DELHI _ Delaware County officials said they are reviewing complaints from people billed after Delhi Motors wreckers were sent to accidents by county dispatchers.
A Daily Star article on June 30 detailed Paula Friedman's story about a $610 towing bill she received from Delhi Motors after her son, Chris, had an accident on June 8.
Undersheriff Douglas Vredenburgh said that after the article appeared, four other people called the Delaware County Sheriff's Department to complain about high bills they had received from Delhi Motors. Three of them also called The Daily Star.
Maria Garcia, of Delhi, said her son struck guardrails in Meridale about eight miles from Delhi at about 2:30 p.m. July 11. Peter Hamilton, owner of Delhi Motors, charged $535 to tow the car back to Delhi.
Kathleen Burnside, of Delhi, said her bill was more than $700 after her husband, who later died of causes unrelated, had an accident on county Route 18 near Delhi. Burnside is a carrier for The Daily Star.
Richie Whitmore, of Unadilla, said he was in a crash about two months ago at about 7 a.m. The accident was six miles away from Delhi Motors. He said his $648 bill was unexpected.
"Having been in an accident a few years ago where the tow bill to go twice as far away was $105, I was pretty shocked about it," he said.
Vredenburgh said there had never been complaints about Delhi Motors' bills until Friedman called to question why and how Delhi Motors had been sent to an accident scene in Stamford.
"We have to review the complaints we have received," Vredenburgh said. "They have to be evaluated to determine if there were extenuating circumstances involved with each tow.
"If there seems to be a pattern of overcharging and if the complaints are legitimate we will contact Mr. Hamilton and get his explanation," Vredenburgh continued. "After we have considered all of our information, we will make a decision as to whether to remove him from the list, but we have to be fair about this."
Vredenburgh said Delhi Motors has been on the county's list of towing services for a long time.
"Mr. Hamilton has been dependable and reliable," Vredenburgh said. "And we don't want to put ourselves in the position of establishing what is a reasonable fee, although we do have some responsibility because we are involved in calling the wreckers."
Colchester Supervisor Bob Homovich serves on the Delaware County Board of Supervisor's Public Safety Committee. He said the county's Safety Board is meeting Monday and will discuss the towing issue.
"When the police are connected we certainly have some consideration about what people are being charged," Homovich said Wednesday. "This can have a reflection on the sheriff's department, so we will follow it up."
Hamilton said Wednesday that his fees are based on the time of day, the distance, the conditions, the amount of equipment required, the number of men that must go to the accident and ever-rising insurance and fuel costs.
"We have an overhead that we have to cover," Hamilton said.
Hamilton said that since the article appeared, he has had calls from police agencies and insurance companies reassuring him that his charge for his services is reasonable.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
