A woman was awarded just over seven million dollars in a lawsuit against a towing company that illegally towed and held her food truck for 699 days. 

The case began back in 2022, when the woman’s “Crazy Tacos” food truck was towed from an unmarked, abandoned lot in Kansas City, Missouri. 

“They towed the truck after 30 minutes; they towed illegally,” said Brianne Thomas, Attorney at Boyd Kenter Thomas & Parish LLC, who took the case. According to Missouri law, the property owner must be present at the time of the tow for it to be legal, which was not the case in the towing of the food truck. 

When the food truck owner went to retrieve her rig, Haney’s Trucking and Tow demanded thousands of dollars, but the food truck owner refused. Over the next few years, the tow company kept the food truck, and even began the process of transferring ownership of the vehicle to themselves. 

“They were successful, they had her truck for 699 days,” Thomas said.

The food truck owner then filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s office and hired lawyers, who helped her to win the $7.1M lawsuit. The jury awarded the food truck owner $6.9 million in punitive damages, and another $200,000 in compensatory damages. 

Now, people who live near the Haney’s Trucking and Tow office location say the business appears to have shut down in the last month, reported Fox4 KC. The building has been put up for sale, and no one seems to be working inside. The lawyer that represented the tow company did not make any public statements regarding the case. 

The jury said not anymore, not in this community. We are going to send a message to these illegal tow truck operators in Kansas City and across this state that we are not going to accept this any longer,” Thomas said.

In addition to the financial winnings, the woman got her food truck back after those 699 days. However, she says it was badly damaged – the equipment inside was missing, and it is in need of major engine repairs.