A towing company that sued the City of Memphis last year over racism allegations is now a defendant in a civil lawsuit which asserts it is engaged in a racketeering scheme to squeeze owners 18-wheelers with excessive, duplicative and illegal fees for parking. The plaintiffs also claim the company engages in illegal towing, booting or impounding of vehicles.
The lawsuit claims the owner of A1’s Towing and Hauling of Memphis, Colton Ahmad Cathey, is the co-creator of an illegal network of towing and booting companies that lure unsuspecting drivers to their lots then charge excessive fees to remediate illegal booting and towing of their vehicles.
Filed by three transportation companies, the lawsuit claims the Cathey and his associates post deceptive signage to lure drivers into lots. If lured into a lot where signage suggests parking is free, the lawsuit claims Cathey or other companies in his network will boot or tow the 18-wheelers under spurious circumstances then charge excessive fees to remediate the situation.
Other times, the lawsuit claims drivers pay Cathey or his associates to park for a given period of time, only for the company to later claim the fee was insufficient, for the improper lot or otherwise did not allow their vehicle to remain on the lot. The lawsuit claims Cathey’s company and others in the Memphis area then boot or impound the vehicles and demand money for their release.
Regardless of whether drivers pay any additional fees levied by the network of towing companies, the lawsuit claims A1’s towing and others sometimes proceed to charge drivers additional storage fees, “sometimes with the commercial driver still held hostage inside the vehicle, at others leaving the commercial driver stranded with no means of transportation.”
Prior to the lawsuit, the company was under fire last week after police stated that A1’s employees vandalized a booted 18-wheeler and threw human feces at its driver during a dispute about the company’s practices. It had its permit to tow vehicles suspended for 30 days on Thursday following complaints. A1’s permit was previously suspended in November.
Cathey previously sued Memphis and the Memphis Police Department (MPD) in November 2023, around the time its permit was similarly yanked for 30 days.
In the lawsuit, A1’s owner Colton Ahmad Cathey claimed the city is “weaponizing a civil municipal ordinance to discriminate against a minority-owned company.” Cathey’s legal filing further explains he is black.
Cathey further claimed he was targeted “with personal animosity, malice, and ill-will” by Memphis and a number of the city’s police officers “because of his race.”
That lawsuit followed the publication of a video that purportedly shows A1’s employees attacking a driver and confiscating their vehicle. Though a public relations company hired by A1’s denied that version of events, an investigation into A1’s by MPD and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is underway.
Though the civil lawsuit against A1’s is brought by private businesses, Cathey and his associates allegedly also deployed their tactics against a mail vehicle, prompting an additional investigation from the United States Postal Service.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit seek $5 million in compensation for the alleged misdeeds of Cathey and his network.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “A1’s Towing and Hauling of Memphis” by A1’s Towing and Hauling of Memphis.
