OPD won’t investigate possible illegal tow as a criminal matter

“It was being towed, that’s what it was. It wasn’t stolen,” said an Orlando police officer to John Quillinan during an incident in downtown Orlando in September. That video and sound were captured on a police department body camera after John’s wife, Kim Quillinan called 911 to report their car stolen. John said, “Well, it was stolen by taking the car.” The officer responded, “You’re not understanding.” City of Orlando surveillance video, obtained later, appears to show a tow truck taking their car away from a private parking lot before time expired even though the Quillinans paid to park. Before that surveillance video surfaced, police said they didn’t have sufficient evidence to show a crime was committed and called it a civil matter, but they encouraged the car owners to report it if they had additional information or evidence. After our story aired with that video in December, the car owners filed a police report, but said officers didn’t seem to want to consider any new evidence.