'Unbelievable' video shows tow truck flip car into oncoming traffic with driver still inside



CLEVELAND -- Cleveland police body camera video shows a tow truck lifting a car high into the air -- with the driver still inside -- then flipping it into oncoming highway traffic.

“It’s unbelievable," said Tom Merriman, the victim's attorney. "I've never seen anything like this in my life."

Merriman shared the shocking video Monday, Aug. 26, and said it all started with a minor fender bender last April on I-90 West near the I-71 split during rush hour.

Cameron Jenkins, 24, was pulled off along the side of the freeway, and video showed him sitting inside his Kia with the driver's side window down -- speaking with a Cleveland police officer. The video showed the tow truck operator was preparing to tow the car, when the vehicle lifted up to a nearly vertical position, and then flipped over onto the hood and into the freeway lane.

Several officers then scrambled to free Jenkins from the wreckage.

“He dropped from mid-air," said Merriman. "It wasn’t like he just rolled. He slammed, and he’s really lucky. He didn’t have his seat belt on at that point, because he’s talking to the officer, but he got tossed around in that car. They thought his leg was broken -- was actually his head where he took the blow, and that’s what he’s been struggling the most since, is the closed head injury and concussion.”

The tow truck operator was on safety patrol and supposed to be there to provide roadside assistance.

Merriman said he and his client were very troubled when they saw the video and the tow truck operator's reaction to what was happening.

“The car flips off into the freeway," said Merriman. "Even if it was empty, he has no reaction to it at all."

According to the police report, the tow truck operator told police that he was preparing the vehicle for transport and was going to tell the driver to step out when “the boom just kept coming up."

He said he “tried to disengage the boom, but it would not disengage."

He also said, “The buttons have been sticking for awhile, and the bosses used the truck and knew about it."

The towing company is owned and operated by AutoBase Inc. based in New York.

The general manager, Joe Labella Sr., provided the following statement:

“We acknowledge that it happened, but can’t comment at this time due to pending litigation. We’re the largest provider of safety service patrol operations in the nation. We have a professional group of operators covering the entire state of Ohio and throughout 8 states.”


Merriman and his client, Cameron Jenkins, said that’s not good enough, and they’d like to see a serious investigation.

“We’re lucky this wasn’t a fatality,” said Merriman. “We’re lucky this wasn’t a multi-car crash caused by this car being dropped into traffic. Someone needs to look at this.”