked him to move the vehicle.
According to the FHP, Ahmad admitted to using law enforcement scanners to respond to reported crashes, which he claimed he was allowed to do before in Chicago.
FHP officials also noted that the tow truck had been stopped last month for the same issues, and the occupants of the tow truck had been warned by a trooper at that time.
Now, Ahmad faces charges of grand theft auto, solicitation by an unauthorized wrecker, and obstruction without violence.
Any other victims are asked to contact the FHP by calling *FHP (*347).