Car Got Towed, Now The Tow Company Wants Thousands Of Dollars

Hi all, I am posting this on my boyfriend’s behalf as he does not use reddit.

Location: Vermont

A couple weeks ago my Bf got into a car accident. He did not stop at a stop sign long enough, then got totaled by a Semi. All proceedings for the accident via tickets, insurance and medical stuff has been sorted. However, his totaled car was towed and now he is facing major charges from the tow company for storing it.

For clarification purposes, my bf was coherent at the scene and the only thing he signed was a paper saying he wasn’t going to take an ambulance . At the scene and after, no one asked where we would like the car towed/ stored. It took my bf 3 days to find out where his car had been towed as our police stations didn’t seem to have this info. Eventually someone at the police station was able to figure out what company “ potentially “ had his car. After contacting the tow company, they told him to “ leave the car there & not worry about anything bc insurance will help”… knowing that insurance wouldn’t help. At no point in time were any fees for storage or the tow brought up. However, after a week, the tow company called and told my bf that he had over 2000 dollars in storage fees accumulating. Even now, 2 weeks later, no daily rates, tow rates, receipts or notifications for payments were received… even after talking with them in person. At the start of this week the tow guy texted my bf and said “ if you give me your car title and 2k, I’ll accept that as a deal.. fees are still adding up”. Which, valid, fees are accumulating but this feels like extortion. Additionally, the tow guy told us that he had ties to the police and the military and that he has guns which feels like intimidation, esp because he lives down the street from us.

Nothing was signed, no agreements were made, no one reported the totaled car to the DMV, and this was done without my bf’s consent. We’ve been waiting to make a “ deal” as we’ve been seeking legal advice locally, but a lot of our lawyers are booked. I’d like to know if all of this that has happened is the legal way for things to go or if this seems like malpractice/ a scam? We are in our 20’s and this is our first real legal issue.