digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Want your stolen car back? Bring your checkbook

startribune.com — Someone stole the brown sedan in the middle of the night, a neighbor told him. A phone call later, Gunnon learned more news that floored him: Minneapolis police found his $800 car in the alley behind his house, but didn't know how to reach him and had it towed to the city impound lot. Gunnon would have to pay $138 to get it back.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • secretwhistle, on 10/11/2007, -2/+31Law enforcement in Minneapolis is screwed up to say the least.

    Case in point, two days ago my mother's car was torched while sitting in a well-lit, public lot about 500 feet from a prominent and heavily-travelled street. The police (who were "investigating") told her she would have to get the vehicle towed out of the lot. She called a towing service to tow it back to her house but when they got there, the vehicle had already been towed. This was all in a space of about 2-1/2 hours.

    Now she'll have to pay to get her now worthless car towed from wherever it's being held (plus fees) to wherever it can be disposed of (and whatever that costs). Nice.
    • NICU, on 10/11/2007, -11/+45I would be more outraged by police officers spending half a day trying to contact the owner of the vehicle. They found the vehicle, made an attempt to contact the owner, and had it towed when they couldn't find the owner. The vehicle's owner didn't update his registration and its his fault the cops couldn't find him. They tried to contact him, but he didn't update his address.

      Why should every other tax payer have to pay for police officers to find the owners when the owners aren't responsible enough to follow the rules? Why should tow services and impound lots get short-changed when vehicle owners are lazy?
      • logic, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5To be fair, we don't pay them very much, and it would keep them busy for a few hours they would otherwise spend harassing stoners and tazing cyclists.
      • macoafi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1They were told "it's my neighbor's car" so why would they assume the address from the other side of town was right? Neighbor = within few houses, or at most, blocks. Also, he still had a week to change his registration.
    • tdrizzle, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8I'm still waiting for the Minneapolis police to find my scooter that was stolen 2 months ago. At least they got the car back... sort of.
    • SpectralSounds, on 10/11/2007, -0/+41This happened to me in arizona.

      My car was stolen and was found 2 weeks later. The police called me and told me where the car was, but I was at work, so I couldnt go pick it up. I asked them to NOT have it towed. They said I had to call the tow company that deals with their contracts. So, I called the tow company and told them NOT to tow my car from that location.

      They said that they wouldnt. So, later that night I go to pick up my car and its not there. Sure enough, they went and towed the damn thing anyway. It cost me $100 to get my stolen car back. I flipped out on the people at the tow company, but of course it doesnt matter. Im sure they hear it from irate people all the time... They dont give a *****. They made their money, thats all that matters.

      Plus, every day you dont pick up the car... they charge you extra holding fees. Thieves.
      • logic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4My car was stuck during a flood last year and the company towed it to the lot down by the river instead of to my mate's house up the street like I asked. They then proceeded to close the lot for a week until the weather cleared up and charge me $600 for holding it. Absolutely ridiculous.
    • aliengoods, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11@NICU

      Why didn't the police get his current information when he was filing the report for the stolen vehicle?? Seems to me that would be standard procedure.

      @SpectralSounds
      Pay with a credit card and contest the charges.
    • Wonderkind, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13When my wifes car was stolen here in NJ, we had to pay the tow fee, the storage fee, and before they would release the car, we had to get proof (a form from DMV in Trenton, which you pay for, natch) that we had no outstanding tickets on the car.

      Cost was a several hundred, 'cause it took two days lost from work, plus three days of storage (with a mean-ass junk yard dog).
      They have NO reason to think you owe on a parking ticket, (of course, we have none) they just got you by the balls.

      We were absolutely victimized by the police, as is anyone whose car is stolen in NJ.
      Thankfully the insurance paid for the rental car.
    • dustyshadow, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1This isnt really news. Same ***** happened to my parents a few years ago. Would you rather cover these costs in your taxes or just make the unlucky few cover it when it happens to them? I vote for making the unlucky pay for the tow.

    • stauken, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I can confirm that a $2000 car (if even, and only then because it was a Lexxus -- no other reason for that value to be that high, 300k miles) was retrieved for a little over 250 in Tennessee on a car jacking.

      Insurance wanted to cut him a 6k+ check.

      As sad as it is, financially; you're far better off being carjacked in some situations if you have insurance. Sucks.
    • thatsmyaibo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6This happened to my father when I was younger. We had some crap car at the time (when we first moved to CA) that got stolen from our drive way. Nearly 7 years later (and now driving a Mercedes) he got a call saying they found it and it would be a $200 fee to get it out of impound....He told them to keep it.
    • GeorgeStone, on 10/11/2007, -9/+2THATS LIFE!

      Pay the $138, digg isn't a ***** PSA.
    • 1longtime, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8(thick hispanic accent): "Leads? Yeah sure, I'll just check with the boys down at the crime lab. They've got four more detectives working on the case. They got us working in shifts." (laughter)
      • SwedishNinja, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I'm watching that movie RIGHT NOW. Epic +1 to you, sir!
    • mattxb, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I bet if he had a warrant out for his arrest they could have found him. Too bad cops jobs are more focused on meeting quotas than helping citizens.
    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I go the other way. Rather than blame the police, or the guy who didn't update his registration, I blame criminals and everyone who is tolerant of them or pawns their behavior off on their environment. There was a time when the punishment was sufficient to deter criminals. The solution is simple, when crime rises, increase the penalty until crime drops to a civilized level. If at the extreme, it requires cutting off the hand of a repeat thief, so be it. For all the inefficiency and taxpayer waste it produces, the punishment needs to be increased so extensively that it would rarely happen.
    • bills534, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I was with a friend once who has pulled over for speeding. turns out his license was suspended from a previous unpaid ticket. they took my license and ran it and it came back clean, but instead of letting me drive the car home for him they decided to impound the car and drop us off at a truck stop. of course this was a Friday night and the car sat in the impound lot all weekend. he had to pay a couple hundred to get it back
  • TheSaladMan, on 10/11/2007, -12/+7Perhaps... just perhaps he should've had a look around his house for his car before he got in a tizzy about it and phoned the police.
  • civperc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13Unfortunately, I'm all too familiar with these policies/practices. From personal experience, it's a nightmare to have your car stolen or even mistakenly towed.
    • kongdong, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2No kidding. Here in Arizona, I had my car stolen. It was found 4 days later with no windows, tires, or wheels and I still had to pay about $100 to have them keep it and auction it off. The car itself wasn't even worth more than $500. It's ridiculous, really. But at least now I have an awesome truck so I guess it worked out for the best.
    • enderu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I just had my car stolen two weeks ago, and I'd swear politicians got together whenever these laws were made and said "hey, how can we make getting your car stolen even more stressful and costly?"
  • MrMetal, on 10/11/2007, -0/+24My car was stolen a few years back in Michigan. I didn't hear anything about it for about 6 months. I already bought a new used car and was driving that happily, when I got the phone call one night. The cops "recovered" my car and it was sitting in a lot, waiting for me to pick it up. I got the call on a Friday night so I had to get the car on Monday. I had to pay like $300 to get it back, since I had to pay for the towing and the fact that is sat in the lot over the weekend.

    Here is the kicker. The police knew that a drug dealer stole my car, but they didn't want to arrest him on car theft charges alone. Instead, they waited to bust him on multiple drug charges and then added the car theft to the list. Of course nobody bothered to inform me about any of this.

    Thank you, Detroit police.
    • billrini, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Did you expect the police to compromise an ongoing investigation by telling you that a drug dealer had your car?
      • macoafi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1They could've stolen the car back from the drug dealer then continued gathering evidence for the drug part of it.
  • leonidas333, on 10/11/2007, -15/+3What’s the big whoop about?
    Seriously, they had to toe the car and who the hell is supposed to foot the bill. Take it out of police reserves? fill out a bunch of red tape and pass it back onto the tax payer?
    No this whinney prick should be grateful he got his car back an be happy he doesn’t have to go through all the dramas of loosing a car. Trust me I know from experience how hard that can be and i would of been grateful to simply have to pay a small fee for getting it towed.
    Is this what dig has been reduced to? whilst I am sympathetic to allot of police abuse reports, this is jsut a pathetic joke and makes me aware that there is a tendency to promote articles relating to perceived abuses by cops (which I appreciate reading and value there role). Are all dig users anti-police?
    • SpectralSounds, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8You are an idiot.

      First off its tow, not toe. Secondly, its lose not loose. I could go on, but it would be pointless.
      • sannm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1...AND you can't even spell this websites name correctly (its digg btw) so stfu
  • unknownpoltroon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14Had a friend who's car was stolen/towed illegally by a towing company. The went to go get it back, refused to pay, they were told they had to speak to the owner, who wasn't in. They sat in the lobby outside his office in shifts for 4 hours, waiting for him to come out. When the lying bastard finally came out of his office where he'd been hiding, they got their car back for free, although I think they probably should have taken him to court.
    • SOhp101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10If a towing company tows your car without any legitimate reason (i.e. order from PD, parking enforcement, unauthorized parking on private property) then it is considered theft. Your friend should have called the police.
      • GlassUser, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Go try it. The police won't do anything. They'll tell you it's a civil matter. I'm not sure how auto theft is a civil matter, but that's what they'll tell you.
    • unknownpoltroon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11She did. They were REEEEEL helpful, as I recall. Basically said not their problem.
    • SOhp101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Well it really depends on the way she did it. Did she actually file a report, or just call in and say that the tow company stole it? It's sad but a lot of police don't give a ***** about the people. And people wonder why we need lawyers.
    • gregnorc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2If the police wouldn't help, then just pop in the keys and drive off.

      If anyone interferes, well, that could be deadly. In my state, one's car is the same as one's house, in that you are not required to retreat when an aggressor enters or attempts to enter it.
  • redwire, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Makes me think of this classic:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6CkltzGAxY
    • postal21, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3ha ha ha!

      Is that Hugh Lorie from House?!

      I think it is!
    • redwire, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1ya its from an old skit show he did with Stephen Fry on the BBC called "a bit of fry and laurie"
  • syncpulse, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4I had the same thing happen to me. My car was stolen and dumped 2 days later in a parking lot across town. it cost me over $180 to get it back. I was absolutely livid. Talk about adding insult to injury. I was actually more frustrated by the impound fee than i was about the damage the thieves had done to my car. when i complained the only response i got was: "your insurance should cover it". Not with my deductible.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6the damage was likely done when you car was in impound.
  • fucter, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5This has happened to me, twice, except my car was actually stolen.
    I even contacted the local "consumer affairs" reporter at nbc10 (Tracey Davison). Yeah, needless to say, she didn't help at all.

    They found my second car only a couple blocks away. I could have walked there and drove it home, but instead they towed it, unable to take a day off of work I had to wait until the weekend to get it. By then they had moved it to a different junk yard. when I got there they wanted $300 for the car - I signed the title over to them on the spot.
  • shadowspawn, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0"How much time should officers, particularly on the north side, dedicate to looking for the owner of a car?"

    when there's someone to a-shoot at, there's no reason to go a-knocking.
    • s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I don't really find this funny. We submit all the personal information for "safety" reasons when we buy a car, or get a license or whatever. Even if the perpetrator had removed the licence plate on this vehicle the cop should have been able to identify the owner by the VIN number that is displayed on all cars.

      It's cases like this one that make a case for dismissing the police force altogether. Exploiting law-abiding citizens isn't just, and it isn't to be tolerated.
  • SOhp101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2In my experience it is possible to get the insurance company to pay for the towing/storage fees, but as always YMMV.

    Thank God I live in LA. If they find your stolen vehicle on the street, they don't automatically tow it. But city law does say if you're parked in the same spot for over 72 hours, the car can be towed.
  • Rinsan, on 10/11/2007, -11/+2I'm OUTRAGED!!! Piss off sh!tty digg stories. Buried as lame
  • MikeonTV, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2So who gets the bill? The thief?
    • Aliarse, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4@MikeonTV (#7312290)
      No, the insurance company pays for it. Unless the insurance company decides they arent going to pay out, then the person who had the thing stolen in the first will pay it.

      Nice getting ***** over twice, and if you're as unlucky as me, three times, isn't it?
    • gangstakev, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0yea i had something like that happen and i got a $500 bill i told them i wasnt gonna pay it and so i let go of my old ass chevy malibu i payed 200 for lol
  • syncpulse, on 10/11/2007, -1/+30you know if the crooks had called up and said "if you want your car back pay us money" that would be considered extortion. when the city does it. they call it an impound fee
  • Aliarse, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Same happens here in the UK.

    I had a bike stolen from me, which was later found dumped by the police farce. Instead of ringing me up so i could go pick it up, they got a local garage to pick it up and store it there, which they do with all stolen/recovered cars/bikes if no one picks them up (because the owners are not made aware their items have been recovered until 2 weeks later). When i was contacted, i was told i had to pay £100 to get it back.

    They found the guy who nicked my bike, but he never had to pay any of the money i lost back.
    • HesNikke, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2so if they got the guy, why didn't you sue him?
  • SOhp101, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1If you did find out who stole your vehicle you could take them to small claims and get them to pay your towing fees. Very few people would ever go through that trouble though.
  • 3rdeyepro, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1My crap civic was stolen and it cost me over $200 to get back. When I got it, all the rims/tires had been replaced with those small donut spares by the theif. Cost me another $500 to put low-end but driveable rims/tires on it. Ended up selling the car for $1600 immediately after that.
  • adamwho, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3While in Fresno a friend had her wheels stolen off her car right in front of her house. When the cops saw it, they DRAGGED the car away destroying it completely. They didn't even bother to knock on the door to see if the car belonged to anyone in the house. Then they had to pay to get the car back.
    • GeorgeStone, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1Did she not hear them.
      buried as lie.
  • postal21, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6So, I guess if my car gets stolen heres praying that it never gets found...

    I hear about this all the time from people, impound lots and their ridiculous fees... Its almost as if its a business built around the requirement of automobile theives to fuel their profits. Then the government and police help by rope-a-doping vehicles onto the lots for them, and back them up when they wont give you your property.

    Seriously if my car is stolen, I dont want to pay the government and their parking lots a "finders fee". And if the damn thing is found somewhere it cant just be left until I come pick it up, why the hell should I be the one to foot the bill for the police towing it somewhere? oh this irritates me.
    • rubicante, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2It's all one big circle jerk of kick-backs and status quo BS (i.e. "Them's the rules").

      I bought a motorcycle a few years ago and, as it was my only means of transportation (my car had just broken down), I rode it to work the day after I bought it. Almost immediately (in downtown San Diego) they towed it for expired registration. Okay, my fault -- there goes $300 (for a $2,000 motorcycle!).

      The next day I had to go to the county clerk to pay off the registration and, while I was parked outside the clerks office, the SAME towing company towed my bike again (for expired registration). I was only inside for 30 minutes!

      My sister tells me it's the worst in Boston. They'll tow you for street sweeping there, and public transportation doesn't even go to the lots. Actually, she made a great point: TOWING IS A POOR TAX.
  • o2o2o2o2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+301. Buy an impound yard.
    2. Hire some thugs to steal cars
    3. Impound them for months
    4. Wait for people to claim their cars
    5. Charge them $1000 to get their car out of impound.
    6. If they dont claim the car go ahead and auction it off. Its legal!
    7. PROFIT
  • VeganG, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Didn't know how to reach him? Maybe the DETECTIVES should try some actual detective work. Let's see, I'm sure there's either a license plate on the car or papers in the glove box. Sure, he neglected to update his address for his registration, but can the police really not find out where someone has moved to?
    • AMCer, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4They sure know how to find you if you owe them taxes, fines or fees...
  • Skooma714, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7The police are at times just another gang.

    At least the other gangs leave behind cool looking graffiti sometimes.
  • modestyle, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0The same thing happened to my family back in the day. Thief stole our care, police chase ensued, guy jumped out and the car runs into a tree and we have to pay to get it back. What a shame.
  • TimTheSloth, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I wouldn't hold out much hope for the Creedence.
  • lyssword, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0my brother had a car stolen couple months ago (93 civic) and towing fees were like 200+. Makes you wonder who steals those cars and why..
  • wasexton, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Perhaps the city or the government agency negotiating the contract with the towing company should put something in the contact that states that stolen vehicles redeemed before X number of days will not be charged towing or storage. I think that many companies would go for that since they would still have all the other income from the usual towing/storage/sale of salvage/etc. This way, the public does not subsidize nor is the victim re-victimized. Rather, the towing business owner get to weigh whether the towing contract is worth the price of the concession. I bet they would still have a lot of companies bidding on the contract.

    Just my 2 cents.
  • jimmyjars, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Just pay with a credit card and file a chargeback. I've never had a chargeback not come through.
    • GlassUser, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1They refuse to take credit cards. Cash only.
  • HydraTech, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Happened to me in Arizona aswell, had my truck stolen out of my apartment parking lot in Tempe. About a week later it was found in central Phoenix, by the time they called me to let me know it was found it was already towed to an impound lot. I didn't even have the chance to ask them not to tow it. Paid I think $75 to get it back.
  • heresy_fnord, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I had to pay Los Angeles Towing $160 to get my car back. They never call you and say, "Hey we have your car." They automatically tow it and then call you and then you pay to get it out. It's a crappy thing to do I think.
  • kylesellers, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Guess what, if his car was insured, you get that $100+ back.
  • slicerace, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Had to pay $230 to get my car back -- no notice it was towed, nothing, so no idea what happened to it! Called the city impound - sure enough, they have it, so had to get a friend to drive me to the lot where my car sat with hundreds of others. Thieves.
  • firblitz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Unfortunately, I consider him lucky. My car was stolen and found the same day 4 blocks away. It was towed to an impound lot 20 miles away. I was contacted only after the tow truck driver had hooked up my car, so I couldn't walk the 4 blocks and drive my car home. I had to WAIT 1 hour for the tow truck driver to make it back to the lot, bum a ride from a friend to the lot, then pay $212 up front to get my car back.

    In that situation, I had no recourse. Had I put up a fight or complained, I would be left with a bill larger then this poor fellow.
  • vwvwvw, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4The towing industry is a racket. They put up a sign in the far corner of the parking lot and employ watchers to hide in the bushes to call as soon as they see a someone parked in the wrong spot.
    They watch people make an innocent mistake and profit from it. They're almost as bad as banks.

  • shortarabguy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3What a vicious loophole in what we ironically call the justice system... The guy relies on the government to get his day-to-day money, and that money isn't enough to pay the same government their fees to get his stolen car, which was recovered by the government, back to him.

    By the way, 18 dollars a day? That's better than some parking lots in San Francisco... Maybe I should just park my car in the middle of an intersection and pick it up at the impound lot from now on.
  • sickleye, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3My car got towed in Memphis. The fee was $30 a day. I worked at wal-mart at the time. So my daily rate of pay was LOWER than the daily charge. Next time my car gets towed. I am going to go into the lot and trash it. Snip a fuel line here, put abrasive in the tank there.... ect. I will take out my radio, and my speakers. Then i will happily sign over the shell to whoever owns the impound lot.
    • ewetubing, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0Very often these junkyard/tow lots have very nasty dogs roaming the premises to prevent the very thing you are proposing.

      I would NOT do it. You'll get mauled back there and it will be days before they find your carcass.
  • kestrel9, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1In 1980, my 64 Volkswagen was stolen. A year later, I got a letter via slow mail telling me that my car had been recovered. By then, there was both the towing and the storage fee to cover. It had no engine or transmission at that point, so it wasn't worth paying for.

    When it was first stolen, a little boy told me that it had been towed. The starter didn't work, so that made sense. I was strong enough to push start it, but I bought a new car 3 days before it was stolen. A year later when it was found, the tires were dead flat. That made me wonder if the tow company was the company that originally stole it.
    • ambidubious, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0My car was stolen in Richmond, Ca. Twelve days later I got a letter from the towing company with a bill for $1000. $76 a day plus the towing and whatnot. If I didn't want to pay the grand I could pay the tow company $230 and hand over the title. And it's not their fault the police didn't notify me. What a racket!
  • ambidubious, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0My car was stolen in Richmond, Ca. I didn't know it had been recovered in Berkeley until I got a letter from the tow company, Hustead's, 12 days later. They were charging me $1000 for towing and storage. Said it wasn't their fault the police didn't notify me. If I didn't want to pay the grand I could pay the tow company $230 and hand over the title. Just like it never happened. What a racket.
  • jklyon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Want your stolen car back?

    Oh *****! My car's stolen?
  • xSEED, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1no only there but everywhere. they should be charging depending on vehicle's worth not flat fee. best country on earth my ass. eat ***** fat asses
  • DeathnLife, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2If police tow your car and it gets impounded, the police have to refund you the money if you ask for it. At least in the UK.
  • gate49, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0The same thing happened to me in Newark, NJ (the capital of stolen cars in the US).
    And to make it better, Liberty Mutual would not pay for the $10K in damages. They said I couldn't prove I was not involved in the botched attempt to theft of my own car.
    No lawyers would take the case since the amount of work fighting the insurance company lawyers would not justify the amount of money being made...
  • junglejim1947, on 03/20/2008, -0/+0Had my 300zx stolen Feb 25th. from outside my Apt in Los Angeles. It was found March 17th. in Canoga Park minus radio gear shift knob and radio antenna. Had two parking tickets Feb 26th and March 3rd. LAPD who did pretty good job told me the car was in the electronic data base the next day and cant figure out why it wasn't picked up as stolen by officers who wrote the tickets. Called DOT and got a lot of BS why they didn't see it as stolen.So car was towed. Did not give me the option to pick it up before they towed it. $187 later I got it back.Being victimized twice is a pain in th a..
    All of us that have had this experience need to contact rep in city gov and let them know what a ripoff this is.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.