Tracy Press

Police set up a checkpoint on Holly Drive on Wednesday to check motorists with invalid driver's licenses and to see if they were wearing seat belts, stopping a few hundred vehicles. The sting paid off, as police called in tow trucks to impound 15 cars for 30 days, an expensively painful mistake that could cost the owner of each car nearly $1,500.

Glenn Moore/Tracy Press - ALL IN A DAY’S WORK:Tracy police community services officer Allison Norton (left) and traffic officer Mike Reiter fill out paperwork for some of the 15 cars that police towed Wednesday following a traffic checkpoint on Holly Drive designed to catch motorists driving without a valid license.

Wednesday was a profitable day for Tracy’s towing companies.

Tracy police set up a checkpoint on Holly Drive and Pereira Street, stopping about 350 drivers and netting 15 unlicensed drivers or drivers with suspended licenses between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

“We’re going to try to do them more regularly,” said Sgt. Mike Vieira.

He said that Tracy drivers can expect up to three roadblocks each year, and the next will most likely be after the first of the year. Between now and then, police will be set up several DUI sobriety checkpoints.

He said the last time police set up a license checkpoint, they were overwhelmed by the number of drivers without valid licenses.

“We were a little short-staffed and got behind on the towing,” he said.

But this time around, they were ready.

“We were flying all day,” said Neil Baker of Ace in the Hole towing.

Ace had an ace up its proverbial sleeve, bringing in five of the tows Wednesday — all of which were 30-day holds — and netting a tidy profit.

For a 30-day hold, the towing company holds the car for a mandatory 30 days, and companies like Ace charge up to $40 per day. That’s $1,200 in storage fees alone, on top of a $250 towing charge. Factor in the city’s charge of $435, and unlicensed drivers face a hefty penalty to get their cars back.

That’s not all. If the owner fails to pick up their car within 30 days, they’re notified by mail that the car will be auctioned or sold for scrap. But auction sales rarely cover the $1,500 cost, said Doug Borges, manager of Borges Auto Service Inc. Liens are often placed on the owner, and the owner of the car then becomes liable for the legal costs.

The tows are an important part of the overall business of towing companies, said Borges, who towed two cars Wednesday.

“I’d say that 30-day holds make up about 15 percent of our profit,” he said.

Most of Tracy’s seven towing companies, however, make the bulk of their money contracting with larger outfits, like insurance companies.

Reed and Son Towing, for example, is the only contractor responsible for AAA tows, according to employee Jeremy Paasch.

Police wrote one ticket for improper safety belt usage and another for a child safety seat violation.

To reach reporter Phil Hayworth, call 830-4221 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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