Some alleged King City victims fear speaking up

In King City, alleged towing scheme victims are reluctant to come forward with information even as attorneys are pulling together a federal class action lawsuit against the city and some of the officers allegedly involved in an illegal towing scheme. We went to find out why those attorneys are having trouble getting people to open up.

Attorneys behind this lawsuit said they have at least 20 people with legitimate claims so far. There could be many more, but they fear deportation. Local law enforcement told me they have nothing to worry about.

“They just asked him to get out of the car and they gave him a ticket and they just took his car. He wasn’t allowed to do anything, and the tow truck came immediately,” said Alma Rivera, the mother of an alleged victim.

Rivera isn’t a legal citizen, but said she’s not afraid to say her family was victimized by several officers in the police department. She said her son was pulled over in King City in 2012. That incident put them out several thousand dollars.

“He was pulled over for not stopping and no license, that’s what they pulled him over for, that’s what’s on the ticket. When my husband went to get his impounded car, they wouldn’t give it to him because they said he supposedly had drugs,” Rivera said.

The Riveras eventually got their car back, but it cost about $3,000 and the drug allegations never materialized. Immigration attorney Blanca Zarazua said getting people like Rivera to share their story, isn’t easy.

“This is like getting ready for surgery and we don’t know what’s in there. So once we start probing, we’ll have a better sense of what the outcome might be,” said Zarazua.

Zarazua is holding several fact-finding meetings this week and so far the turnout hasn’t been great.

“We want everyone to step forward, so we can do our fact-finding and maybe amend the complaint, not just to reflect more people but facts in terms of what actually went on,” said Zarazua.

We asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about potential victims sharing information.

The agency said in part, it’s “focused on sensible, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes efforts first on individuals who present the greatest risk to public safety and border security.”

King City Interim Police Chief Dennis Hegwood said his department, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office and the Monterey County Sheriff can assure undocumented alleged victims don’t face any kind of risk in sharing information.

The class action lawsuit hasn’t been officially filed yet. While there isn’t a certain number of victims needed to file, Zarazua said she’s trying to gather as many as possible.

Attorneys said the lawsuit won’t be filed until enough victims have been identified. The city has been notified but won’t respond until all the information is available.