A towing company in Somerville that tried to defy the odds by towing more than 100 vehicles in less than two weeks without a license has been told to knock it off.

Quick Towing Services had yet to receive a license from the city to commence operations before it allegedly towed over 100 vehicles between Oct. 5 and Oct. 16, and the business is accused of failing to report the towings to police, city records show.

Police last Monday contacted owner Luciano Quintanilha and told him to cease towing vehicles until he receives “proper approval from the city,” according to a police report.

The City Council’s Licenses and Permits Committee last week did not recommend awarding a license to the business due to the wrongdoings.

“We have an applicant that has been operating illegally,” Council President Ben Ewen-Campen said. “This is a business that I am not comfortable licensing to operate in Somerville.”

A woman who identified herself as Susan Shannon, and spoke on behalf of Quintanilha, told the Herald on Saturday the applicant started the licensing process last December, and the company began using a tow yard in East Somerville last month.

The City Council on Sept. 14 referred the application for recommendation, putting it to committee. But Shannon said she believed that meant the company was allowed to start operating.

“One part is the fault of the company who misunderstood the city,” Shannon said. “On the other hand, what (the city is) doing is really bad because we are just trying to work like everybody else.”

Police caught wind of the activity when Sgt. Samir Messaoudi received a call Oct. 14 from someone whose car was towed from a Home Depot parking lot for trespassing, a report states.

The caller raised concerns about how the towing company only accepted cash or Venmo payments, and it took pictures of a vehicle owner’s license and ID cards and sent them via WhatsApp.

“A query in the QED system revealed no record of the towed vehicle,” the report states. “Upon further investigation, a second vehicle towed from the same location was also not found in our records.”

The next day, police responded to the Quick Towing tow yard to deescalate a verbal altercation between vehicle owners and employees. Officers observed the property lacking power, office space or a bathroom.

Quintanilha stored records of towed vehicles on his phone but did not report them to police, a violation of the law, the report states.

“That is certainly a concern for our department and the city administration,” City Clerk Kimberly Wells said, “and something I think the council should be aware of.”

Shannon claims the business reported every towed vehicle to police and kept a maximum of eight to 10 cars in the yard at a time. Quintanilha eyed Somerville as the second location for his business in addition to his first in Groveland, she said.

“It doesn’t make any sense if you have your car towed in Somerville, you have to drive at least 40 minutes to get your back,” she said. “That’s why we’ve been trying to get the license and the business active for almost a year.”

Councilor Willie Burnley Jr., who chairs the Licenses and Permits Committee, said he didn’t believe it would’ve been appropriate to recommend approving a license for the company under the circumstances.

“I believe this committee has shown great restraint generally and patience with applicants when they come before us,” he said. “But I have to say it is quite concerning the amount of towing that was described in a fairly short amount of time. Over 100 vehicles seems kind of astounding.”

Tow company at 30 Joy St. Somerville on Saturday. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

Jalen Nailor took advantage of his opportunity in the spring, showing up to TCO Performance Center for organized team activities, and proving himself as a playmaker with Justin Jefferson not in attendance.

It looked like Nailor was on the pathway toward having a big role with the Vikings’ offense.

Instead, the 24-year-old receiver has struggled to gain any traction, battling a calf injury in the summer, then a hamstring injury in the fall. He has been on injured reserve for the past month, though head coach Kevin O’Connell said the Vikings might activate Nailor before they play host to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

“You guys have always known how excited I am about Jalen and his potential fit in our offense,” O’Connell said. “He truly has the skill set to develop into kind of a universal player for us, and with Justin being out right now, adding that to the room would be critical for us.”

It’s trending in the right direction for Nailor, who was a limited participant in practice this week. He officially is listed as questionable for the primetime game against the 49ers.

“We want to be smart with him,” O’Connell said. “Just make sure when he’s able to be turned loose, he’s got nothing holding him back at all.”

Cleveland officially ruled out

After missing every day of practice this week, Ezra Cleveland has officially been ruled out with a foot injury. As a result, Dalton Risner will start at left guard for the Vikings on Monday.

It will mark the first time Risner has started since signing with the Vikings last month. He played snaps in relief last weekend when the Vikings were on the road against the Chicago Bears.

Asked to evaluate that performance, O’Connell heaped praise on Risner for being ready to go at a moment’s notice.

“Ultimately, we knew at some point he’d be called upon, and that’s why we went out and got him,” O’Connell said. “I’m quite frankly looking forward to seeing him go out there and compete.”

Rumph on personal leave

Talking to reporters on Saturday, O’Connell confirmed that defensive line coach Chris Rumph has received permission to take a personal leave of absence.

There is no timetable on when Rumph will return to the coaching staff.

In his place, assistant defensive line coach Pat Hill will take over most of the responsibilities up front. He will also have some help from assistant head coach Mike Pettine.

In addition to Rumph, the Vikings also have outside linebackers coach Mike Smith on a personal leave of absence.

Related Articles

Which pass rushers step up for the Vikings with Marcus Davenport out?

The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week 7: Raiders QB Garoppolo is a no-go

Vikings preparing for mighty 49ers, who could be down a pair of skill players

Dalton Risner has been biding his time on the sidelines. Now the Vikings might need him.

The Loop NFL Picks: Week 7

Starbucks accused a union representing thousands of its baristas of damaging the brand and endangering co-workers with a pro-Palestinian tweet. The CEO of a prominent tech conference resigned amid backlash for his public statements suggesting that Israel was committing war crimes. Company bosses vowed never to hire members of a university’s student groups that condemned Israel.

Meanwhile, Islamic rights advocates say much of the corporate response has minimized the suffering in Gaza, where thousands have died in Israeli airstrikes, and created an atmosphere of fear for workers who want to express support for Palestinians. Jewish groups have criticized tepid responses or slow reactions to the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage that killed 1,400 people in Israel and triggered the latest war.

The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has spilled into workplaces everywhere, as top leaders of prominent companies weigh in with their views while workers complain their voices are not being heard. People from all ranks have been called out for speaking too forcefully — or not forcefully enough — making it nearly impossible to come up with a unifying message when passions run deep on all sides.

Many U.S. corporations have strong ties with Israel, particularly among tech and financial firms that have operations and employees in the country.

Executives at J.P Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs, Google and Meta were among dozens who swiftly condemned the Hamas attacks and expressed solidarity with the Israeli people in public statements, social media posts or even corporate earning calls. Many pledged millions of dollars in humanitarian aid and detailed efforts to safeguard employees in Israel.

Some chief executives poured out their personal anguish.

In a LinkedIn post and a letter to employees, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said he has been constantly on the phones with friends and relatives in Israel and expressed his horror at hearing of “civilians of all ages targeted and killed in cold blood, hostages taken and tortured.” He implored employees to check on each other and said Pfizer launched a humanitarian relief campaign.

“It is not enough to condemn these actions — we ourselves must take action,” Bourla wrote.

Backlash against opposing views has been swift, including responses to a tweet from Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave suggesting Israel was committing war crimes.

“I’ll never attend/sponsor/speak at any of your events again,” former Facebook executive David Marcus stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Faced with a growing boycott to next month’s Web Summit, a prominent European gathering of thousands of tech leaders, Cosgrave resigned Saturday, saying that his “personal comments have become a distraction from the event, and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people who attend.”

His resignation came a few days after he released a long message denouncing the Hamas attacks and apologizing for the timing of his initial tweet while defending his overall views on the conflict. But companies continued withdrawing from the conference, including Google, Meta, German tech conglomerate Siemens, and U.S. chipmaker Intel.

Jonathan Neman, CEO of restaurant chain Sweetgreen, was among several company leaders who vowed never to hire Harvard students who belonged to groups that cosigned a statement blaming Israel for the violence.

The international law firm Winston & Strawn rescinded a job offer to a New York University student who wrote a message in the Student Bar Association bulletin saying Israel was entirely to blame for the bloodshed.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic civil rights group, denounced the backlash against the students and statements from U.S. corporate leaders that “lack any meaningful display of sympathy toward Palestinian civilians.”

Those reactions combined, the organization said, are leaving “Palestinians and those in support of Palestinian human rights isolated at their place of work and fearful of possible consequences” for discussing how the conflict has affected them.

Isra Abuhasna, a data scientist in the Chicago area, was among several professionals who expressed similar thoughts on social media, saying in a LinkedIn post that she was “risking her entire career” by expressing her views on the conflict.

Abuhasna, a Palestinian American who has worked for a real estate firm and other companies but recently took a break to stay home with her two young children, said she fears her posts will make it difficult to find a new position. But she said her parents raised her to be proud and vocal about the Palestinian cause.

“It’s my identity,” Abuhasna said. “What good am I in my job if I compromise my own morals and ethics?”

One of the biggest disputes erupted at Starbucks after Starbucks Workers United, a union representing 9,000 workers at more than 360 U.S. stores, tweeted “Solidarity with Palestine” two days after the Hamas attack. The tweet was taken down within 40 minutes, but the company said it led to more than 1,000 complaints, acts of vandalism and angry confrontations in its stores.

Starbucks filed a lawsuit to stop Starbucks Workers United from using its name and a similar logo. Workers United, the parent union of Starbucks Workers United, responded with its own lawsuit saying Starbucks defamed the union by implying it supports terrorism. It wants to continue using the company name.

Starbucks Workers United tweeted a longer message on Friday denouncing Israel’s “occupation” and “threats of genocide Palestinians face” while also condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Angela Berg, founder of workplace consultancy firm Perelaks, said companies with strong opinions about the war should express them, but “the critical thing is that they acknowledge the existence of the experience of the other side.” Those trying to stay on the sidelines, Berg said, need to explain their reasons to employees.

As the humanitarian catastrophe deepened in Gaza, more company leaders addressed the situation, including Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, who said the company was splitting a $3 million donation between the Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

But companies that have kept a low profile have gotten pushback.

Allison Grinberg-Funes, who is Jewish, wrote in a LinkedIn post that she was disappointed by the failure of her colleagues to reach out immediately after the Hamas attacks.

While they eventually reached out, Grinberg-Funes said in an interview with The Associated Press that she remains disappointed her employer, Liberty Mutual, didn’t publicly condemn the attacks.

The Boston-based content designer for the insurance company said the silence is part of a wider “lack of support” for the Jewish community that she and her friends have observed in the workplace.

“We want to know that our lives matter as much as the other employees that have been shown support,” said Grinberg-Funes, 33, who has family and friends in Israel.

Liberty Mutual did not respond to a request for comment.

The impact of Marcus Davenport has been apparent any time he has been on the field for the Vikings this season. The pass rush has had noticeably more juice when Davenport has been paired with Danielle Hunter off the edge. It’s exactly what the Vikings had in mind when they signed Davenport to a 1-year, $13 million contract this past offseason.

The biggest issue for Davenport has been staying healthy. He suffered an injury to his right ankle that forced him to miss a couple of games, then after working his way back to full strength, he suffered an injury to his left ankle that has landed him on injured reserve.

Though the Vikings have gotten incredible production from Hunter, who is tied for the NFL lead with 8.0 sacks, they need more from the other pass rushers on the team.

“I was really excited about that room, and I still am,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Just our depth is going to be tested now.”

Here’s a tale of the tape for Vikings pass rushers not named Hunter or Davenport. That group will need to step up starting with the primetime game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

D.J. Wonnum

Height: 6 feet, 5 inches

Weight: 260 pounds

Analysis: D.J. Wonnum will be thrust into a starting role opposite Hunter for the next month or so. To this point, Wonnum has a pair of sacks, a pair of pass deflections and a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown. He appears to be better suited as a rotational pass rusher, which explains why he’s been way more productive when Hunter and Davenport have garnered most of the attention from opposing offensive lines. This is a good chance for Wonnum to prove himself as a viable option off the edge for the Vikings.

Pat Jones II

Height: 6 feet, 4 inches

Weight: 265 pounds

Analysis: Pat Jones II has flown under the radar for the most part. He hasn’t been very effective when asked to win a 1-on-1 matchup, which is evidenced by the fact that he doesn’t have a sack yet this season. That said, Jones has still managed to stand out on tape. Asked about the pass rush earlier this week, defensive coordinator Brian Flores praised Jones as somebody who has made a handful of plays that don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet. Now the Vikings need Jones to make plays that do show up on the stat sheet.

Andre Carter II

Height: 6 feet, 6 inches

Weight: 255 pounds

Analysis: Andre Carter II was a highly coveted undrafted free agent this spring. That’s why the Vikings had to guarantee him $340,000 to get him to sign in Minnesota. As of right now, Carter is more of a project player, equipped with a decent amount of upside down the road. He has been inactive more often than not this season, playing just 17 snaps on defense. There should be more reps for Carter in the coming weeks, so it’ll be interesting to see what he does with undoubtedly the biggest opportunity of his career.

Related Articles

Vikings could activate receiver Jalen Nailor, then unleash him on offense

The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week 7: Raiders QB Garoppolo is a no-go

Vikings preparing for mighty 49ers, who could be down a pair of skill players

Dalton Risner has been biding his time on the sidelines. Now the Vikings might need him.

The Loop NFL Picks: Week 7