Dozens of people who attended the Aftershock music festival in Sacramento, California, returned to find their vehicles missing from a nearby parking lot. Getting them back reportedly cost $562 each, and some drivers say their cars were damaged during the towing process.
The company responsible, J&B Towing, did not have a required Sacramento city towing permit, according to an October 16 CBS13 investigation. City employees have since visited the company’s office and the dirt lot where vehicles were stored.
The towing operation took place during the October 1–4 festival at Discovery Park. Drivers had parked along Bercut Drive, near the festival grounds, before discovering that their vehicles had been removed.
What initially appeared to be an expensive parking dispute has grown into questions about towing authorization, business registration, damaged vehicles, and whether the company was legally permitted to conduct the operation.
A $562 Surprise
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Bruce Capagli was among the drivers who found their vehicles missing after attending the festival.
According to an earlier CBS13 report, Capagli called a number posted near the parking lot and was directed to an office on Del Paso Boulevard.
There, he was required to pay $562 before being taken to another location to retrieve his car. Instead of a conventional towing facility, the vehicle was sitting in a dirt lot in a residential area.
Capagli also questioned the paperwork, which he said lacked his vehicle identification number, the time of towing, and the time his car was released.
He reported extensive damage that left his vehicle undrivable. According to Capagli, his insurance company was handling the incident as a vehicle theft rather than ordinary towing damage.
Other drivers described similar experiences, including paying the same retrieval fee.
Company Lacked Permit
Sacramento officials confirmed that J&B Towing received a business operations tax certificate on October 7, three days after the October 4 towing activity documented by CBS13.
However, the certificate is a business registration document, not authorization to operate a towing company.
As of October 16, J&B Towing still did not have a Sacramento city towing permit.
The company also had a federal Department of Transportation identification number, but that number does not establish permission to tow vehicles or replace local operating requirements.
CBS13 independently contacted officials in West Sacramento, where the company’s DOT listing identified an address. Those officials reported finding no business license for J&B Towing in their city.
City code compliance employees subsequently visited the Del Paso Boulevard office and the unpermitted vehicle storage lot on Dale Avenue. They also photographed a trailer previously observed transporting vehicles during the festival weekend.
Authorization Under Scrutiny
The company’s operating credentials were not the only concern.
Capagli told CBS13 that paperwork provided during the recovery process identified Allied Universal as the company that authorized the tow. He questioned whether the authorization was authentic.
Allied Universal disputed any involvement, explaining that its security services at the property were limited to guarding the lobby of one tenant’s building. The company said it neither provided weekend guarding services at that location nor contracted with towing companies.
The towing company’s owner previously maintained that the business was legitimate but did not provide CBS13 with requested licensing documents.
California Vehicle Code Section 22658 establishes requirements governing the removal of vehicles from private property, including rules concerning authorization, notification, and vehicle storage. Whether individual towing incidents violated those provisions has not been established.
City Reviews Complaints
The Sacramento Police Department received at least one police report concerning the towing activity.
Following CBS13’s investigation, Sacramento officials said the city’s code compliance division would coordinate with police as appropriate to determine further action.
The October 16 report showed city employees inspecting the locations associated with J&B Towing, but it did not establish that criminal charges had been filed.
Meanwhile, drivers have reported financial losses extending beyond the $562 retrieval charges, including vehicle damage requiring insurance involvement.
As of the latest report, the city had confirmed the missing towing permit, while the question of who authorized the removal of the vehicles remained unresolved.