RICHMOND, Va. — The owner of No Limit Towing, Sherral Crawley, was granted a $75,000 bond Monday morning after spending the last 10 days in jail for reportedly towing vehicles illegally.
The 43-year-old business owner was arraigned on Aug. 17 for 17 counts of motor vehicle theft, involving 16 alleged victims.
Crawley already has 22 felony convictions on her record, 18 of which are forgery.
Richmond Police allege that starting in the summer of 2020, Crawley’s company began illegally towing vehicles from private lots and instead of holding onto to them as dictated by state law — they would demolish or sell the cars, sometimes in as quickly as a day.
Police said it took six days for Crawley to surrender earlier this month, and during that time, a Richmond detective testified that he obtained a search warrant for her cellphone location and that it pinged in Southwest Virginia near the North Carolina and Tennessee border on the night of Aug. 16.
But that detective added Crawley told police she didn’t leave the Richmond area during that time.
However, her attorney said she was taking her son to college and working to hire an attorney during those six days.
CBS 6 Legal Analyst Todd Stone explained $75,000 is a high bond for grand larceny, and she faces serious prison time, if convicted.
"Each of the grand larcenies is punishable with up to 20 years in prison," explained Stone. "So when you multiply that by 17, it comes out to a lot of years, you know, what a court would look at and at sentencing, if she's convicted is sort of the same things that a court would look at,for bond purposes, and that is her criminal record. So for example, if she has an extensive criminal record, that has a direct impact on whether or not a judge lets her out on bond and how much of the bond would be."
Crawley also asked the court to appoint her an attorney, saying the situation has left her bankrupt.
But the Commonwealth's Attorney's office said they disagreed with that financial claim, and paperwork is being filed to determine if Crawley is eligible for a court-appointed attorney.
Meanwhile, the state noted they expect additional victims to come forward before the end of the year.
Anyone who thinks they were a victim of No Limit Towing, located at 4505 Richmond Highway on the Southside, can call Richmond Police Detective Sergeant Castrinos at (804) 646-1144.
Anyone with questions about towing companies and overcharging fees should call the Office of the Attorney General at (804) 786-2042.
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