This is more up Scot's alley!! I'd like to hear what really happened though. If the guy was simply an HVAC repair man then the retired cop is an idiot. Especially since he supposedly had the guy under surveillance for 4 days.
From what I read (assuming that is what actually happened) it sounds like this guy is an idiot and fucked up at every turn
First rule of surveillance is don’t get burned. Ramming the guys vehicle to see what is inside violates that first basic rule
A large portion of PI’s are ex cops/current cops. Where they struggle is having to abide by a totally different set of rules as a PI than when they were cops. So they think they can conduct an investigation as a PI the same way they would when they were a cop. When in fact, by doing so they are actually breaking a number of laws in the process.
But in this case this guy was just an idiot and shouldn’t have been working this case (or by the sounds of it, any case for that matter)