Felony Plea In Wild Tow Truck Repo Rage

SEPTEMBER 30--The New York man who stole a tow truck as its operator sought to repossess his vehicle--and then proceeded to crash the hot wheels into an assortment of parked cars as astonished witnesses recorded the automotive mayhem--has pleaded guilty to a felony charge, records show.

In a deal with prosecutors, raging Russell Laiosa, 56, copped last week to a grand larceny charge stemming from the wild incident in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood.

While Laiosa initially entered a not guilty plea to a host of charges, viral videos of the tow truck heist left him bereft of a defense for his furious September 2024 rampage.

Laiosa is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3 for the third-degree felony. While the charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, Laiosa’s plea deal does not call for a term of incarceration. Instead, prosecutors have agreed to a sentence of three years probation and fines (and they want Laiosa to complete an anger management course).

As seen in the videos--one of which was recorded by a camera mounted on the tow truck--Laiosa appeared on the street as his leased 2020 Chevrolet Silverado’s rear wheels were being attached to the tow truck’s arm.  

“Get the fuck out of here,” Laiosa yelled. “Put the truck down...I’m warning you, motherfucker.” With a fist balled up, Laiosa shoved tow truck driver Paul Corsello and forced his way into the vehicle. “Fuck him, nobody’s taking this truck from me,” Laiosa said as he pulled away with the Silverado not fully secured to the Ford F-450 tow truck.

As Laiosa made his getaway careening the wrong way down 53rd Street, the Silverado’s driver's side door opened as the pickup hung precariously from the tow truck’s arm. The door raked across a half-dozen parked cars as onlookers screamed. When Laiosa tried to navigate a turn onto 2nd Avenue, the Silverado fell off the tow truck, rolled, and struck two more vehicles before coming to stop in front of a city bus.

With a wreckage field in the rear mirror, Laiosa abandoned the stolen tow truck a few blocks away. Laiosa, who lives on Long Island and runs an elevator inspection firm, was arrested several days later as the various videos went viral.

Court records show that Laiosa has been involved in a variety of legal actions--bankruptcy, foreclosure, unpaid bills, motor vehicle torts--and he also has a couple of prior arrests, according to New York City police.

Laiosa was sued in 2020 for posting “false, unprivileged, and defamatory statements on Facebook” accusing a man of being a “neighborhood pedophile and predator.” The man targeted by Laiosa was a retired cop engaged in an affair with Laiosa’s estranged wife.

In a court filing, Laiosa (seen at left) blamed the plaintiff for the breakup of his 20+ year marriage and oddly claimed that, as a former lawman, the other man “understood that sexual intercourse with another man’s wife is a crime and punishable with imprisonment.”

The defamation case was settled after Laiosa agreed to stop posting his pedophile/predator claims. In 2022, Laiosa was divorced from his spouse, with whom he shares four daughters. (2 pages)