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Stolen car found 13 years later, but police won't recover it


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There was just a story a few months back about a Corvette that was stolen like 30 years ago. The police had no issue giving the car back to the guy in that scenario. What is Portlands problem here. Had they never filed a police report, and no longer had a title for it, I could see the other side......but they DO have the stolen police report, the title, and the keys. Seems pretty cut and dried to me.

 

The statute of limitations is for prosecuting an individual. So whoever stole it can't get in trouble. But those limitations aren't supposed to apply to objects. So if I steal a Van Gogh painting, keep it in my basement for ten years, it's legally mine! If that's the case, the crime rate it going to skyrocket.

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The cops are right. It's not their job.

 

He should get a lawyer involved to reclaim his property. The police can then escort them there to recover it.

 

 

I had a car I sold but having two cars I accidentally gave the wrong ownership over. An Olds instead of a Buick. Later the friend with the Olds couldn't get insurance and we realized the mistake. We tried to find the dick with the Buick and the Olds ownership but he had 'sold' it to someone.  A year later I was driving home and there it was. I phoned the police and got some douche who wouldn't forward my complaint further as it was my problem to collect it. I told that cunt that it was on the road!!! So it the guy does not own it how does it have insurance? duh!!! She put me through. It was gone by the time the police arrived but I had followed the guy home. We went up and the guy said he new nothing about the car in his driveway, we got a wrecker to tow it home, the cops confiscated the illegal plates and fake insurance sticker. Asshole.

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I've heard of this kind of "scam" before. People steal a car from Texas then store it in Vegas at a tow yard. They wait until the storage fees are more than the value of the car so they can legally file for a lean on the car. They will send a letter to the real owners at this time and tell them to pay the fees or lose the car. They also tell the owners they have tried to contact them many times before. Total loophole in the system. Either way the thieves profit

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Guess that I don't understand how the statute of limitations stops the cops from going and taking the stolen property. The statute would basically exempt the guy from punishment for the committed crime (grand theft auto), so they can't charge him for that. However, the property still doesn't belong to him, statute doesn't apply to a non-person. 

 

Plus, isn't he still in possession of the stolen goods? That in itself is a crime is it not? Regardless of when the property was stolen (assuming he knew it was stolen and didn't get it in a transaction years ago... but it should have been fishy in the first place since the thief wouldn't have had the title or a previous bill of sale for what appears to be a legit vintage race car).

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The police can't  don't want to get to involved because if the original owner has been payed by insurance the car technically would belong to them,, nort original owner and without researching they won't know.. The police probably see people lying about ownership of many things in the course of the day ,,, so to them this would just be another.

 

The article says a guy whos name is Lee Sitton has it now and is a manager for AAC General Contractors in Gresham,, and their phone number there seems to be (503) 663-9183

Maybe drop them a line and voice your concerns as law abiding citizens ,

 

Or send them a letter at PO Box 2322, Gresham, OR 97030-0645

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Same deal here. In the '90s my family had a Subaru wagon that my dad had purchased and put an engine in. One day the cops roll up and tell him that the car was stolen. Luckily for my dad this is a small town and he knew the cops so they gave him the weekend to pull the good engine out before they took it away.

 

Basically the car is still property of it's original owner and even the DMV backs that up. The police need to move the property back to the listed owner.

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This is the sinister side of the "lien possession" system towing yards have.   When a car is "abandoned" at a tow yard, they are required to auction it off to recoup their "losses".  That created this little loophole where folks who had a car with no title, and had a buddy in the towing business, would have the car "abandoned" at the tow yard.  It works most of the time because the registered letter simply bounces back as undeliverable, and if the car wasn't actually stolen it ends there.

 

Of course, the tow yards don't expect the owners to respond.  Most "abandoned" cars aren't registered properly anyway.

 

Now, if the parties involved here knew the car was stolen, they wouldn't go through the route of having the car "picked up" as abandoned, since that would require a police report and VIN check.  Instead, they did a "storage" agreement.  I doubt the car ever was at the towing  yard, it would have been all just paper.  Then they would have "auctioned" it to the guy whao actually has it, and he could then apply for title.  Of course, that hinges on the original owners not actually replying...

 

Now, I don't think the guy who has it right now actually stole it, but he either knew it was stolen or had a pretty good idea that it might have been.  Or, in the best case he thought it was legit and the title had been lost in numerous transactions (this happens, but usually not for good reasons).  At this point he's gonna lawyer up and hope that the hassle is more than the owners want to pay.  Didn't expect the owners to go to the media though.  What he should do is simply give it  back to the owners (it wasn't insured when it was stolen so no insurance company to be involved), and the money he "lost" buying a car with no title is the price for being stupid.

 

That being said, I've seen folks on this very forum advocating the whole go through a tow company to get a title for a title-less car thing.  And this is why it's a very, very bad idea. 

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reading this pisses me off. charge the gates, put this ass to knife point and crush his balls! i hate liars and thieves. cut their tongs out and their fingers off.

on a side note. if he steals the car from this douche bag? is it really stealing since he has the title for it?

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Pretty sad when the people we hire to do a job don't know the difference between wrong and right. Sounds like they are protecting the douche bag for some reason.   

 

 Seems pretty simple to me.

 

Seize the vehicle in question before it disappears for another decade, or gets cut up. Clearly with a house that big, he has a place to keep it. why is he hiding it in a storage yard? 

 

Run the #'s on it.

 

Charge the man in possession with grand theft auto, or possession of stolen property when he gives up the name of the POS that gave him the bill of sale.

 

Return the car to the legal owner. They shouldn't have to pay the price for someone else's bad business decisions. Buying a 440/6 pack/4 speed cuda without a title? That guy deserves to lose.his money.

 

The end. 

 

Oh and, whats up Bitches? Haven't been here in a while.

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The police are there to stop crimes against the state. They will, without consequence, find any avenue available to stay uninvolved in crime between citizens. The owner is doing well by hitting media. This will be his fight to sad ending. He should take the car back, and leave a photo of his daughters empty bed on his dresser.

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I can tell you one thing from personal experience in a matter similar to this. I was arrested for taking my own shit back when they failed to do anything. But, we are talking about a matter of days here...I filed a report, KNEW who took my stuff, knew where it was, told the cops to go get it aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, they didn't. After a few weeks of trying to get them to do anything, I went and got it myself (with over 50 grand worth of it already sold off).

 

Obviously, I did not just go hat in hand and kindly ask for my stolen stuff back, the fucker wouldn't tell me where it was at...so I had to 'ask' a few times. Tell you what, they wasted ZERO times in coming to my house, throwing the cuffs on me and taking me to jail. Awesome reaction time.

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Seize the vehicle in question before it disappears for another decade, or gets cut up. Clearly with a house that big, he has a place to keep it. why is he hiding it in a storage yard? 

 

As some have intimated, it was probably never even in the storage yard. More likely he knows the storage yard owner and was looking for a loophole way to get a title for it. 

 

This happens all the time, but seldom does the last registered owner step forward to claim it. That's why when he did, the storage yard said "Ummm... It's gone now. They paid the storage bill" because they didn't want to get in trouble for lying about it being there. 

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