Alexander Vinogradsky’s Facebook posts share puns, poke fun at Gen Z and show off a trip to Tokyo Disneyland last year. In others, he is smiling or highlighting damaged cars in need of a tow.

But beneath the cheerful faces and overseas vacations, a constant menace lingered in Vinogradsky’s life: as a kingpin in the Toronto area’s tow truck underworld, he was a marked man.

Before he was gunned down March 28 outside a north-end Toronto plaza, he owned Paramount Towing, one of four outfits allegedly locked in a deadly turf war that prompted a major police crackdown in 2019 and 2020. The investigation prompted dozens of arrests — Vinogradsky’s included.

    • setVeryLoud(true);
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      7 months ago

      Gen Z is like 28 at the eldest, I don’t understand why people think we’re still children.

      • dubyakay
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        7 months ago

        I just remember being 28 as an elder millennial. I don’t hate you though.

      • Fenrisulfir
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        7 months ago

        It will never stop. I still see shit about millennials not wanting to work, etc. it’s like, bitch we’re in our 40s and are starting to run things when the elders die off. Yes we’re just getting our start homes etc but just stfu and work on yourself for once instead making it everyone else’s problem.

        People fucking suck

        In case it’s not clear I’m not coming at you. I just don’t feel like conversing properly

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          7 months ago

          Didn’t see it as you coming at me, I totally agree, I also still see anti-millenial sentiments when millenials are all between 29 and 44 and the oldest Gen X are almost geriatric.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    7 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    But beneath the cheerful faces and overseas vacations, a constant menace lingered in Vinogradsky’s life: as a kingpin in the Toronto area’s tow truck underworld, he was a marked man.

    Before he was gunned down March 28 outside a north-end Toronto plaza, he owned Paramount Towing, one of four outfits allegedly locked in a deadly turf war that prompted a major police crackdown in 2019 and 2020.

    The WhatsApp messages were never before the court at Commisso and Yizhak’s brief trial in June 2022 because both men were immediately acquitted after the Crown announced its case couldn’t go forward without its key witness, Salazar-Blanco.

    In spring 2020, he was swept up in the police crackdown on the Greater Toronto Area’s tow truck turf wars and faced charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit arson and a number of organized-crime offences.

    In a statement he gave to police after the incident, Vinogradsky said he felt like “a dead man with money on [his] head,” but wouldn’t say who he thought was responsible, telling officers, “I have to think about my street cred.”

    Vinogradsky went back to work running Paramount Towing, posting a photo of a damaged car on Facebook as recently as Feb. 22 — five weeks before his death — with the comment “Another day on the job” and his company’s phone number.


    The original article contains 1,522 words, the summary contains 222 words. Saved 85%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Hootz
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    7 months ago

    Tow trucks should not be private companies, they should be operated by the city / province (outside of municipalities)

    It’s a service everyone needs at some point, create a standard and allow private companies to compete with that.