Charlotte tow company owner charged with insurance fraud over fake towing invoice

CHARLOTTE — It started with a tip.

Cars were booted and towed from this Cook Out on Sugar Creek Road on Sunday.

“So, he put the boot on here,” Tracy Setzer told Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz.

She and friends came to Buckeye’s Tavern.

They illegally parked next door at the Cook Out and walked over.

They returned to the car, which had a boot on it. Her friend’s car was towed.

Setzer tried to reason with Antonio Lorenzo Covington, general manager and owner of Tow Godz LLC, who said it would cost her $375.

“I said, ‘Are you serious?’ He said, ‘Yeah, and if you keep asking me questions, it’s going to be $475,’” Setzer said.

He wanted her to pay him using Cash App.

“No business name, no invoice?” Sáenz asked.

“No business name, no invoice, nothing,” Setzer said. “Red flags are flagging.”

Covington was arrested five days earlier on July 21 on felony charges of insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretense. North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced the charges against Covington, 32, who is accused of submitting a $4,250 fraudulent towing invoice to Peak Property and Casualty Insurance Corp.

Special agents with the Department of Insurance’s Criminal Investigations Division accuse Covington of including a $500 “clean up” fee and a $750 “special equipment” fee in the invoice. According to the arrest warrant, surveillance videos and witness statements indicated that no clean up or special equipment was used during the vehicle recovery.

Also, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department arrested Covington last week after a woman said he towed her car, then took “her driver’s license and debit card” and “would not return the items unless she went on a date with him ...” and had “sexual acts with him.”

He was charged with extortion, identity theft, and misdemeanor larceny.

Court records also show Covington served prison time after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in a 2016 deadly shooting.

“Oh my gosh,” Setzer said. “You have me dumbfounded, right now.”

Sáenz went to the tow yard’s address listed for Tow Godz on Rozzelles Ferry Road.

Its gate was closed, and it appeared no one was there.

“It’s a total injustice,” Setzer said.

Setzer warns others to stay clear of companies like Tow Godz. She and the other victims want lawmakers to set more regulations on tow truck companies.

Sáenz called a number listed for Covington and reached out to his attorney. He has not heard back.

Covington was placed under a $20,000 secured bond on the fraud charges.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey encourages residents to help keep insurance premiums low by reporting suspicious fraud.

“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,” Causey said. “It hits all of us in the pocket through higher premiums.”

The N.C. Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division accepts anonymous reports at 919-807-6840 or toll-free at 888-680-7684.

Covington is scheduled to appear in Mecklenburg County District Court on Aug. 11.

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