🚨 GALVESTON, TX — Exclusive Investigation

The City of Galveston has now taken two vehicles from Marine Corps veteran and journalist Matthew Reardon — and this time, they’ve left him completely without transportation, homeless, and stranded while he fights for his rights in federal court.

📌 Related Coverage — Galveston Lawsuit

What is unfolding in Galveston, Texas is not an accident. It is not a bureaucratic mix-up. According to Reardon, it is a systematic, coordinated extortion scheme — orchestrated in broad daylight, shielded by city ordinances, and executed through a network of towing companies working hand-in-glove with local law enforcement.

The Second Vehicle — This Time, Left With Nothing

In a phone call recorded and published by We The People News, Reardon — freshly released from jail just one day earlier — called Marty’s Tow to retrieve his 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, a gray SUV that represented his last remaining asset in the world.

The answer he received was as cold as it was calculated: $373.94 — nearly $374 in fees — owed before the vehicle would be released. The breakdown? Tow fees. Daily storage. A $5 “service charge.” And something called an “empowerment fee.”

“I’m a homeless Marine Corps veteran. That is all I have left is my car — and I got arrested.”

— Matthew Reardon, speaking to Marty’s Tow employee

The tow company employee, identified as “Ray,” freely admitted the fee structure is set and mandated by the City of Galveston — not by Marty’s Tow. The city dictates a minimum floor of $270 in fees. The towing company collects additional charges on top of that. Ray told Reardon plainly: “We get audited by the state. Things have to add up.”

This Is Vehicle Number Two — The First Was Sold at Auction While He Was Locked Up

This is not the first time Galveston has stripped Reardon of a vehicle. In 2023, while Reardon was being held in custody — jailed on what he alleges was a false arrest — the City of Galveston impounded his previous vehicle and sold it at public auction.

He never got it back. He never got a dime from the sale. The city simply took it.

Now, having survived that ordeal and acquired a second vehicle, Reardon was arrested again — this time, he says, over nothing more than an outdated license tag, near a cemetery off 61st Street. He was held. His car was impounded. And when he got out of jail the next day, he was told he owed nearly $375 to get it back — money a homeless veteran simply does not have.

“They literally stripped me of everything. All I have left is that car — and I have to be in court in Mississippi at 9:00 tomorrow morning.”

— Matthew Reardon

A Federal Lawsuit Already Filed — And Growing

Reardon warned Marty’s Tow that this is not the end of the road — it is the beginning. A federal civil rights lawsuit is already filed and actively progressing in Galveston federal court, naming the City of Galveston and related parties as defendants.

During the recorded call, Reardon put Marty’s Tow on notice:

“In full disclosure — I don’t even have to threaten the lawsuit because the lawsuit is already filed. It’s a big federal civil rights suit in Galveston that’s progressing right now, and I’m going to have to bring y’all in as a defendant. It’s going to cost y’all a lot more than cutting me a break.”

— Matthew Reardon, on recorded call with Marty’s Tow

He also vowed to seek an emergency injunction from the federal court to halt the fees — a legal maneuver that could shine a blinding spotlight on Galveston’s entire towing fee apparatus.

The Scheme: How Galveston’s “Empowerment Fee” Extortion Works

The mechanics of this scheme are brazen in their simplicity:

  1. Arrest the target — on whatever pretext is available (expired tags, a missing light).
  2. Impound the vehicle — immediately, the clock starts ticking.
  3. Stack the fees — tow charge, daily storage, service fees, and the city’s mandated “empowerment fee” pile up by the day.
  4. Sell the car — if the owner can’t pay in time (especially while incarcerated), the vehicle is auctioned off. The city profits. The owner loses everything.
  5. Repeat — as Reardon’s case proves, they’ll do it again.

When Reardon pushed back — pointing out that the tow company was already collecting $270 from the city and stacking additional charges on top — Ray’s response was chilling in its casual indifference:

“It is what it is, brother.”

— Ray, Marty’s Tow employee

A Pattern of Targeting — Harassment, Courthouse Obstruction, and Now a Second Vehicle

This towing incident does not exist in a vacuum. We The People News has documented a sustained campaign against Reardon by Galveston-area authorities:

  1. Reardon was wrongfully arrested in 2023 and held for a year and a half — during which time his first vehicle was sold at public auction without his consent.
  2. When he attempted to obtain public records from the federal courthouse in Galveston, U.S. Marshals were called, and clerks refused to provide documents — even electronically — without charging fees, while threatening to bar him from the building.
  3. He has been arrested twice in Union County, Mississippi for simply carrying a protest sign into a courthouse and uttering a word — an act and word protected under a 1971 Supreme Court precedent (Cohen v. California).
  4. His PACER account — used to track his own federal lawsuit — was suspended because he cannot afford the fees while living homeless.

Every time Reardon fights back legally, the pressure appears to intensify. Two vehicles. Multiple arrests. Federal courthouse obstruction. And still, he keeps filing, keeps recording, and keeps pushing forward.

The Veteran They Couldn’t Break

Matthew Reardon served this country as a Marine Corps veteran. He came home, built a life, and found himself in the crosshairs of what he describes as a corrupt local government that has made it its mission to silence him.

They took his first car while he was behind bars. They took his freedom for a year and a half. They blocked him at the federal courthouse. They arrested him twice in Mississippi for holding a sign. And now, they’ve taken his second vehicle — leaving a homeless veteran with no transportation, no assets, and a court date he couldn’t make it to.

But Reardon is still here. Still recording. Still filing. Still fighting.

“Dude, you are such a crook.”

— Reardon to Marty’s Tow, summing up what he believes Galveston has done to him — twice.

Watch the Full Recordings

< p class=”article-footer-note wp-block-paragraph”>We The People News is an independent journalism platform documenting civil rights violations, government corruption, and the fight for accountability. Follow us for continuing coverage of Reardon v. Osteen et al., No. 3:25-CV-203 (S.D. Tex., Galveston Division).

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