Vehicle Owner Described As Violent, Irate

NEW ORLEANS  I A local radio host in Louisiana is claiming he was suddenly attacked at an area tow shop last week when he arrived to collect his car.  According to other sources, however, the man was nearly hysterical with rage before he arrived, leading some to believe he provoked the response.

It all began at a New Orleans neighborhood laundromat, where the owner strictly enforces customer-only parking. Such was the case Thursday when WBOK radio host Vernel Trainor parked there to visit another nearby business.  

When he returned to find his vehicle being hooked up, he reportedly became irate to anyone who would listen.  With Trainor unable to pay the drop fee, the vehicle was removed.

Trainor hosts the weekend show ‘Voices of Our Generation’ on WBOK, an AM talk radio station in New Orleans.

Interviewed by WWLTV-News, he displayed bruises and a bandaged broken nose. He says he was attacked when he arrived at the shop to collect his car. Trainor claims the assault involved four employees and was unprovoked.

At Mid City Automotive & Towing, they tell a different version.  According to them, Trainor arrived at their location ready to fight.  The owner immediately instructed him to leave, at which point he entered an employee-only area, the yard. That’s when he encountered driver Phillip Spencer.

“The guy came into the yard, I’m like ‘Sir, you got to leave the yard.’” Spencer said.  “He hit me in my face, and I hit him back.”

“He got beat up,” Spencer continues.  “That’s just what it was, you know. I defended myself.”

The owner also says that only one employee fought with Trainor, not the four he claimed.

Paramedics arrived to assist Trainor, who was transported to the Tulane University emergency room with non-life threatening injuries.

Trainor contacted police, insisting on arrests. The staff at Mid City points the finger of blame squarely at Trainor, saying he used racial slurs, profanity and made immediate threats as soon as arriving on site.  They described his demeanor as “violent.”

The laundromat owner backs up this claim, saying she had to call police to her site after Trainor became aggressively irate immediately following the tow.

Trainor told local media he was also unhappy with police response, saying “When the NOPD officer arrived, she treated me as if I was the one who did the assault.”

According to police, they were initially unable to take a complete statement from Trainor at the time, describing him as “hostile and irate.”

The New Orleans Police Department is investigating the matter.

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