St. Croix County Towing Company Sues County and Sheriff

A St. Croix County towing company is suing the county and Sheriff Scott Knudson over the termination of their services.

According to the lawsuit, Mike’s Auto Body of Glenwood City was part of St. Croix County’s rotating no-preference towing program. The program allows deputies to arrange for the removal of a disabled vehicle from the roads without giving more business to particular towing companies to ensure fairness.

Mike’s Auto Body had been tapped to remove a vehicle from the scene where Deputy Katie Leising was killed in the line of duty in 2023. A few days after the incident, the owner of the car went to the company to pick it up but the Department of Justice allegedly didn’t want to pay the full bill.

In response, owner of Mike’s Auto Body Michael Barstad emailed the other companies in the rotation, complaining about Sheriff Knudson and the government for either delaying payment on the bills for years or forcing the companies to discount the bills.

Sheriff Knudson responded by criticizing the timing of the complaint in the wake of Deputy Leising’s death, and informed Barstad that he would be working towards dissolving their towing agreement.

The lawsuit alleges that St. Croix County and Sheriff Knudson violated Barstow’s first and 14th amendment rights by terminating their participation in the program. According to a WQOW report, Barstad says he understands it was a difficult time for the Sheriff and county, and he’s prepared to be reasonable in settlement negotiations.

St. Croix County has 60 days to file their answer from Wednesday, when they received the lawsuit, unless the parties agree to a settlement beforehand.