The date of the preliminary hearing for a group of tow truck operators and a process server facing 169 felony charges and one misdemeanor charge has been postponed so that lawyers can plow through stacks of evidence documenting years worth of alleged fraudulent towing practices. Attorneys for Vincent Cardinalli, Sr., 65, and his son Paul Greer, 31 - formerly Vincent Cardinalli, Jr. - withdrew their representation earlier this year and the duo's new attorneys, Cameron K. Bowman and Eben L. Kurtzman, respectively, are playing catch up. Along with Cardinalli and Greer, two other family members and a process server face dozens of charges of perjury, grand theft, fraud and conspiracy, among others. Each of their attorneys and Deputy District Attorney Dale Lohman convened to set June 6 as the date to further discuss the case. Aside from courtroom staff and Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shapero, the room's only other occupant was Cardinalli, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffed, his face hidden beneath a thick beard.
Cardinalli was taken into custody in the San Martin courtroom in January after the court learned of his conviction of two felony arson charges in the 1970s. The most recent charges could add a third strike to his previous two and land him in prison for life under California's Three Strikes law. He is currently being held in a Santa Clara County jail without bail.
"I don't think it's going to be anything terribly earth shattering," Lohman predicted several days before the hearing. And it wasn't. "I think there will probably be another court appearance before setting another date," she said.
The charges stem from hundreds of lawsuits filed by Cardinalli and Greer in hopes of collecting towing and storage fees for their defunct towing businesses. Cardinalli's A&R Towing operated out of Hollister under a number of different names until about 2004, the same year Greer's B&C Towing, of Clovis, was fired by the California Highway Patrol for what it deemed business practices bordering on "criminal."
The duo was arrested June 13, 2007 on suspicion of 87 counts of forgery, grand theft and other felony charges, according to the Santa Clara County District attorney's office. More felony counts have been added since then, bringing the current total to 169.
The family is accused of knowingly suing motorists who previously had sold or donated cars years before they were towed, and in some cases had never owned the vehicle. Cardinalli and Greer turned their towing businesses into a gold mine, collectively filing nearly 2,000 cases in small claims courts over the past seven years in San Benito and Santa Clara counties, according to a Dispatch investigation. Those cases have left a trail of defendants who say they had little or no relation to vehicles towed by Cardinalli and Greer.
Many motorists who lost cases to Cardinalli and Greer complained they never received notice of the tow or the fact that they were sued.
