Telegraph photo by ADAM URQUHART Shown is a truck used by Pepperell-based EastBound Transport-Towing & Recovery. The company performs tows for some downtown Nashua property owners.

NASHUA – Towing continues to be an issue for some downtown consumers, but one Main Street business has been experiencing a unique problem.

Lineage Vapors shop owner Kyle Ezzio said the trouble started when he began warning people parking behind his business, located in the large building at 60 Main St., that their vehicles would quickly be towed by the owner of the lot for parking there. He is not the owner of the parking lot.

Since Ezzio stepped in to warn those headed downtown, he has felt targeted. Now, the problem of vehicles being towed to Pepperell, Massachusetts, from the Pearson Avenue lot has only gotten worse.

Pepperell-based EastBound Transport-Towing & Recovery is conducting the towing in question. Ezzio said he remembers playing baseball with the owner of the towing company when he was 10 years old.

“He has stated it – he will tell customers that he is doing it because he thinks I’m an a**hole,” Ezzio said. “It’s been bad, and what can I do about it? I’ve gone to the police. I’ve gone to the Mayor’s Office. I’ve spoken with Aldermen. I’ve spoken to attorneys. There’s nothing I can do about it. My business has been targeted specifically, it is stated, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Ezzio said these tows began ramping up some time last summer when Ezzio began posting signs on pieces of paper around the lot to warn motorists that if they parked there, their vehicle would be quickly towed.

EastBound owner Tim Morine said he took over the company about two years ago. He said during the last year and a half or so, issues began to arise with Ezzio. Unsurprisingly, Ezzio and Morine remember the situation with those plastered paper signs quite differently.

An incident involving EastBound and one of Ezzio’s customers led the vape shop owner to post the signs around the lot in the first place. Allegedly, a customer saw his truck hooked while his dog was still inside the vehicle.

On a Friday night, Ezzio stood out in that lot with pieces of paper he had printed, urging motorists not to park so they would not get towed.

In addition to his makeshift signage, official signs are posted in the lot discouraging people from parking their vehicles there. Ezzio and Morine agree some of those signs have disappeared over time, although they have different theories on how and why.

In any event, Ezzio said soon after hanging those paper signs, an EastBound tow truck pulled up right near him. At the time, Ezzio said he was sitting there stopping everyone from parking in an effort to protect the Main Street consumers from getting towed.

“He walks around, he rips all the paper signs that we hung up, takes the signs, whacks me in the face with them,” Ezzio alleged.

“He tells me, this is a quote, ‘You started World War III. You’re trying to ruin my business – I’m going to ruin your business.’ So, after that, he walks right to the front of here and starts yelling and raving,” Ezzio further alleged.

Shop manager Matt Basile was working that night and agreed this situation transpired. Ezzio said he then called Nashua police, which caused Morine to take off.

“The cops basically came and they said if he comes back and does anything else, to call us again,” Ezzio said.

Ezzio said ever since that incident, the charges for tows have increased because he believes Morine does not like him.

Morine flatly denies smacking Ezzio in the face with the paper signs.

“That is not true,” Morine said. “That did not happen. I have better things to do.”

When The Telegraph reached out to the Nashua Police Department Records Division, the only report officials found was from Nov. 3. The record listed Ezzio as the calling party from Lineage Vapors, and police did respond. An officer apparently responded to the call, and advice was given. The operator was unable to find a report of a call coming in from Ezzio during that alleged early summer incident.

“I used to play baseball with him,” Morine said. “I think he’s going off the deep end over there, actually.”

Ezzio said he has spent money from his own pocket covering customers’ towing costs.

“I can’t count on fingers and toes how many people have come in here crying,” Ezzio said.

He and his employees feel targeted by EastBound, but Morine said it is not just Ezzio’s customers who are getting towed. He said Ezzio’s customers are only a small percentage of the cars EastBound actually tows.

“It’s not a giant portion of it,” Morine said. “I’d say it’s 10 percent of his customers that actually get towed.”

“I do not target them specifically,” Morine said.

Morine said he has an agreement with the property owner that if there is a car in that lot that doesn’t belong there to tow it. He said he is getting blamed for Ezzio’s loss of business, but also said if no one parks there, then he won’t have to tow anyone.

However, Ezzio and his employees claim they have seen and continue to encounter EastBound truckers “bird-dogging” or staking out their business from surrounding lots.

Tyson Ouellette, of Nashua, said he parked in the area where EastBound tows, and left his dog in the truck for a couple minutes while he made his purchase. He said he jogged right back out to his truck, only to find EastBound hooked it up to tow it down to Pepperell. He claims the fee to have his truck dropped was set at $200.

“I pleaded with the guy for a good 10 minutes,” Ouellette said.

“He’s like, ‘All right, buddy. I’m taking off.’ And I’m like, ‘So you’re just going to steal my dog?’ And he’s like, “That’s not my problem.”

Ouellette needed to come up with the cash quickly, and had his girlfriend’s debit card. After receiving her permission to withdraw money, he ran over to the bank, withdrew the $200 and ran back to make the payment. However, he claims that when he got back, EastBound upped the price to $250 because of the wait.

Morine claims he sets his towing fees based on the city’s towing rates. He said it also depends on what time of day he picks up a vehicle.

“I don’t upcharge his customers whatsoever,” Morine said. “I charge the same rates for everybody.”

Moreover, as far as the bird-dogging allegation goes, Morine said one of his drivers lives in the area of Railroad Square in Nashua and will sometimes park the tow truck there.

“It’s not my fault,” Morine said. “It’s the people that park there and think they’re not going to get towed. I have no problem with Kyle. He has a big problem with me, but I don’t know why.”

“The only solution to this problem is to get EastBound Towing out of the city of Nashua,” Ezzio responded.

While the two business owners clash, Main Street consumers may find themselves caught in the middle, and ultimately, paying the price.