David Sweetman and/or Monster Towing has been sued a total of 19 times.
1 case is pending
3 cases the result is unclear from looking at the notes
15 cases he has lost
0 cases he has won or got dismissed

additionally, he and/or his wife has been served with two restraining orders.

So, point being…David Sweetman is a bad person.

You can read my past posts referencing my winning a lawsuit against Monster Towing. Winning the lawsuit was the easy part, because you’re tough to beat when you’re right. But, unfortunately, collecting on a judgment is the difficult part of the process.

After I won the lawsuit, I sent Sweetman a letter demanding my judgment. Just as I expected he would, he totally ignored the letter. So, I took the next step and scheduled a Judgment Debtor’s exam.

Sweetman showed up for the Judgment Debtor’s exam, presided by Judge Burton-Cahill. Sweetman spewed several lies, including that he didn’t know about the exam until two days prior, and that he thought he actually won the lawsuit against me. Her Honor Burton-Cahill rescheduled the exam for a couple of months later, giving him a date and time to be there. She made it very clear to everyone in the room that she would not tolerate Sweetman being absent or unprepared.

A couple of weeks ago was the rescheduled exam. Sweetman did not show. Her Honor was clearly not pleased at all. Based on how many times Sweetman has been sued, it is my guess that she knows who Sweetman is and what he’s all about. Without my having to ask, she told me that she was issuing a civil arrest warrant. It was explained to me that no one would be going to get Sweetman, but the next time he was pulled over for a traffic violation or something like that. I was told that if he was arrested during business hours, he would be taken directly to court. And, if he was arrested outside of business hours, he would be booked into jail, and then taken to court in the morning of the next business day. I thought that would be fine. A look at court records shows that Sweetman is pulled over quite often, so I figured it would just be a matter of time and I’d be patient.

Well, something even better than that happened…

About a week ago, I got a call from one of the Maricopa County Constables. He informed me that he would be going to arrest Sweetman…Laura Sweetman that is, his wife. Her name is also on the business. I didn’t ask, and I don’t know, but my guess is the Constable also knows all about David Sweetman, and this is the only way to get a reaction out of him. The Constable told me that he would be making the arrest later in the week, and then let me know what happened.

I spoke to the Constable yesterday. This is what he told me happened. He said that around 10am Friday morning, he gave a courtesy call to David Sweetman. The Constable informed Sweetman that he had until 3pm to ge the money to the court, or the Constable would be serving the arrest warrant on Laura Sweetman. Considering it would have been very late in the day on a Friday, odds are that Laura would have been spending the whole weekend in jail. The threat of his wife in jail for a weekend is apparently the only legal way to persuade David Sweetman to do the right thing. Sweetman went to the courthouse and paid them my money by the 3pm deadline.

So, this didn’t turn out exactly the way I wanted it. The initial judgment that was granted to me by the small claims hearing officer wasn’t fair, as it didn’t cover all my costs and was insufficiently punitive (Sweetman could make it back with three marks out of his bait lot on a Saturday night). Also, the night I was towed I had zero doubt in my mind that Sweetman would give me back my $120, I just had no idea it would take thirteen months.

But, you know what…I have no regrets. Here’s why…

-Yes, when figuring expenses I’m out some money. And, when you consider time is also money, I’m out even more. However, Sweetman no longer has any of that money. My money ended up in the hands of folks who earned it, not someone who stole it.

-It ended up costing Sweetman money to tow my car.

-Most of all…I did the right thing. I stood up to a bully and a crook. I hate the people who say “I would sue him but I don’t want the hassle blah blah blah…”. It’s because of those people that Sweetman prospers and his scam has no end in sight. If everyone did what I did, Sweetman would have to get an honest job, or starve. I can’t control other people’s behavior, but I can control my own. I did my part, and did everything I could legally do, to end Sweetman’s scam. I have zero doubt that I feel much better about what happened to me now than I would have felt if I did nothing and let Sweetman steal my money from me.

Speaking about Sweetman’s scam, I recently heard something that may explain why the Tempe Police Department refuses to do anything to stop it. I heard that Monster has the contract to tow impounded cars for Tempe PD. Can anyone confirm if that’s true or not?

I can be contacted at bretlinden at the gee mail…

Thanks for the comment. We first went to Tahoe last September and immediately fell in love with the whole area.

Congrats to your friend!

Roger

Did this guy just suddenly go soft?
Did Sweetman threaten this guy, or worse?
Did Sweetman pay this guy off to keep his mouth shut?

I think these are all good, fair questions. How about it Brett?