Vegas Tow Truck Driver Rehired After Being Fired Over “Heroic Act”

(FOX5) – A tow truck driver fired from his job after he says he stopped an out-of-control vehicle from barreling into the Las Vegas Strip is gainfully employed again.

Anthony Garcia will be back on the road thanks to PCCU Towing, which interviewed Garcia and hired him. He is due to begin work Monday.

Garcia told FOX5 he was ousted from his job at Quality Towing and subsequently barred from collecting unemployment benefits because his supervisors viewed his actions on the Interstate 15 exit ramp to Spring Mountain Road as a use of deadly force.

According to Garcia, he drove his tow truck into a vehicle that had been traveling erratically. Moments before, Garcia stopped to see the vehicle with a driver unconscious inside. He believes the driver experienced a medical episode and that his foot limply hit the accelerator.

“[The car] was just bouncing off walls, and he was picking up speed,” Garcia recalled. “I was thinking he’s going 70 down hill. We are going to have a problem.”

Garcia decided to pin the driver against a wall to keep it from going any further towards the Strip. The driver was not hurt as a result of the pinning.

Despite the termination, Clark County Fire Department is recognizing Garcia’s act with the Citizen Heroism award.