Fallen Towers

A tow operator was struck and killed at approximately 2:40 a.m. while assisting a stranded motorist on I-295 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Florida Highway Patrol said the operator had loaded the motorist’s vehicle and was partitlly blocking the left lane near Blanding Boulevard. An approaching SUV driven by a 23-year-old woman swerved to avoid the…

A tow operator was killed May 2, in El Paso, Texas, as he attempted to free a tractor-trailer combination that had become stuck on a street in West El Paso. El Paso Police said the trailer’s landing legs became stuck on a sidewalk as truck driver Joel Ramirez, 61, attempted to turn onto North Mesa…

A Washington state tow operator was killed Saturday, April 24, at approximately 8 a.m., while assisting a motorist on I-5 near Longview, Wash. According to the Washington State Patrol (WSP), the operator responded to a disabled vehicle that had lost control. The driver of the disabled vehicle, who was uninjured, called for a ride as…

A tow operator was struck and killed Friday, April 23, on Interstate 12 near Covington, La. Louisiana State Police say Tyler Patrick Quave, 23, of Bush, La., was assisting a motorist with a disabled vehicle. Quave was reportedly loading the vehicle on the right shoulder of an exit lane on I-12 eastbound shortly before 6…

Tow operator Ryan Brewer, 25 of Fulton, Mo., died Thursday, April 8, succumbing to injuries he received after being struck by a vehicle on Interstate 70 on March 29. According to the Missouri State Patrol, Brewer, who worked for Approved Automotive & Towing of Fulton, was loading a vehicle on his tow truck in Callaway…

A tow operator in Bessemer, Ala., was killed Thursday, April 1, when his flatbed tow truck was struck by a train. According to the Bessemer Police Department, Ronald Paul Whitely, 70, of Bessemer, was in his flatbed and stopped on the railroad tracks when the fatal collision occurred at approximately 4:21 p.m. He was the…

A tow operator was struck and killed Saturday, March 27, by a suspected drunk driver on the shoulder of I-5 in Sacramento, Calif. The tow operator, whose name has not been released, was standing on the shoulder of the northbound lanes at Seamas Avenue, responding to a disabled car at approximately 11:40 p.m. when Larry…

Dozens of tow operators participated in a memorial and tow truck procession on March 13 for operator Ryan Billotte. Billotte,  48, who worked for Quality Towing  in North Las Vegas, Nev., was struck and killed the night of March 9 by a hit-and-run driver on the shoulder of the 215 Southern Beltway in Las Vegas.…

A tow operator was struck and killed Tuesday, March 9, by a hit-and-run driver while working on the roadside in Las Vegas, Nev. Ryan Matthew Billotte, 48, an operator for Quality Towing, was hit on the 215 Southern Beltway near Decatur. The Nevada Highway Patrol received a call regarding the incident at 7:47 p.m. Trooper…

A group of tow operators gathered at the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 13, to remember a Florida tow operator who was killed in 2016, and promote awareness of the state’s slow down/move over law. Each year, the group has honored operator Roger Perez-Borroto, who was struck and killed while stopping…