The day before Thanksgiving 2004, more than $3,000 was levied
from Ana Martinez’s bank account to pay a local tow truck operator
in a small claims suit.
The day before Thanksgiving 2004, more than $3,000 was levied from Ana Martinez’s bank account to pay a local tow truck operator in a small claims suit.
Martinez, of Hollister, wrote the San Benito County Superior Court worried that she did not have enough money to provide a Thanksgiving for her children. Martinez admitted in the letter that her car had been towed because of her “son’s ignorance,” according to court documents.
Judge Harry Tobias ordered $1,000 of the $3,320 to be repaid.
Seven months earlier in April 2004, the same tow truck operator levied $1,802 from Martinez’s bank account, which recently had deposited a $3,500 student loan to pay for her nursing classes at Gavilan Community College, according to court documents. She pleaded with the court then, too.
“I struggle every day financially,” Martinez wrote. “But I am determined to complete my studies … I had just received my loan check from Gavilan College and it was taken by B&C Towing. I have repeatly (sic) contacted this business asking them to wait until I graduate from college. I will graduate in May 2004.”
In the end, Martinez questioned whether the actions of Paul Stephen Greer, the former tow truck driver who brought the claim against her, were legal, according to San Benito County Superior Court documents. She wondered how an approximately $1,500 small court claim snowballed into more than $5,000 after costs were calculated.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is wondering the same.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Dale Lohman filed six more felony counts against Greer and 12 against his father, Vince Cardinalli Sr., in a San Martin court. One of those allegations is attempted grand theft in connection with the Martinez claim.
Cardinalli, 64, of Hollister, and Greer, 30, of Clovis, now face a total of 151 felony counts stemming from hundreds of lawsuits filed in hopes of collecting towing and storage fees for their defunct towing businesses. The charges include attempted embezzlement, attempted grand theft and perjury, among others.
The father and son were arrested in June when the first of four rounds of charges were filed against them in Santa Clara County.
Cardinalli’s A&R Towing operated out of Hollister under multiple names until about 2004, the same year Greer’s B&C Towing, of Gilroy, was fired by the California Highway Patrol for what it deemed as business practices bordering on “criminal.”
Two of their relatives, Rosemary Ball and Michael Anthony Ball, also each face four and two felony counts, respectively, and process server Jeffrey Horan faces eight felony counts in Santa Clara County in connection with the towing companies, according to court documents there.
Lohman brought 10 felony counts of perjury on Tuesday that involve convincing a process server to lie about fees to extract larger court awards from defendants against Cardinalli.
“What we’re trying to establish is that he was paying one amount, but what he was trying to claim in court documents is that he paid more,” Lohman said of Cardinalli.
The deputy district attorney filed a single charge of that crime against Greer.
In the courtroom Tuesday, Lohman said more charges could be added if new allegations surface against Greer, Cardinalli, the Balls or Horan.
Cardinalli and Greer deferred comment to their attorneys, Michael Pekin and Art Cantu, respectively.
Pekin said he did not have time to comment at the San Martin courthouse Tuesday afternoon.
Cantu, for whom Pekin appeared, said he had not seen the new charges and that he would review the district attorney’s filings soon.
“This is the season of Halloween,” Cantu said. “We were expecting a trick-or-treat, and this is what we got.”
The defense attorney said he is also not worried about the number of charges against his client.
“Those numbers aren’t intimidating to me,” Cantu said.
Cardinalli and son will be back in a San Martin courtroom Jan. 8, when they are expected to enter a plea. At that hearing, a judge will also set a date to decide whether to try Greer and Cardinalli.
Anyone who believes they may have been defrauded by Cardinalli or Greer should call district attorney investigator Gil Vizzusi at 408-792-2993, or D.A. investigator Dave Keneller at 408-792-2478.
