Video shows tow truck try to latch onto moving car in San Francisco

A viral video showing a tow truck attempting to latch onto a car while the owner was driving it in San Francisco is raising questions.

Jeff Ferland stopped near Montgomery and Bush streets when the odd sight caught his eye, calling it "very bizarre" and "very scary."

"I saw a Waymo with its hazards on and then I saw a tow truck maneuvering from in front of me to come and make a tow," he said. "I thought, 'Oh, I'm just going to see this hook up with a broken Waymo car and take off.' And then he went for the car next to it, which had people in it, and started loading that. They started backing up and he started chasing them with the tow truck."

Ferland pulled out his phone and caught most of the incident on video.

"This is the effective thing I can do right now is record this because it's wrong,'" he said.

Ferland said he’s never seen anything like it.

"He had the piece down, he maneuvered the forks under the front tires, he continued to chase them backwards with the forks down, and then when he went to take off, as soon as he takes off, he's raising the arm," Ferland said.

It all played out quickly.

"The car behind them maneuvered around and passed. At that point, they had a clear shot to get away from the tow truck and they took it," Ferland said.

City Attorney David Chiu said his office is looking into the incident.

"We’re just digging into this as we speak," he said. "I also understand that the San Francisco Police Department is aware of this incident. We encourage members of the public to contact them if they witnessed anything around the behavior of this company."

Earlier this year, Chiu announced he suspended auto towing and affiliated companies from doing business with the city, including Specialty Towing and Recovery.

The tow truck in the video had "Specialty Towing" on the side, but it's unclear if it’s with the suspended company, because multiple companies use “Specialty” in their name.

"So assuming this is Specialty Towing, this is the same towing company that our office previously moved to suspend and debar from receiving city contracts," Chiu said.

NBC Bay Area reached out to the company listed on the door of the tow truck by phone and email but did not immediately hear back.