Stolen Car............FOUND! (Birmingham, Bessemer, Morris: amusement park, insurance, attorney)

[Historic Bessemer]

I (me, not the police) found my car Monday Morning! I rode through the Brickyard and turned down Arlington Ave where it dead ends! There it was, in a guys backyard! It just so happens the guy who lives there used to work at Gary's OK Tire and was fired for stealing 30k worth of tires!

Along with my car there were about 10 or 15 other cars that had been stripped of engines transmissions and interiors. The homeowner, his wife and son were there. They claim to have no knowledge of how the car got there except a guy they have never met before named Tony Sanford(never met him but know his name) brought the car there and left it! My car is missing very minor parts and is still in good shape except for the steering column being busted out which renders it illeagal due to not having turn signals or windshield wipers.

I had to pay 140 bucks to the wrecker service to tow it 1 mile after I told them I didn't want it towed. I went home to get a key and I get a call saying they had towed it. But first they had to crank it and back it out of the drive way...........if it runs you don't need to tow it! It seems James Morris Wrecker is incahoots with the city. So I am a victim twice over! But wait, heres the kicker......................

NOBODY GOT ARRESTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The homeowner claims he works on cars at his house for extra money. The officer on scene scolded him for that and also scolded some guys who were burning trash in a barrel behind the house! MY STOLEN CAR WAS ON THIS GUYS PREOPERTY AND THEY DID NOTHING! MY AIR CLEANER HOUSING WAS LYING ON THE GROUND NEXT TO THE CAR, BUT HE HAD NOT TOUCHED IT!!!

It's funny, his son has a car just like mine with the big wheels and such on it!

I feel they should have been arrested for recieving stolen property or something!

The city needs to check the Vin numbers on every car at that house..............I'll bet they are all stolen!

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[Southlander]

I'M OUTRAGED!! How can they enforce the law selectively?

[harry chickpea]

Laws are selectively enforced all the time. If you've had to work with LEOs you take that for granted. This is a pretty minor case for them, even though it is a big deal for you. Therefor, you have your work cut out for you. You'll need to do just about everything listed below to get results.

Take the wrecker company to small claims court.
File a civil lawsuit against the homeowner for damage to your car while on their property - if they have homeowner insurance, you may luck out.
Contact your insurance company and try to collect under comprehensive coverage, even if you don't have it, notify them that you think there is a chop shop at that address. (They may have more clout with police.)
File a standard police report if you haven't already done so.
Contact the state attorney's office, register a complaint, and ask for a warrant so that you can find missing parts. Go there with an officer and write down all the VIN numbers on the cars. If you see wheel covers like yours or body trim on other cars like yours, take it. Your writing down VIN numbers is unlikely to do much more than intimidate, but you could always have a friendly LEO run them.
Contact your local state representative and lodge a complaint.
Contact the local tv station and make your case.
Write a letter to the editor at the local newspaper.
Contact the Chamber of Commerce, city counsel, city attorney, and Mayor and point out that this will lower property values and be a detriment in encouraging businesses into the area.
After all of these avenues of attack are started, write a nice letter to the chief of police stating what you have done, and that you are sure that he is concerned that his officers follow through. When he notes the people you have contacted, he'll know he has to follow through or risk some wrath if the place is a chop shop.
Torch the son's car. (just kidding)

Don't get mad - get even. Seriously, there are a couple of ways of handling something like this. Be very quiet and accept it, and hope it doesn't happen again, or make such a ruckus that everyone knows you are not an easy mark, but will follow the letter of the law in pursuing every avenue of attack. In the long run, that is generally the easier course. And NEVER po the officer that responds for you. This is business, he or she is just doing a job, and has to work within the system. It might seem like they have an attitude, but they have to deal with miscreants on a daily basis, report within a system that sometimes can be very difficult, and have an understandable stand-off and look-down stance. If you are matter of fact and reasonable, over time you may gain some trust.

[Historic Bessemer]

Doing most of that will cost me much more than the car is worth........do you still recomend it?

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by Historic Bessemer

Doing most of that will cost me much more than the car is worth........do you still recomend it?

It is your life. I can provide suggestions, you have to make the decisions. I personally would do it, for two reasons. 1. People don't mess with me and get away with it. 2. There is an element of civic responsibility involved. Chop shops affect more than one person, and I wasn't goofing on you about the presence of them decreasing property values.

If you don't want the hassle, fine. Probably 90% of people are like that. Just don't make an issue of it, and then do nothing, and expect people to take you seriously.

[AQUEMINI331]

Sounds like typical Birmingham sh*t. Aren't I glad I'm not there anymore. I used to live in that neighborhood too, long time ago (late 1980s/early 1990s).


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[krackers75]

It's stories like this that have everyone headed out to the suburbs, sad that the city that the area is called by is becoming a joke to the locals. The city of Birmingham, especially the city gov needs to take a long hard look at themselves and how they are running the city into the ground. Water works are an absolute disaster, an amusement park that tanked, a mayor that wanted a 60k plus city car and now he's wanting a dome stadium. It's sound so ridiculous sometimes you'd think it was a reality show. Problem is it's actually reality. Whats really sad is I didn't even scratch the tip of the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Make a move just 15-20 minutes out in any direction and you'll think your in another country.