Tom Johnson began feeling severe chest pains while driving on I-215 just before the Parleys Canyon exit last Monday, so he pulled over and called 911 on his cell phone.

Paramedics arrived to take him to the University of Utah Medical Center. He had them call his wife, Sue, who got a friend to drive her to the scene to pick up the car.

Before she arrived, however, the Highway Patrol had it towed, even though a trooper was at the scene when arrangements were made with Sue to get the vehicle.

While Tom was being wheeled into the emergency room, the UHP called hospital security, who handed him a note on the gurney, letting him know his car was being towed - just in case his blood pressure wasn't high enough already.

UHP Lt. Bob Anderson said that the trooper did not know Johnson's wife was on her way to get the car, and that it was in a precarious position for oncoming traffic.

But Anderson says he was aghast at what the towing company charged the couple. "I told them they needed to knock down the price," he said. The company cut the charge from $240 to $200. "But it should have been [lowered] a lot more than that," said Anderson.

Tagged and towed: Ashley Dennis renewed her Jeep's registration with the state in January. She bought insurance for the vehicle in March. But she still got towed last week.

Dennis was pulling out of a gas station with some friends Sunday afternoon at about 3900 South and 700 West when she was pulled over by a Salt Lake County Sheriff's deputy who said her registration had been revoked by the Division of Motor vehicles so it had to be towed.

She went to the DMV with her mother the next day and had her insurance agent fax over proof of insurance. So the clerk waived the $100 reinstatement fee, and charged her just the $22.50 processing fee. She also had to pay $150 to get her Jeep out of the tow lot.

DMV spokesman Charlie Roberts says after she registered the vehicle, the DMV sent her a letter stating she had to have proof of insurance. When there was no reply, they sent a revocation notice. Dennis got insurance in March, but the revocation flag was still in the system.

It's not clear why the deputy ran her plate in the first place (the Fourth Amendment notwithstanding) but Sheriff's spokesman Paul Jaroscak said they had no choice but to tow the car once they discovered it was tagged by the state.

Homeland security: David Foster dropped his daughter off at school April 4, then drove to the Blockbuster at 4600 South and 4000 West to rent a video for his college film class. He arrived at 9:05 a.m. and noticed the store opened at 10 a.m., so he decided to wait and listen to the morning news in his car.

A nervous Blockbuster employee came outside and told Foster he had to move because the parking stalls in front of the store were for Blockbuster customers only. His claim that he was a Blockbuster customer waiting for the store to open didn't faze her and she called the cops.

The responding officers asked Foster to park about 40 feet away, just to keep the peace. He complied, then went into the store at 10 a.m. and rented the video from the same employee who had called the cops.

The movie he rented for his film class? "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

prolly@sltrib.com