COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — And you thought your tow truck horror story was bad.
A 55-year-old Chicago man has you beat after a Lincoln Towing driver literally knocked him off a 16-foot ladder as he towed away his truck, causing him to break his femur when he hit the ground, prosecutors said.
The man's thigh bone was shattered so badly, it broke through the skin. And as he lay in agony, he watched his truck get towed away as the tow truck driver and his brother mocked him as they drove past, he said.
His nephew, meanwhile, was stuck up on the roof with no ladder to get down.
And after all that, the victim was slapped with a $600 towing bill to get his truck back, he said.
The tow truck driver, Ernest Munyon, 24, and his brother, Donald, 26, are now on the hook themselves — for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
Both went through bond court Thursday as their alleged victim tries to recover.
The victim, who lives in Logan Square, said he still can't walk after the Aug. 26 incident. A metal rod runs from his hip to his knee, and several screws keep everything in place.
The bone was broken so badly, it "protruded from his leg," Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said during the bond hearing Thursday.
"They towed the truck right past me while I was down on the ground with a broken leg," the victim, who asked not to be named, told DNAinfo Chicago on Thursday. "Then they charged me the next day to get [my truck] out ... $600."
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The incident began as the victim and his nephew were working on the roof of a commercial property in the 2000 block of North Cicero Avenue about 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 26, according to prosecutors and the victim.
The pair had climbed the 16-foot ladder, which they hooked to the building so it didn't move, Scaduto said.
All of the sudden, "I see my ladder jumping around, and I see this guy pulling it," the victim recalled. "I said: What are you doing?' "
The victim looked down to see the Munyon brothers trying to tow his truck, prosecutors said. Court records list Ernest Munyon as a Lincoln Towing employee. Prosecutors said Ernest was driving the tow truck on Aug. 26, and brother Donald Munyon was a passenger. It's unclear whether Donald Munyon also worked for the company.
Lincoln Towing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to Scaduto, the victim shouted to the Munyons that he was working on the roof and was allowed to park where he was. He began to climb down the ladder to speak to the men.
That's when Donald Munyon unhooked the ladder and Ernest Munyon shoved it over — sending the victim crashing to the ground, Scaduto said.
"He broke my femur ... my bone was out of my leg," the victim recalled Thursday. "My nephew was stuck up there."
The victim said he couldn't move, and his cell phone skidded away from him as he landed. When the victim asked for help, he recalled, one of the brothers "throws the phone at me and said, 'F--- you, that's your problem.' He just left me there."
The man said he called a friend who lived nearby and watched as the Lincoln Towing truck drove off with his own truck. He called 911, filed a police report and was taken to a hospital.
The Munyons, who live at separate addresses in Irving Park, were arrested Wednesday after they were positively identified in a lineup, court records show.
Each man was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Bail for Donald Munyon, who is currently on parole for failing to register as a sex offender, was set at $100,000, while bail for Ernest Munyon was set at $125,000.
Lincoln Towing has been in hot water recently amid allegations the company tows vehicles from lots that are not properly marked with warning signs.
Chicago Police recently cited the company after it allegedly towed the car of an on-duty state welfare employee who had parked in a lot across from the Rogers Park Police District station, 6464 N. Clark St.
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