Youngin’s Towing and Auto Body needs permission to sink its hooks into any more cars.

Under a restraining order issued last Thursday in D.C. Superior Court, “Youngin’s shall be prohibited from all towing, except instances where they have an explicit agreement in advance with the owner of the vehicle to be towed.”

While the judge’s order is temporary, it is the city’s first major victory against the renegade tow trucks of James W. Gee. Car owners complain that Gee scraps vehicles after he tows them, charges exorbitant fees, and cusses out customers picking up their cars. After an investigation by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the city sued him on July 21. If the D.C. Attorney General wins that case, Gee could be shut down for good.

“I think this is an important action by the city on behalf of those who do business,” says DCRA spokesperson Karyn-Siobhan Robinson. “It’s not a quick process, but it is a process with which we are committed.”

Gee didn’t answer repeated phone calls. In a previous interview, he said he abuses car owners because they abuse him first. “They start calling us motherfuckers,” he said, explaining that African-American car owners “don’t know how to conduct business.”