Tow Company Helps Pay for Damage to Parked Vehicle

A Marlborough man sought help from NBC Connecticut Responds after a tow truck backed into a vehicle parked in his driveway.

Paul DeVanna said a friend was visiting on January 31. The driveway was covered in snow and ice from a big storm, and his friend’s truck got stuck in the driveway, so they called for a tow truck. 

When the truck arrived, DeVanna said the driver immediately started backing down the driveway.

"I saw him lock up all the tires, the brakes, and he slid off the driveway and he hit the Jeep with the back of the tow truck," DeVanna said.

When the tow truck slid into the Jeep a second time, DeVanna pulled out his phone and started recording.

"I said to (the driver), uh I think you guys have a problem here. And he said, ‘we'll fix it, we'll fix it,’" DeVanna said.

The driver called a colleague to free both his own truck and DeVanna’s friend’s truck. He also told DeVanna to call his boss at A&N Auto Service the next day.

DeVanna said the owner, Carmelo Rivera, told him they didn’t need to go through insurance and offered to do the repairs himself at his shop in Hartford but DeVanna declined.

"I told him I'll get quotes from other companies and you can just pay for it. And he said, ‘I'm not going to do that,’" DeVanna said.

DeVanna bought the Jeep with the intention of fixing it up for his son. He had an appraiser come out to inspect the damage and was given an estimate of $2,500.

DeVanna said he texted pictures of the accident to Rivera, but the man stopped answering his calls. He thought NBC Connecticut Responds might have better luck getting through.

Responds learned the business is owned by a father and son with the same name. DeVanna had been dealing with the younger Carmelo Rivera.

It took weeks of phone calls back and forth to arrange an in-person meeting between Paul DeVanna and the elder Carmelo Rivera.

Rivera told NBC Connecticut Responds the estimate DeVanna received was inflated and offered DeVanna $800 toward the repairs.

DeVanna accepted.

"It's not about the money. It's about what's right and wrong, really," he said.