Signs of Hope: Minnesota Tow Truck Driver Returns Abandoned Vehicles to Families After ICE Arrests | A Story Worth Sharing

Why this story matters: While it may not dominate headlines, this story reflects meaningful change in action.

Quick summary: This story highlights recent developments related to kindness, showing how constructive action can lead to meaningful results.

It was only a few months ago that Juan Leon became the proud owner of Minnesota’s newest tow truck service.

Not long after, he began to get calls about abandoned vehicles and realized there was a pattern. Whether it was parked on the side of the street or in the lot of a business, their owners were just gone.

In most if not all such cases, he would learn, they had been arrested by ICE during its Operation Metro Storm. Whether one supports the efforts of the agency to deport illegal immigrants, it left behind a big footprint—a four-wheeled one, and Leon realized he had the opportunity to make a difference in his community.

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Working sometimes alone, and sometimes at the request of family members, Leo’s Towing has been returning suspects’ cars to their families at no cost for 4 months now.

“Seeing there was a need for someone to help out, help clear the streets and get the people back their vehicles. So we stepped up and started doing it,” Leon told CBS which manages an affiliate in Minnesota.

Working alongside “observers,” Leon has spent weeks arriving at the scene of an earlier arrest in order to bring the car back to any family or friends the person might have.

“Families reach out to us,” Leon said. “If the family isn’t reaching out, we’ll find a way to get inside the vehicle and we’ll bring it back to their house and put it in a safe spot.”

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It costs hundreds of thousands to insure a working, hydraulic vehicle like a tow truck, which is why towing costs so much. But Leon says he can take the hit because of money he receives through private donations coming from all around the country for his compassionate work, which he added has rapidly crowded out his previous schedule.

He estimates he’s brought some 250 cars to their owners, their family members, or to a safe place where it will avoid damage.

Leon says the moments when a car is returned can be emotional, “more than sad” even, but it doesn’t dissuade him from carrying on.

WATCH the story below from CBS News…

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