Clarksville, TN – 24 June 2016 – John Campbell and his wife say they were fired from Asset Towing and Recovery on Wednesday in the wake of a more than 13-hour repossession standoff on Saturday.
Christa Campbell said she was terminated from her position as the Clarksville lot manager. John Campbell was a repossession agent and a driving manager.
The incident went viral on Facebook after being posted in a local group called Clarksville Chat. Neither John nor Christa Campbell know the man who originally posted about the repossession.
Approximately 100 people were watching the repossession as the unidentified female owner of a black Mercedes waited in her car from 10:50 a.m. until midnight to retain possession of the car. Christa Campbell said the woman told her she was under the guidance of an attorney. Bystanders were live streaming and posting videos and photos from the UPS Store on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard where the event took place.
More than 1,500 comments and other content were shared across multiple discussion threads in the group.
John Campbell said he was placed on leave on Tuesday afternoon, and the company told him it would be doing an investigation into the incident to ensure no breaches of contract had been made by releasing personal information of the Mercedes owner.
Prior to being put on leave on Tuesday, John Campbell wrote a statement about the standoff to be sent to company clients letting them know that no personal information about the debtor or other debtors had been released. His wife refused to write a statement because she was not
present for the repossession in its entirety, she said.
They said they were told the investigation found no wrongdoing on John Campbell’s part but have not seen paperwork related to the investigation, they said.
The two were informed Wednesday that they will be terminated due to “too much publicity,” they said.
According to John Campbell, the company owner called him about the termination and said he was told that “it’s not personal. It’s business. You held a woman hostage for 13 hours.”
The owner could not be immediately reached for comment. Calls to the towing company were answered, but the woman who answered said the company wouldn’t be speaking to media.
John Campbell said he was instructed by the owner to return his tow truck, Ghost Rider, to the towing company in exchange for their final paychecks. The couple claim they were denied their paychecks even after they had turned over the keys.
John Campbell said he had talked to the lien holder of the Mercedes on Thursday and that company did not express any concerns about the incident.
Police were at the scene three times on Saturday and said they did not find anything illegal taking place by any parties involved.
The couple said all exchanges between them and the owner of the repossessed car were respectful, and they had offered her a ride home.
“We don’t know what her situation is and we both try to treat everybody with the utmost respect because we don’t know what they are going through,” Christa Campbell said. “She’s not a bad person. She’s just going through things.”
Source: The Leaf Chronicle
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