Plaintiff wins nearly $8M after illegal tow and confiscation of food truck

The owner of a Kansas City taco truck has obtained a nearly $8 million verdict after her vehicle was illegally towed and confiscated for just under two years.

Opia Muntagim, who operates Crazy Tacos, was represented in litigation by Brianne Thomas and Josh Sanders of Boyd Kenter Thomas & Parrish in Independence and Philip Danaher of the Danaher Law Firm in Lee’s Summit.

In August of 2022, she parked her truck in an abandoned Dollar General parking lot. She frequently parked here with no trouble, as did other members of the community, Thomas said.

“There were no signs saying not to park there. There were no signs warning of any towing or anything like that. So, she parks it there,” Thomas said. “And 30 minutes later, a tow truck company, the defendant Haney’s Trucking towed it.”

When Muntagim returned to the lot she had no idea where her vehicle had gone. She initially called the police to report it as stolen, Thomas said. The next day she saw a man putting up signs for Haney’s Trucking and this was how she found out her truck had been towed.

The company refused to return the vehicle, Thomas said.

Valley Realty, the property owner, who was also a defendant in the case, signed an authorization allowing Haney’s to tow any vehicles off their property, Thomas said.

“They signed a blank form from Tennessee and just emailed it to Haney’s,” Thomas said. “That’s illegal, because if a property owner wants a private vehicle towed off of their property, they have to physically be present there and authorize the tow. So, the tow was completely illegal.”

Haney’s Trucking kept the truck for 699 days and when it was finally returned, it had been looted and destroyed, Thomas said.

“The towing company even retitled it in their name by submitting false documents to the Missouri Department of Revenue. And so, the case was against the property owner and Haney, and we got a verdict against both,” Thomas said.

Thomas said they obtained a $5,640 verdict for illegal towing against Valley and $6,990,000 in punitive damages against Haney’s, representing the 699 days (about 2 years) the company kept the truck.

Thomas also obtained $137,049 in conversion and $84,030 in illegal towing against Haney’s.

The attorney representing Haney’s Trucking did not respond to a request for comment.

Thomas said she believes the jury is trying to send a message to the tow companies who are towing vehicles, stealing from them, and charging the owners with enormous sums. She added that this is a larger problem in Kansas City that police are beginning to crack down on.

“All the equipment that she had, it was stolen, like her generators and stuff,” Thomas said. “I’m sure they had a plan to take it and sell the equipment and never get it back to her from day one.”

The same company was caught trying to illegally tow another vehicle shortly after the verdict, Thomas said.

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Amount of verdict, judgment or settlement: $7,216,719

Type of action: Tort – plaintiff verdict

Breakdown: $137,049 in conversion against defendant Haney’s
$84,030 in illegal towing against defendant Haney’s
$5640 in illegal towing against Defendant Valley’s
6,990,000.00 in punitive damages against Haney’s

Venue: Jackson County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 2316-CV07088 / 06/26/2025

Judge: J. Dale Youngs

Plaintiffs’ Experts: David Cowan of Overland Park, Kansas. Specialty: Loss of use.

Defendants’ Experts: Towing industry expert Patrick Gratizanna with Boyd Kenter Thomas & Parrish in Chicago, Illinois
Injuries: Loss of income, loss of vehicle

Last Pretrial Demand: $425,000

Last Pretrial Offer: $125,000

Caption: Opia Muntagim v. Haney’s Trucking 1 LLC and Valley Realty Company

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Brianne Thomas and Josh Sanders of Boyd Kenter Thomas & Parrish in Independence and Philip Danaher of the Danaher Law Firm in Lee’s Summit

Defendants’ Attorneys: Todd Barrett of McCausland Barrett & Bartolos in Kansas City for Haney’s Trucking & Andrew Funk of Funk Law in Kansas City for Valley Realty.