Tow truck driver in Minnesota returns vehicles after ICE arrests: families regain hope

Minnesota trucker returns abandoned vehicles to families after ICE arrests

Just a few months ago, Juan León proudly opened his own towing service in Minnesota.

Shortly after starting, he started receiving calls about abandoned vehicles and noticed there was a pattern. Whether they were parked on the side of the street or in the parking lot of a business, the owners of the vehicles had disappeared.

In most, if not all of these cases, León discovered that they had been arrested by ICE during Operation Metropolitan Storm. Whether one is for or against the agency’s actions to deport illegal immigrants, they left a considerable footprint—a four-wheeled footprint. León realized that he had the opportunity to make a difference in his community.

Sometimes working alone and other times at the request of family members, León’s company, Leo’s Towing, has been returning suspects’ cars to their families free of charge for four months now.

“Seeing the need for someone to help, to clean the streets and return the vehicles to the people. So we got to work and started doing it,” León told CBS, which has an affiliate in Minnesota.

Working alongside “spotters,” León has spent weeks arriving at the scenes of previous arrests to take the car back to any family or friends the person might have.

“Families contact us,” León said. “If the family does not communicate, we will find a way to get into the vehicle and take it back to their home, placing it in a safe place.”

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Insuring a functioning hydraulic vehicle like a tow truck costs hundreds of thousands, which is why towing service is so expensive. However, León says he can absorb the cost because of the money he receives through private donations from around the country for his compassionate work, which has quickly filled his previous schedule.

He estimates that he has returned about 250 cars to their owners, their families or to a safe place where they will avoid damage.

León says that the moments when a car is returned can be emotional, “more than sad,” but that does not deter him from continuing.

WATCH the story below from CBS News…