MASON, Tenn. — The owner of a Shell truck stop along I-40 in Fayette County was issued an emergency injunction Thursday to boot S-Line Truck Parking and A1’s Towing and Hauling from his property.
Abed Amrokbeer said he signed a contract with S-Line to provide security and collect small parking fees but said instead, they began illegally booting and towing 18-wheelers with A1’s help.
Amrokbeer said S-Line gave him an advanced rent check for $10,500, but he never cashed it and tried to cancel the agreement. He estimates S-Line and A1’s Towing made around $100,000 during their two weeks at his business. He said some truck drivers were charged up to $4,000 in towing fees.
“Last night, they booted nine trucks from here that we know of,” Amrokbeer said. “They lied to us. They shouldn’t be in business.”
The temporary order from the Fayette County Chancery Court declares the lease void. Thursday afternoon, Amrokbeer’s employees began taking down all of S-Line’s parking signs. About an hour later, an A1’s Towing truck and another vehicle showed up.
Fayette County deputies, sent by the sheriff to the gas station as a precautionary measure, served the A1’s employees with the court papers and gave them the S-Line signs and cameras.
The sheriff’s department said no one with S-Line, A1’s, or anyone affiliated with the companies is allowed back on the property.
Amrokbeer said S-Line and A1’s have caused substantial harm to his business and customers, and he’s glad to see them gone.
“They are criminals. They cut people’s throats just by making money by lying on their signs, lying about everything they do,” “Right now, we feel relieved, and we feel good. Thank God for the law, for the court,” said Amrokbeer. “I don’t know how the City of Memphis allows people like that.”
The City of Memphis Permits Office said it began investigating the Memphis-based A1’s Towing and Hauling after receiving nearly a dozen complaints from truck drivers from across the country.
The Tennessee Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs told WREG this week it had received seven consumer complaints against A1’s towing since 2022.
Over the last five months, five A1’s employees and one S-Line worker have been arrested in separate cases involving the illegal towing of tractor-trailers. In one incident, an A1’s Towing and Hauling driver was charged with robbery, and in another, three others were charged with carjacking for allegedly taking the trucks by force.
Amrokbeer put up signs warning his customers about A1’s. He also used his own vehicles to block their tow trucks. He said he no longer plans to charge for parking and wants his customers to know it’s safe to return.
“We love the truck driver. We love to help people,” he said. “I want my truck drivers to come in any time. I’m not going to charge them. This is theirs to do with whatever they want.”
The injunction against S-Line and A1’s is good for 14 days. A hearing has been set for October 6 to determine if the lease is valid.
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