GRESHAM, Ore. -- A tow truck driver tried to tow a Gresham police car from an apartment complex early Thursday morning, according to the Gresham Police Department.

Police said officers responded to the Kempton Downs apartments on a domestic disturbance call.

When Officer Tyson Conroy returned to his patrol car, he noticed a tow truck driver had hooked up another officer's marked car to the truck, according to police.

Officer Tom Pohlman said he was surprised to see his car hooked up to the truck.

"I asked him, 'what are you doing?" Pohlman said. "And he said I was parked in a fire lane."

Steven Syverson, 32, was ordered to release the car. He eventually did, but police said he otherwise refused to cooperate with them.

Syverson locked himself in the tow truck and then called his dispatchers, asking them to call police, according to officers.

Police said the towing company's manager eventually showed up and talked Syverson into surrendering to officers.

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LOL, what an idiot! Oh, my!

Oh! Man! He wasn't fast enough! Sometimes I want them to know how it feels...

too bad he got cought

well, I thought he was an idiot. What if there was a really serious need for that cop to take off and he couldn't get to another crime scene? What if there was an accident and he was really needed there to help?

That's awesome...

Well..... if the cop WAS parked in the fire lane....

Funny tale.

The tow truck driver was either blind or a right old jobsworth!

I agree with Glorybebe, the bloke's a bit of an idiot.

they said it was parked in the fire lane........well cop cars can occupy that space when there isn't a fire, its actually an emergency lane.

Good point!

I reckon the tow truck driver was blind

Well the cop was breaking the law!
He wasnt there due to an emergency, hmmmm go figure. Alot of them think that since " im a cop, i can get by with murder " well thats not how it works.
The guy in the truck was doing his job.

The police are an emergency service though! They weren't queueing in the baker's waiting for their bacon sandwiches you know whilst their vehicle was parked outside. They were actually making a call to a domestic disturbance. Until they get inside and figure out what the call involves they won't really know if it is an emergency or not.

The tow truck driver was a jobsworth, I am glad he was reprimanded.

The bit from the Original posting got me though:

Steven Syverson, 32, was ordered to release the car. He eventually did, but police said he otherwise refused to cooperate with them.

Syverson locked himself in the tow truck and then called his dispatchers, asking them to call police, according to officers.

Police said the towing company's manager eventually showed up and talked Syverson into surrendering to officers.


I wonder who they called, was it the police whose car was nearly towed away

you gotta be careful of that jobsworth title there, i do a job where I coulod be accused of being all jobsworth, but the truth is its not my idea for the rules its just my job to enforce them. And though some seem strange they do have a purpose, just not 99% of the time. Its preperation for if something happens.

Yeah, but I bet if you did that tow trucker's job, you wouldn't have tried to tow the cop car away

Ironically, the job I do has one rule which if enforced would be bloody bizarre I have to admit, but like you say, it is preperation for something should it be needed. Crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's covers everything I guess.

yeah I would have known enough to let the cop car off. I have actually issued tickets for stuff like that in my city.

My father can legaly park in a firelane, he works for the city water and if his job involves a leak near a fire lane and there is no other place to park, he can park there.

that would be an official city vehicle which is the same as a cop car