Queens body shop owner uses illegal tow truck scheme to flaunt wealthy 'f---ing life'

With a fleet of tow trucks behind him idling in a park, the owner of a Queens body shop makes a pitch for joining his crew of drivers.

“If you're tired of being broke, watching TV, watching us in these trucks, watching where we are, hit us up and we'll get you there," David Borukhov told his 45,000 followers on Instagram as he hopped out of an unlicensed tow truck earlier this month.

"We’re looking for hungry people who want more than a paycheck. More money. More opportunity. More growth. More lifestyle," he added in the caption.

In the video, Borukhov does donuts behind the wheel of a pickup, which was equipped with a stealth tow rig, leaving burnout marks in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

The parks department and a local councilmember said they were working with the NYPD to review the incident. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, which oversees the city’s towing industry, said it's investigating Borukhov’s business after customer complaints about unlicensed towing.

Earlier this year, a Gothamist investigation found that there were at least 712 unlicensed tow trucks operating on city streets in 2025 — a number that nearly eclipsed the licensed fleet of towers in the five boroughs. Crashes involving both licensed and unlicensed tow trucks have left at least 15 people dead since 2010, according to a review of news coverage and official records.

Borukhov is arguably one of the most outspoken, brazen figures in the industry. The self-proclaimed millionaire takes to social media to depict his glamorous lifestyle behind the wheel of a purple Lamborghini convertible.

He casts towing as the fast track to money and respect. But to local officials and some licensed towers, his antics and self-improvement schtick are a brazen display of an illegal industry operating in plain sight.

The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, which oversees the city’s towing industry, confirmed that Borukhov’s towing license lapsed in 2016 and neither he nor his body shop are licensed to tow in the city. Gothamist recently spotted unlicensed tow trucks outside his shop, Nizo Motors, in Astoria.

None of the trucks in the video appear to be permitted to tow in the city.

“ If you like adrenaline, you like to fight, and you like to scream and be loud, this is your f–king life,” Borukhov said on a podcast in February about the towing and body shop industry. “ I fought over maybe 200 fights in the towing business. I've totaled out trucks into other trucks. They've totaled out trucks into my trucks. Big time. I've crashed my truck into millions of shops.”

Borukhov directed questions to his lawyer, who did not comment. On Tuesday, Borukhov posted an Instagram story showing himself using a fire extinguisher on a burning school bus on a highway. “This is why I say Nizo Motorsports is the first responders,” Borukhov said.

He is far from the only outspoken player in the city’s towing industry.

Gothamist identified more than a dozen active social media accounts advertising unlicensed towing services in New York City.

Some, like VMA Auto in nearby Maspeth, are following Borukhov’s example. The shop’s Instagram account features videos of burnouts and rows of unlicensed tow trucks illegally parked on the sidewalk. VMA Auto did not respond to an inquiry.

Borukhov’s twin brother, Rod Borukhov, runs his own body shop that posted a video last year showing an unlicensed tow truck retrieving a wrecked car from the side of a city highway in plain view of the NYPD — something only licensed towers cleared by police headquarters are supposed to do.

Licensed tow trucks are required to clearly display company information on the side of the vehicle, in addition to a metal medallion supplied by the city.

An email from Rods Autoworks said the video was promotional and should not be seen as evidence of unlawful operations. The body shop said it takes applicable laws and regulations seriously.

David Borukhov said in the podcast interview he got his start in the business at 18, when an established tow truck driver spotted him doing burnouts with a friend on Queens Boulevard. He was soon handed a set of keys for a truck and a police scanner, which he listened to for intel on car crashes.

“ It's fully illegal,” Borukhov said in the podcast, referring to the common practice among tow drivers of listening to police scanners.

Borukhov said he gained a reputation as an honorable hustler. He says he never snitched to police when he was in a fight, preferring to handle disputes on his own. In an undated video, Borukhov claims to have gotten inside information on car crashes from police officers who were on his payroll.

“I had 10 cops working for me in the 107th Precinct,” Borukhov said on Instagram in a video from 2022. “I would have a lot of cops call me to accident scenes and giving me cars, and I would take care of them on the side.”

That was not an empty boast. The NYPD confirmed that the officers Borukhov referred to were arrested and federally prosecuted.

Borukhov’s posts often show him posing in front of unlicensed tow trucks, or near helicopters and private jets. He once called himself “the lion of the jungle.”

“ In a tow truck, body shop, it's always drama. It's like a f---ing reality show, and that's what we're doing right now,” he told the podcast hosts in February.

On Instagram, Nizo Motors advertises payments up to $2,500 for bystanders who call in tips on crashes.

Gothamist previously reported that many of the unlicensed tow trucks are known as “chasers.” Those drivers race to the scene of a crash to try to be the first to tow a damaged vehicle. Tow truck operators can earn a commission on vehicles they haul to body shops. The greater the value of the damaged vehicle, the higher the commission.

GMC pickup trucks — like some of the trucks in Borukhov's video — equipped with easy-to-miss tow rigs below the rear bumper are popular among unlicensed towers.

Once at the body shop, fees for repair and storage of damaged vehicles can quickly add up.

Earlier this year, the owners of a 2020 Lamborghini sued Borukhov and Nizo Motors, alleging in Queens Supreme Court they moved their car from Florida to New York without permission. Insurance approved only $6,100 in repairs for what the suit called “minor damage.” But Borukhov allegedly performed more than $40,000 in repairs, which the insurer refused to cover, writing the car showed signs of intentional damage with handheld tools and cutting devices. The Lambo's owner was also hit with $16,000 in storage fees, according to the suit.

The case was discontinued last month, with the owner of the luxury car reserving the right to revive the suit.

Changes in NYPD policy have opened the door to unlicensed towers. The NYPD stopped responding to thousands of car crashes in 2020, and stopped seizing unlicensed tow trucks two years later. A police spokesperson said that the agency has issued over 300 summonses to tow trucks so far this year in 12 operations targeting illegal towing on city highways, and that additional officers would be assigned to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park this summer.

Councilmember Phil Wong, a Queens Democrat, said the city needs to do more to crack down on the rogue industry.

“This is like telling everyone, ‘Hey, bro, you can get away with it, so start breaking the law because you can, and everyone will look the other way, no problem,’” Wong said after seeing Borukhov’s social media. “I will find ways to take down these videos.”

Wong has joined Councilmember Frank Morano, who represents parts of Staten Island, in calling on Albany to have the DMV close a loophole they say has allowed illegal tow trucks to proliferate in the city since 2021, when there were just a few dozen such vehicles.

A spokesperson for Morano said he was planning to arrange a hearing on the resolution after the city’s latest budget is adopted.

"Every Tom, Dick and Harry has got a pickup truck or a tow truck that's unlicensed and they operate within the city of New York,” said Michael Roth, a licensed tower.