Reverend gets hit with $200 towing bill

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- A West Haven pastor got stuck with a $200 bill that he says was completely unnecessary.

He says the towing company refused to listen to him, so he reached out to News 8 to get some answers.

"I didn't even speak on Sunday. The assistant minister had to come in and fill in for me."

That's because all of Reverend Harmon Yalarti's time was spent outside, in the parking lot of Faith Revival Temple Church.

A tenant who lives in an apartment complex on the same lot as the church was upset saying his car was blocked in, so he called York Towing. 

The police report says the company claimed to have a contract with the property owner to tow cars interfering with resident parking.  

"I was here with my hand on the car and told him not to carry and he would not listen," said Reverend Yalarti.

Instead, Rev. Yalarti got stuck with an almost $200 bill to get back his parishioners cars. He says in the six years he's been here, he's never had any parking issues with the apartment. 

"There is no justification for towing parishioners' vehicles from the church's property, and also for the apartment's owner to take some responsibility," said Rev. Yalarti.

News 8 went to the management office for Lake Realty and they were surprised to hear this story.

"Wherever there's a free space, that's where you park. There's no assigned parking there at all," an unidentified manager said. "We don't have a contract with any towing company on that property."

"So, if somebody that lives there has an issue do they call you and you figure out," asked News 8's Erin Logan. 

"Yes."

News 8's next stop was York Towing. We asked the manager if the Reverend would get his money back since Lake Realty tells us York didn't have their permission to tow.

"If the management company calls me and tells me we don't have a contract with them even though I've towed several cars out of there," said Raven Dotson, York Towing.

So, we put York Towing on the phone with Lake Realty.

"Can you just fax over who has permission to get cars towed," said Dotson.

That confusion was cleared up, so was the rest.

"So, now the pastor will get his money back," asked Logan.

"Yeah, will be more than glad to get his money to him," replied Dotson.

Lake Realty tells us they're happy this was resolved. The Reverend was of course happy to get the good news. He says he'll let us know when he gets his money back. We also spoke to the tenant who felt he did nothing wrong by calling the tow company because his car was blocked in.