Towing company sues Montana police chief for violating due process rights
A lawsuit filed in federal court accuses the Billings chief of police with using a close friendship with a former state judge, representative and candidate for U.S. Senate to illegally blacklist a towing company from doing business with the city.
The lawsuit accuses longtime Billings Police Chief Rich St. John, both in his personal and professional capacity, of robbing Anderson Towing Company of due process, and helping former District Court Judge Russ Fagg in a vendetta against the company, which recorded several interactions and has presented them as exhibits.
Fagg, an institution in Billings along with his family, is at the heart of the lawsuit, having had a Mercedes sedan registered to his father towed after a traffic accident.
That led to a profanity-dotted encounter with several employees of Anderson Towing, allegations of price gouging, and “playing the judge card.” According to the lawsuit, that situation has led the state’s largest police department to ban a company from ever working for the city again.
A former police officer has also filed depositions in the case alleging Fagg and high-ranking members of the approximately 150-person department are close friends, going on annual horseback riding trips, and that Fagg has used those connections to conspire against the company, based on the premise that towing company was price gouging, something the company denies in the lawsuit.
The current controversy began February 8, but some of the allegations stretch back into November 2024, when the city suspended the towing company for two weeks.
Anderson Towing received a call from the Billings Police Department in the middle of the day for a traffic accident at the intersection of 6th Avenue North and North 27th Street in Billings, and the pictures show a Mercedes sedan and a good amount of snow. The company towed the vehicle, and two days later Fagg came to retrieve the car February 11.
That led to a dispute that started when the company informed the former judge that it only accepted cash or a cashier’s check, and he insisted on paying by credit card or personal check.
“That’s the kind of bullshit that you didn’t tell me a half-hour ago,” Fagg said.
“Sir, I didn’t speak to you, so please don’t cuss at me,” an employee told him.
The general manager shortly intervened and told Fagg the company’s policy was a result of “being burned too many times.”
During the conversation, the towing company officials also told Fagg the vehicle’s registration was expired and that the car was registered to someone else, later identified as Fagg’s father, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court. The towing company said it couldn’t release the vehicle without the proper paperwork to prevent vehicle theft or releasing a vehicle to the wrong person.
The towing company said it could retrieve an updated registration from the Montana Motor Vehicle Department, but would carry an additional $100 fee. Fagg then insisted on speaking with the towing company’s owner, according to the lawsuit, and made the following statement: “I hate to play this card — I was a district court judge for 22 years. I’m a lawyer in this town. There’s no damn way I am going to skip out on this bill.”
Eventually, Fagg paid the bill for $1,737.47.
The next day, Fagg, a former state legislator and unsuccessful candidate for federal office, filed a formal complaint against the company with the Montana Office of Consumer Protection in Helena.
“Judge Fagg’s complaint did not mention his credit card and personal check being rejected. Instead, he solely complained about the charges,” the lawsuit said.
The day after, Fagg wrote the City of Billings Police Department on his law firm’s letterhead, requesting Anderson Towing be removed permanently from the Billings Police Department’s towing rotation list. In the letter, he referenced conversations he had with Assistant Police Chief Shawn Mayo, and also his status as a “22-year state judge.”
February 14, the general manager of Anderson Towing reviewed the bill and agreed to refund $500 as a traffic control fee that was not necessary during the work on the accident. However, when he offered to refund the money, Fagg refused.
February 25, St. John notified Anderson Towing it had been permanently removed from the towing rotation, due in part to the complaints.
The lawsuit said that the chief of police has violated the company’s due process rights and state law, and seeks compensatory damages, reinstatement, attorney’s fees and possible punitive fees for depriving the company of its constitutional rights.
Bad blood in the world of towing
According to state law and the lawsuit filed on Thursday in federal court in Billings, the state mandates qualified towing companies formally ask (in writing) to be placed on a city, county or state towing list and must be placed on an equitable rotation. Those companies are overseen by a state board, the Tow Truck Complaint Resolution Committee.
In November, Anderson Towing was the subject of a complaint involving work the company had done in Gallatin County. In that decision heard by the resolution committee, it gave the state, county or local companies permission to suspend Anderson Towing for as long as six months due to the committee’s decision that it had engaged in price gouging. Anderson Towing says in the lawsuit and told the committee it disputes that finding . The lawsuit claims the committee sanctioned Anderson Towing, in part because Joanne Blyton, the manager and owner of Billings Towing and Recovery, was a competitor of Anderson and a comparable towing bill from her company was higher than the bill at issue for Anderson.
Nonetheless, a decision or sanction from the committee allows cities, counties and the state to sanction the company, although it doesn’t mandate any entity to necessarily enforce the sanction. It is a discretionary punishment. Still, the City of Billings Police Department suspended the towing company from its rotation from Nov. 1 through Nov. 14 for the sanction, but then reinstated the company.
Permanently suspended
In a four-page letter to Anderson Towing after the incident with Fagg, St. John said the company would be permanently removed from the list and city officials were not going to reconsider the decision. However, the company said it was already sanctioned for the previous incident, and was back to working for the city.
St. John told the Daily Montanan on Friday he had not seen the court filing, but that Anderson Towing was removed because of both formal and informal complaints.
“In general Anderson Towing was removed from the BPD wrecker rotation list for similar complaints referenced by the MHP,” St. John said via email.
The letter from St. John, sent certified mail to Anderson Towing and submitted as an exhibit to the federal court, said the city had completed an investigation of the company on its own.
“The City of Billings cannot allow Anderson Towing to unnecessarily and unreasonably charge Billings citizens for tow services,” the letter said.
Using the decision by the towing committee and the complaint by Fagg, St. John said the City of Billings sought the input of “two other tow truck operators” to come to its conclusions.
“This decision is permanent and will not be reconsidered,” St. John said, claiming the company had engaged in “willful and consistent failure by Anderson Towing to treat Billings citizens in a fair and equitable manner consistent with recognized tow truck standards.”
The lawsuit claims a city cannot decide to remove the company and sanction it without due process and without going through the state committee, set up to work through complaints and avoid favoritism.
