Embattled San Francisco Tow Truck Operator’s New Arson Charges May Be ‘Tip of the Iceberg’

Calling it an unorthodox business strategy is an understatement.

A federal grand jury indicted a San Francisco tow truck operator this week for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to set fire to trucks owned by his competitors.

Federal prosecutors charged Jose Vicente Badillo ​​on Thursday with conspiracy to commit arson, saying he collaborated with at least four “co-conspirators” in 2023 to torch at least six tow trucks operated by other businesses. All of the incidents occurred in San Francisco, except one in East Palo Alto.

Badillo, 29, sought to literally drive more business to his three primary Bay Area towing companies — Auto Towing, Specialty Towing and Jose’s Towing — by “impeding their competitors’ business prospects” and retaliating against “perceived wrongs,” according to the federal indictment.

The investigation is being conducted by a federal organized crime task force aimed at dismantling “the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to explain why organized crime investigators are prosecuting Badillo’s case.

If convicted, Badillo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 20.

Badillo, 29, also faces unrelated criminal charges of money laundering and insurance fraud in two pending federal cases, as well as one case of welfare fraud brought by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

Allen Sawyer, a Stockton-based attorney representing Badillo in all three cases, said his client maintains his innocence.

“There’s been a catastrophic impact on his businesses from this,” Sawyer said. “He’s looking forward to working through this and getting on with his life.”

Badillo and his business partner, Jessica Elizabeth Najarro, were first arrested in August 2024 — on the same day that the FBI raided his San Francisco office — and charged with conspiracy and mail and wire fraud in connection with two schemes to defraud auto insurance companies.

Badillo and his wife, Abigail T. Fuentes, with whom he owned his towing businesses, also face multiple felony charges brought in 2023 by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office in connection with an alleged welfare fraud scheme.

Prosecutors say Fuentes, who worked for San Francisco’s Human Services Agency, approved Badillo’s applications for public welfare programs without disclosing her relationship to him.

Prosecutors alleged the couple falsely claimed they were earning only $1,000 a month while actually netting $2 million a year to qualify for public benefits, including Medi-Cal and CalWorks.

But there’s more.

In early 2024, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu suspended Badillo’s towing operations from bidding on or receiving city contracts after determining that its workers had illegally towed the cars of non-English speaking residents from a private commercial parking lot, restricted the times vehicles could be retrieved and pressured owners to pay in cash.

Several months later, a video that went viral showed one of Badillo’s Specialty Towing workers attempting to tow a car stuck in traffic on a San Francisco street as the frantic driver tried to escape.

In response to Badillo’s federal indictment this week, Chiu told KQED he thinks it may be just “the tip of the iceberg” for someone who has repeatedly “demonstrated a clear pattern of predatory behavior.”

“I wish I could say that I’m surprised, but I’m not surprised at all,” he said. “From arson to fraud to money laundering, to towing people while they’re in their cars. … We keep learning more about this guy every few months.”

“All I can say is in [Badillo’s] case, truth is stranger than fiction,” he added.