The tow-truck driver facing criminal charges for driving menacingly through a Staunton political protest rally on April 5 is still in good graces with Virginia State Police.
“Virginia State Police have no complaints at this time on the firm,” VSP spokesman Matthew Demlein told us in an email on Thursday, referring to Armentrout Towing/Old Dixie Towing, whose owner, Jeffrey Wayne Armentrout, is facing a criminal reckless driving charge from the April 5 political protest rally incident.
We reported on Wednesday that Armentrout had been removed from the tow-rotation list used by the Staunton Police Department this past October.
ICYMI
No reason was given by Staunton Police as to why Armentrout’s company was taken off the call list, though we were able to come up with some possible reasons why through our sleuthing.
A review of the Virginia General District Court Online Case Information System came up with a Jan. 7, 2025, charges against Armentrout for an offense of Virginia Code 46.2-116, a prohibition on operating a tow truck without registration with the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, with additional charges on that same date for operating a vehicle without a license and operating an uninsured vehicle.
The charges were all ultimately dismissed, but Armentrout was assessed court fees in the final disposition, which the Online Case Information System website lists, as of this writing, as being “past due.”
Issues with licensure were also raised in an online review of Armentrout’s towing company dated June 16, 2024, claiming that “the owner has a suspended license, but is still driving around and towing vehicles.”
Other reviews hint toward issues with the “reasonable, necessary costs” passed on to customers.
“My stepdad was involved in an accident due to a medical emergency. He was called to the scene of the accident by authority (not our choice). We attempted to retrieve the vehicle the same day and was told no due to being after 5 p.m. The next day we went to get the vehicle and was charged $1,570 for not even 24 hours on his lot,” a 2023 reviewer noted.
That dollar figure, $1,570, was reported by another 2023 reviewer.
“My husband was in involved in an accident. Someone had called Armentrout Towing to the scene. We wanted to get the vehicle the same day, but wasn’t able to. So, we got it Saturday, and the bill was $1,570. I don’t recommend anyone to him. The only reason I gave one star is because I had to,” the second reviewer wrote.
Our story prompted a flood of contacts from readers with complaints about Armentrout, including the tip about his towing companies still being on the VSP rotation list, which is used by state troopers and dispatchers to call towing companies to the scene of accidents, DUIs, emergencies, abandonments and related scenes.
ICYMI
So, we had good news to report on Wednesday, that the guy who drove his tow truck adorned with an Iron Cross logo on the bumper through the scene of an anti-Trump political protest at a high rate of speed and is now facing criminal charges for doing so won’t be showing up to tow cars involved in accidents and emergencies in the City of Staunton.
Today, bad news for people involved in accidents and emergencies on highways and interstates in Augusta County under the purview of the Virginia State Police.
The state trooper at the scene might call out a tow truck driven by a guy who may or may not have a driver’s license or be registered with the state, or have insurance, and who might not like your bumper stickers, depending on your politics, and will almost certainly charge you an arm and a leg for the trouble, with official state sanction backing him up on that.
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Chris Graham
