Man accused of towing scam charged with possessing 2 stolen semitrucks found in Wonder Lake

A man accused in civil lawsuits of a towing scam involving semitrucks stuck under Chicago overpasses and convicted in 2018 of stealing a recreational vehicle from a storage facility pleaded not guilty Friday to possessing two stolen freight trucks found in Wonder Lake last year.

Jon A. Twist, 34, of the 3500 block of South Western Avenue in Chicago, is charged with two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and three counts of concealing or misrepresenting the identity of a stolen vehicle, according to the McHenry County indictment.

Twist is accused of being in possession of a white 2021 Cascadia Freightliner truck and a 2013 Volvo truck on or about April 30 knowing that each had been stolen, according to the indictment.

The vehicles were found on property in the 4500 block of Hilltop Drive in Wonder Lake, according to the criminal complaint.

Twist is accused of having “concealed or misrepresented the identity” of each truck by removing and defacing decals and license plates representing the trucks’ owners, MGR Freight Systems in Countryside, according to court documents.

Wonder Lake Police said in the complaint that Twist used green spray paint to cover the “MGR” logo. The complaint also listed the owner of the Volvo truck as MGR. However, a representative of MGR said the Volvo is owned by Fonfara Trucking in Schiller Park.

In 2018, Twist and another Chicago man were charged with stealing a 2005 Ford motor home from a storage facility in Elmhurst, according to a news release sent at the time of his arrest by the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and DuPage County court records.

In that case, he was convicted of the possession of a stolen vehicle and an additional theft charge was dismissed, according to court records.

Twist was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail and 24 months of probation, which would have ended in December 2021, according to court documents.

The freight liner found at the Wonder Lake home was the subject of a lawsuit filed in Cook County last year by MGR Lease LLC.

A Cook County judge sided with MGR in the lawsuit, which named Chicago Roadside Inc. and Nathanial Gibbs as defendants, awarding just over $80,000 after the defendants failed to appear in court, according to court documents.

The lawsuit, which alleged a breach of contract, consumer fraud and deceptive business practice, detailed a scenario that occurred on March 1 when the freight liner struck and became stuck under an overpass near 5500 West Garfield Boulevard in Chicago.

“Almost immediately,” a tow truck arrived and the driver said he just happened to be in the area and wanted to help, the complaint alleged. It was later learned that the tow truck driver learned of the truck being stuck by using a police scanner.

The driver of the freight liner accepted the help with the understanding that for $450 his truck and trailer would be taken to a lot owned by MGR in Summit, according to the lawsuit.

The driver then signed a blank pre-tow disclosure form, which did not list any pricing for services, authorizing the tow. The tow truck driver left the scene of the crash with the freight liner and dropped off the driver at another location.

A person who identified himself as “Mark” communicated with Violeta Radosavljevic, listed in the lawsuit as an owner of MGR, and said he would be arriving at the MGR location “shortly.”

Instead, the freight liner was taken to a lot owned by Chicago Roadside in Chicago Heights, according to the lawsuit.

After at least two more phone calls, Radosavljevic received a text message letting her know where the freight liner had been “fraudulently taken and parked,” according to the lawsuit.

In a phone call, Radosavljevic was told she could get the freight liner back if she paid $27,027, according to the lawsuit.

The invoice later received by MGR had a list of ”outrageous and completely fraudulent charges,” including $2,995 for towing, more than the $450 agreed to at the scene. It also included charges for services never conducted, including $1,895 for special equipment, $1,495 for street clean-up, $4,740 for servicing four trucks for four hours and $395 per truck per hour, according to the lawsuit.

Radosavljevic demanded the freight liner be returned and “Mark” refused and threatened to release the truck to someone else unless the invoice was paid, according to the lawsuit.

Twist is named in two other Cook County civil lawsuits from 2019 and 2021, which detail similar scenarios with two other trucking companies. His name appears on the lawsuits as a defendant along with Wrecker Services Inc. and TMT Incorporated.

The 2019 and 2021 cases also ended in default judgement because neither Twist nor his attorney ever appeared in court, court records show. In the 2019 case, an order was entered for nearly $66,000 plus attorney fees, and in the 2021 case, an order was entered for more than $150,000 plus attorney fees.

Matthew Prengaman, who represented all three trucking companies in the civil lawsuits, said he did not name Twist in the most recent civil lawsuit involving MGR but suspected he was involved.

“I feel for these people,” Prengaman said. “They were clearly preyed upon. It is clear there is no remorse. [Twist] doesn’t care. He keeps doing it.”

Twist, whose attorney declined to comment, is due back in court March 31.