The Armentrout Towing/Old Dixie Towing guy facing a criminal reckless driving charge for driving menacingly through a Staunton political protest rally on April 5 got himself on the radar of the Staunton Police Department last fall for something else.
“Since being removed from the tow-rotation list, Armentrout’s has been showing up on scenes and offering to take a vehicle prior to us asking for the next on rotation. He tried it again this morning. Please make sure your officers know to use the rotation list, and not allow him to do this unless he is requested by the vehicle owner,” Staunton PD Capt. Chad Kauffman wrote in an email to the department’s shift commanders and dispatch staff that was dated Nov. 20, 2024.
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We obtained a copy of the email through a Freedom of Information Act request, which also netted a copy of an Oct. 7, 2024, email from Staunton PD Lt. Jason F. McNeal to the department’s officers and dispatch staff announcing that the towing company, owned by Jeffrey Wayne Armentrout, the man charged in this month’s protest rally incident, was no longer on the tow-rotation list.
“As of today, Armentrout and Old Dixie Towing are no longer going to be on our list. If someone requests them, then they can still be called. If an Armentrout or Old Dixie tow truck shows up to tow under any other business names, please let me know immediately,” McNeal wrote in the Oct. 7 email.
No reason was given in that email as to why Armentrout’s company was taken off the call list.
We did get a copy of a 2023 document from the PD spelling out the department’s policy on calling towing companies to the scene of accidents, DUIs, emergencies, abandonments and related scenes.
When possible, per the policy, the driver or owner of a vehicle that needs to be moved can specify a towing company, but in cases where the driver/owner isn’t available to state a preference, or doesn’t have a preference, officers at the scene are directed to ask the police dispatcher to send a truck from the rotation list.
Among the qualifications listed in the document, tow companies “must have a current operating license, and each driver must have a current Driver Authorization Document issued by the Virginia Board of Towing and Recovery Operators,” “be reasonably available,” “be available to release vehicles seven days a week,” and they must charge rates that are “reasonable, necessary costs.”
A review of the Virginia General District Court Online Case Information System gives us some hints toward issues involving Armentrout that could have led to the Oct. 7 decision by the Staunton PD to remove his towing company from the rotation list.
Three months to the day from the Oct. 7 email, Armentrout was charged, on Jan. 7, 2025, with 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 of 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.
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Chris Graham
