1960s and 1970s Starting in 1967,
Chicago Daily News columnist
Mike Royko wrote a series of articles about Cascio that continued for over a decade. In 1971, the company became an issue during the
44th Ward
aldermanic race. The victorious candidate,
Dick Simpson spoke about it as a candidate, After being elected to the council, Simpson and his staff investigated the firm's actions. The
Chicago City Council debated taking actions against the firm. A portion of the lyrics were written during visits to Alderman Simpson's office, with Goodman utilizing documents from Simpson's investigation into the firm as reference material. The company and Mash were acquitted of the charges. According to
Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) Police Commander Craig Baner, Lincoln Towing Service had 2078 complaints from 2000 to 2005. However, with the volume of business the towing service conducts, the complaint rates are comparable with other towing companies in Illinois. During the same period, Lincoln Towing issued 139 full refunds, a percentage which Baner says the towing service compares with other companies.
2010s & 2020s In October 2015, following a concert at the
Aragon Ballroom, Lincoln Towing towed cars belonging to concertgoers from an adjacent lot. Following the incident, a tow truck driver allegedly verbally harassed motorists who came to reclaim their vehicles and assaulted a cyclist. Forty-seventh Ward alderman
Ameya Pawar reacted by proposing to shut down the company, stating "They’re bad actors; they're just an outrageous operator and I'm looking at every option available in order to strike back." On February 10, 2016, Aldermen Pawar and
Ariel Reboyras introduced a City Council resolution citing "a pattern of illegal towing and abuse of customers by Lincoln Towing" and calling on company representatives to appear before the council. The following month, company attorney Allen Perl attended a City Council meeting and argued with Pawar. In June, the City Council passed the Chicago Towing Bill of Rights requiring, among other things, that towing operators notify the
Chicago Police Department of where they have contracts to tow from, and that they install cameras in all tow trucks. On February 24, 2016, the ICC initiated an investigation into Lincoln Towing's continuing eligibility to hold an Illinois relocation towing license. On July 2, 2018, the ICC's Administrative Law Judge issued a ruling, which said commerce commission staff dramatically overstated Lincoln Towing violations. The judge concluded Lincoln Towing is fit, willing and able to continue towing cars. However, on September 12, 2018, the ICC revoked Lincoln Towing's Illinois relocation towing license. Thereafter, a Cook County judge ruled that Lincoln Towing Service could resume operating while it challenged a decision by state regulators to revoke its license. On June 12, 2019, the ICC announced that its decision was final, and would accept no further appeals. However, the
Circuit Court case remained active, and Lincoln Towing was allowed to continue operations. On January 15, 2020, Circuit Court Judge Neil Cohen reinstated Lincoln Towing's ICC license, ruling that the ICC had improperly revoked it. ==References==