A towing car driver in the suburbs has stolen cars by illegally asking crash scenes in the city and misinforming drivers about where he took their vehicles, according to public prosecutors and a police report from Chicago.
Maximilian Gasienica, 26, from Oak Lawn, is accused of stealing three cars of crash scenes in Lakeview, River North and the South Running this year.
A CPD report said that three victims identified Gasienica in photo -line -ups as the tow truck driver who asked them on crash scenes, even though they did not call or marked him.
Gasienica “wrongly presented himself” to have the owners of the vehicles signed for his services and he then gave them a form with a fake drag company and an address where no cars are stored, according to the report. The report stated that neither the state neither the city of ‘bta -dragging’ authorized, the company claimed to work Gasienica, dragging vehicles.
All three victims reported that their cars were stolen after their repeated attempts to find and repair their vehicles, the police said.
Gasienica is accused of stealing cars from scenes in the 600 block of West Roosevelt on 25 February, the 3700 block of North Lake Shore Drive on March 13 and the first block of East Grand on 16 April.
Officers of Justice accused him of three counts of theft by fraud and three counts of asking pipes on the spot.
You may remember that CPD published a warning in March about a rogue tow truck driver who stole cars from two drivers involved in traffic accidents in the South Loop. Gasienica is not charged with those incidents.
CPD said that those victims were involved in traffic accidents when the thief appeared with a tow truck and their vehicles without permission. The towing driver, who operated under a fake company name, took the cars to unknown locations.
One victim was the target after crashing in the 1900 block of South Lake Shore Drive around midnight on 26 February. The other had stolen their car after an accident in the 1800 block of South Clark at 7:40 am on March 8.
The CPD warning only described the towing driver as a man between 25 and 30 years old.
The police warns drivers to prevent unsolicited pipes and to be wary of “Chaser” trucks that appear on crash scenes. The Department also recommends contacting your insurance company before hiring a towing or road assistant. Moreover, CPD said that drivers should:
- Do not admit high pressure tactics
- Check and verify the municipal license number of a sleep operator.
- Keep a copy of their license plate and vehicle identification number in a safe place so that they have it convenient if their car is stolen.
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