By Tom Meagher
“It was supposed to be a nice quiet day,” Li's boyfriend, Albert Wong, said
Li began to argue with Wilson, a driver for Nationwide Towing Service of New Hyde Park, and tried to persuade him not to tow her car. Wong, also of Forest Hills, said Wilson was affable and told them to talk to the parking lot security who had called his company.
Wong went to look for a guard to rectify the matter. Finally, however, Wilson began to drive off. Then Li did something she had never done before – she latched onto the outside of the truck as it drove away.
Standing on the running board and clutching the handle next to the door, Li rode along as Wilson drove into traffic. For nearly two miles, Nassau County police said, Li clung to the truck. Wong, her boyfriend, started to chase the truck on foot.
“It started moving, and she was screaming, and people were telling the tow truck to stop,” Wong told the TimesLedger. “I ran after them until I knew I wasn't going to catch them…. After I stopped running after the tow truck, I used my cell phone, and I called 911.”
Nassau County police stopped Wilson's truck, with Li still grasping the side, five minutes later and two miles away. Li, shaken and scared, was not injured.
“We come across these type of situations where someone … is irate over the fact that the car is being towed,” Nassau police Sgt. Anthony Repalone said. “But this is unusual to have the owner take this sort of action.”
Police arrested Wilson and booked him on a charge of reckless endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor. After posting $500 bail, he was given an appearance ticket.
“He should have stopped the vehicle and instead he continued to drive,” Repalone said.
If convicted, Wilson could face up to one year in jail.
After the police stopped the truck, they drove Li back to the parking lot to pick up her boyfriend. Wong said his girlfriend's ride-along was uncharacteristic for her. The officers gave Li back her BMW without issuing a fine.
North Shore Auto and Towing took Wilson's truck to Manhasset, L.I., where Nationwide Towing later reclaimed it. Wilson could not be reached for comment. A man who answered the phone at Nationwide Towing said that he would not comment on the incident.
Wilson must appear in court on June 11.
