Pregnant mom struggles to regain Christmas gifts after car towed

Bonnie Jones’ Christmas presents aren’t under the tree this year.

They’re locked in her car at a towing company’s lot, and she can’t get them. She’d also like to retrieve her leather jacket, given that any day now she’ll have to rush out the door and deliver her baby.

“I don’t know why they would keep the coat from a mother that’s about to deliver a child,” said Jones, who is nine months pregnant and due Tuesday.

It’s shaping up as a lousy Christmas for Jones and her husband, Keith.

The family’s stretch of bad luck began shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday as they were turning from northbound Iowa Street onto 33rd Street to go to SuperTarget, 3201 Iowa. They were going to exchange three of the donated Christmas gifts Bonnie Jones received earlier in the week through the Ballard Community Center, 708 Elm St.

Jones said she couldn’t use some of the gifts and planned to exchange them for things the family needed.

As they were turning left on a green arrow, an oncoming truck driven by a 44-year-old Ottawa man crashed into the passenger side of their Oldsmobile. According to a police report, officers believed the other driver caused the wreck by disregarding traffic signals.

The Jones family, Bonnie, Keith and Logan, 3, might be without their Christmas presents this year after having their car towed after a car accident Tuesday evening. Their car, which holds the presents, is at the A & M Towing & Recovery lot, 501 Maple St. The company refuses to allow the family to get the presents and Bonnie's winter coat until they pay the towing fee and daily rate.

Bonnie Jones admitted she was driving on an expired license. But she said that was because her husband was unable to drive that night. Keith Jones, a client of Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, suffers from schizophrenia and takes the anti-psychotic drug Abilify to control his symptoms.

The family lives on food stamps and about $700 in monthly disability payments.

Bonnie Jones suffered a black eye and cuts to her face in the accident. She went by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Their 3-year-old son, Logan, was in the back seat but wasn’t injured. Keith Jones said he was taken to the hospital later by a private vehicle and received five staples in his head.

The Joneses said they were allowed to retrieve Logan’s car seat late Tuesday after the car was towed by A & M Towing & Recovery, 501 Maple St. On Wednesday, they went back and were allowed to get some medical documents and house keys.

But Keith Jones said an employee told him he couldn’t have his wife’s jacket and Christmas presents unless their $215 towing bill was paid. It’s an amount the Joneses said they couldn’t pay, given their limited income.

So far, they haven’t heard from the other driver’s insurance company.

“I just don’t understand why their personal possessions are being kept, especially when they’re so poor and she’s pregnant,” said Judy Wasko, a social worker who regularly visits the Joneses’ home for the Douglas County “Success By 6” program. Wasko grew concerned about the family after visiting them Thursday morning at their trailer in North Lawrence. She notified the Journal-World of their problems.

Michelle Moon, one of the owners of A & M Towing, said she wasn’t hard-hearted, just concerned whether she would get paid for her work. Under state law, she said, towing companies can keep items left inside vehicles – except for vital things such as prescriptions and ownership papers – until the bill is paid.

“It’s their car. They need to take responsibility for it,” she said.

She said if Bonnie Jones wasn’t at fault, the other driver’s insurance likely would pay the bill in coming days. Moon also said the Joneses had never directly asked for their jacket and Christmas gifts.

“We haven’t heard anything about any kind of Christmas presents in there,” she said.

Asked whether she would let the family have the items, Moon said, “At this point, I don’t know. I would have to talk to them.”