TAMPA, FL — A fake tow truck driver was arrested for stealing an SUV after a Saturday night crash on Interstate 275 in Tampa, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release.

As a trooper was dispatched to a crash involving a red Chevrolet SUV blocking the highway’s left lane at mile marker 44 around 9:20 p.m., a white tow truck with RPM Towing LLC on the side pulled up to the scene first.

A Road Ranger had already responded to the crash.

The tow truck driver, later identified as 23-year-old Abrahim S. Ahmad, told the SUV’s owner to stand to the side so he could hook up the crashed vehicle, FHP said.

The owner refused, telling Ahmad not to touch his car because he was waiting for law enforcement.

Ahmad told him that he didn’t have a choice.

He hooked the crashed SUV up to his tow truck and told the owner he was going to drop it off down the street, FHP said.

The Road Ranger with the owner and his passenger followed the tow truck to a 7-Eleven at State Road 574 and I-275, where Ahmad dropped the SUV.

The SUV’s owner asked Ahmad to stay at the scene until law enforcement arrived, but he refused and handed the driver a form to sign.

The owner refused to sign the form at first but reluctantly did so after the tow truck driver told him he had no choice. Then, Ahmad got back into his tow truck and left the scene, FHP said.

Before he left, the victim took several pictures of him and his tow truck. Ahmad gave the SUV’s owner a fake name, “Frankie.”

Though they were unable to find the tow truck in the area, through online searches, troopers found several addresses possibly connected to it, including one on Red Rock Drive in Land O’ Lakes.

Troopers went to the address where they saw the tow truck parked and running with Ahmad in the driver’s seat. They recognized him from the pictures taken by the victim, FHP said.

Ahmad was detained, and during an interview, admitted to investigators that he used scanners to find crashes, had a suspended Illinois driver’s license and towed the victim’s SUV, troopers said.

He also told investigators that the SUV’s owner and the Road Ranger asked him to move the vehicle from the highway, contradicting their statements, FHP said.

Ahmad was charged with grand theft auto, solicitation by unauthorized wrecker operator and obstruction without violence. His truck was seized by investigators.

The same tow truck was accused in a similar situation was stopped in December and given a warning by a trooper, FHP said.

The truck was bought from a legitimate towing company, RPG Towing out of Miami, last year. After its purchase, the suspects removed the company’s phone number from the side and left on all other stickers, including its former Florida Department of Transportation number.

Any other victims are asked to contact Florida Highway Patrol by calling *FHP (*347).