A Chula Vista towing company has agreed to pay damages to a U.S. Navy lieutenant whose car was impounded and auctioned off while he was deployed at sea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
Tony’s Auto Center will pay $7,500 in damages to the sailor, plus a $2,000 civil penalty to resolve the civil complaint brought by the federal government.
In its complaint, the government alleged Jonathan Liongson’s 2011 Mazda 6 was impounded by Chula Vista police for an expired registration while he was deployed aboard the USS Bunker Hill in late 2022. Liongson had placed personal items in his car and parked it at a friend’s house.
The car was towed to Tony’s Auto Center’s facility and sold at auction about two months later.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says that the sale violated the Service Civil Relief Act, a federal law offering certain protections to active-duty military , because the towing company should have first obtained a court order authorizing the sale.
Along with the monetary penalties, the settlement requires Tony’s Auto Center to put new company policies in place to avoid violations of the Service Civil Relief Act.
