ICE arrests left cars abandoned on streets and this Tow Truck Driver started bringing them Home for Free
It started as a brand new business and quickly turned into something way bigger than Juan Leon ever expected.
Just a few months ago, Leon proudly launched Leo’s Towing, Minnesota’s newest tow truck service. Like most small business owners, he figured he would be dealing with the usual calls, broken down cars, parking lot problems, maybe the occasional abandoned vehicle. But soon, he noticed something strange.
He kept getting calls about cars left behind in the same way. Vehicles parked on the side of the road or sitting in business lots, untouched, with no sign of the owners. And it wasn’t random.
Not long after, Leon realized there was a clear pattern. In most, if not all, of the cases, he learned the owners had been arrested by ICE during Operation Metro Storm. No matter where someone stands politically on immigration enforcement, the reality on the ground was obvious. People were being taken into custody and their cars were left behind, creating a mess for families and for neighborhoods.
Leon saw that as more than just a towing job. He saw it as a chance to help.
Instead of charging hefty fees or letting the vehicles sit for days until they were impounded, Leon started returning the cars to the arrested person’s family members, completely free. For the past four months, Leo’s Towing has been working to reunite families with vehicles that might otherwise have been lost.
Sometimes Leon does the work alone. Other times he responds directly to calls from relatives trying to track down a missing car. Either way, the goal is the same, get the vehicle back safely before it becomes another expensive problem for a family already dealing with a crisis.
“Seeing there was a need for someone to help out, help clear the streets and get the people back their vehicles. So we stepped up and started doing it,” Leon told CBS which manages an affiliate in Minnesota.
Leon has even spent weeks showing up at the scene of earlier arrests, often working alongside “observers,” to locate the abandoned vehicles and figure out how to get them returned.
“Families reach out to us,” Leon said. “If the family isn’t reaching out, we’ll find a way to get inside the vehicle and we’ll bring it back to their house and put it in a safe spot.”
It’s a simple act, but one that can make a huge difference. For many families, losing access to a car can mean losing the ability to get to work, pick up kids, or handle basic daily life. And Leon’s effort shows how a small business owner can end up playing an unexpected role in the middle of a much larger national issue.