Charlotte tow truck driver arrested for assaulting, pepper spraying trucker

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The owner of a Charlotte tow truck company was arrested for assault after pepper spraying a trucker who he had just booted.

Two people shared video with the WBTV Investigates team showing the moments before and after tow truck driver David Satterfield, owner of Automobile Recovery and Parking Enforcement (ARPE), pepper sprayed a trucker who he had just booted.

The trucker’s wife started shooting video as she tried protecting her husband from Satterfield.

“Do not come near him!” she screamed at Satterfield as her husband was lying on the ground.

“You pepper sprayed someone without warning,” she said.

This is not the first time Satterfield has been accused of pepper spraying someone during a towing incident. Two other people claimed that Satterfield pepper sprayed them in separate incidents.

Another truck driver shot video from the same incident earlier in the evening on Huthinson-McDonald Road.

The truck driver told WBTV that Satterfield was booting trucks while the drivers were asleep in their cabins. Video the trucker shot shows him knocking on doors and informing other drivers that they had been booted.

After the trucker who was pepper sprayed filed for a criminal summons, Satterfield was arrested for simple assault.

The same night he was arrested, Satterfield was also was cited for driving with a revoked license. WBTV previously caught him driving before about five months ago in April.

Satterfield tells WBTV he had a contract with the property owner but that it was later cancelled. WBTV called the property owner, Liberty Property Trust, but never received an answer as to whether they contracted with Satterfield.

Satterfield also claims the man he pepper sprayed cut the boot off his truck with bolt cutters and then started swinging them at him.

He told WBTV “If you put me on the news for some **** that’s not my fault we’ll have some problems.”

Satterfield will be in court later in October in order to face that assault charge.

Some of the truckers are filing lawsuits against Satterfield’s company ARPE saying that he violated local towing ordinances during the incident.

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