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A Capital Region tow company owner is heading to prison after using his business to steal and sell vehicles from local parking lots — a scheme that left dozens of car owners stranded and without their vehicles.
John F. Rivers, 44, of East Greenbush, was sentenced Tuesday (February 24) to two to six years in prison for his role in the theft operation. According to the Times Union, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the sentencing alongside that of Robert A. Pitcher, 58, of Broadalbin, a used car dealer connected to the scheme who was sentenced earlier this month to five years of probation.
Rivers owns Rivers Asset Recovery in Rensselaer, which held towing contracts with several well-known businesses across the Capital Region, including a Walmart in Latham, a Hannaford in Albany, and a Home Depot in Rensselaer. As reported by Insurance Journal, Rivers exploited those contracts between October 2022 and August 2024, towing cars left in parking lots overnight and then quickly selling them to scrapyards or used car dealers — including Pitcher — without notifying the vehicles' owners.
Under New York state law, towing companies are required to notify a vehicle's owner within five days of a tow and must hold the car for 30 days before trying to claim its title. Prosecutors say Rivers routinely ignored those rules, sometimes selling vehicles within days of towing them. When owners called to retrieve their cars, Rivers either ignored them or demanded fees of up to $1,000 per day.
The investigation, led by the Attorney General's Office and the New York State Police (NYSP) Special Investigations Unit, included an undercover operation. In March 2024, NYSP investigators parked an undercover Hyundai Sonata in the Latham Walmart parking lot, where Rivers had a tow contract. The car was towed that same night and brought to the Rivers Asset Recovery shop. Two months later, it was transported to a chop shop in Massachusetts, where troopers watched it get cut into parts. The vehicle's registered owner was never notified.
Rivers and Pitcher together faced more than 30 felony charges. In December 2025, Rivers pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny, and Pitcher pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Rivers was originally charged in December 2024 with stealing 17 vehicles valued at roughly $230,000.
According to WNYT-TV, Attorney General James said in a statement, "John Rivers turned his towing business into a criminal operation, stealing cars out of parking lots throughout the Capital Region and selling them to dealers like Robert Pitcher." She added, "New Yorkers should be able to trust that when their car gets towed, they'll be able to get it back quickly and easily."
NYSP Superintendent Steven G. James also weighed in, saying, "This sentencing has brought to justice individuals who engaged in fraud and larceny, impacting car owners and scamming local businesses who had trust in them."
Rivers is set to begin serving his sentence, with a minimum of two years before he is eligible for release.