Kansas City tow truck driver charged with harassing KCTV5 journalists

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Kansas City tow truck driver is charged with targeting two KCTV5 employees.

Jackson County Prosecutors charged James Basham with two felony counts of first-degree harassment.

Bashman is in the Jackson County Jail Thursday evening.

Kansas City police responded to a tow truck lot at 10th and Agnes, near Metro Tow and Transport, on April 15. The officers responded to help two KCTV5 journalists reporting on charges filed against the owner of the tow company and his mother.

Video shot by the KCTV5 photographer involved in the incident show several tow trucks surrounding and blocking the KCTV5 news truck.

The trucks eventually moved and the KCTV5 employees were able to leave the area.

Police investigated the claims and presented the case to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors charged Basham.

According to online court records, Basham was charged in February with illegal towing.

METRO TOW CONNECTION

The incident happened as the KCTV5 journalists reported prosecutors charged Donald Adamson with crimes connected to allegations of illegally towing vehicles from parking lots across Kansas City.

Donald Adamson, 43, owns Metro Tow according to business records filed with the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.

Adamson and his 66-year-old mother, Lannette, were arrested earlier this week. They are each charged with the following crimes:

• Donald Adamson
  • Jackson County Charges
    • 4 counts of stealing
    • 4 counts of forgery
    • 1 count of harassment
  • Platte County Charges
    • 3 counts of forgery
    • 3 counts of tampering with a motor vehicle
• Lannette Adamson
  • Jackson County Charges
    • 4 counts of stealing
    • 4 counts of forgery
    • 1 count of harassment
  • Platte County Charges
    • 3 counts of forgery
    • 3 counts of tampering with a motor vehicle

JACKSON COUNTY CASE

The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office alleged that the two suspects have “acted in concert to allow the company to tow vehicles illegally without proper authorization; falsified required 4669 Forms; and made it extremely difficult for victims to retrieve their vehicles.”

Kansas City Police said they have fielded “numerous complaints” about Metro Tow over the last several years, according to a probable cause statement filed in Jackson County.

The same accusation is made by police in Platte County, according to a probable cause statement filed there involving both Donald and Lannette Adamson.

PLATTE COUNTY CASE

The court document lists Lannette Adamson as a security/property manager at the following apartments in Platte County.

• Falcon Falls Apartment and Homes
• Bicycle Club Apartments
• Parkway Oaks Townhomes and Duplexes

According to the probable cause statement, the two are accused of illegally using 4669 Forms to tow cars from parking lots without the needed authorization.

The probable cause statement also shows LS Adamson’s name listed on about 250 of the 329 4669 Forms investigators with Kansas City Police Department’s Stolen Auto Report Desk reviewed.

Donald Adamson and Lannette Adamson remain in Jackson County Jail on an active warrant our of Platte County.

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