Payment dispute lands ambulance in impound lot

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) -  The company that was involved in a civil suit over towing payments is now in a payment dispute with a private ambulance service.

Samaritan Ambulance usually has three ambulances that can run out of its Broad Ripple location.

Kenneth Lock, Director and CEO of Samaritan Ambulance, says two of those ambulances are getting repainted this weekend, leaving just one to run.

Lock says when that ambulance needed three new batteries Friday, he had Interstate-Delaware and South Towing take it from Broad Ripple to their ambulance shop in Hendricks County.

He said the agreed-upon fee was $90 dollars an hour, port to port, plus a 10-percent fuel surcharge.

But Lock says when the ambulance got to Hendricks County, he was advised it wouldn’t be dropped off without payment.

Lock said, “They advised that it was approximately $390 dollars for the entire tow bill. Our agreement we’ve had with them has been $90 dollars an hour, port to port, with a 10-percent fuel surcharge. So it should have been $99 dollars.”

That’s when Lock says he disputed the cost over the phone.

Lock said, “They advised me once again I was refusing to pay. They said to me, that the best thing for all of us to do right now is for us to return the vehicle to our shop in Indianapolis, and hold it until Monday, when we can sort this out…. I said, what are you doing, they said we're impounding your vehicle because of your refusal to pay.”

Lock says he later told Interstate he'd pay. He says he makes 13-14 runs with patients a day with his service, meaning if the vehicle was impounded, he’d lose business.

A representative with Interstate out of Tennessee told 24-Hour News 8 on Saturday that Lock could come get his ambulance at anytime this weekend.

He said Lock will have to pay the $390 dollars, though, if he wants the ambulance.

The representative said he didn’t know how the $390 dollars broke down, but said the tow truck driver had to wait 45 minutes at the location in Hendricks County.