I hadn't slept in over 37 hours (camped out in a cave with a group of boys and my sleeping bag was wet and cold). I just got to bed and heard a diesel engine and hydraulics, like a garbage truck running. I looked out and saw someone hooking up a friend's car to tow away, so I got dressed and went outside. At this time the truck and car were at the corner of the block and our friend was outside saying "they took my car!" We jumped into the car and followed him, with the police on my cell phone. After following him for about a mile or more, him with no lights on, he pulled into a gas station.
He got out of the truck with a piece of paper and called her by name and said he was repossessing the car, but refused to let us see the paper (big red flag here). The police arrived and he changed his attitude a little and we finally got to see the paper. It was clearly NOT a legal document. Neither of the 2 police officers on the scene ever saw any paperwork like this, but demanded we accept it as real. Must be Dumbocrats. Everything in me screamed CAR THIEF! One police officer when to his car and just sat there. The other one refused to listen to our concerns.
Her ex-husband was under court order to pay for her car and she didn't know if he stopped making payments. I found out 2 days later that she had the Title and there was a copy in the vehicle! On a Saturday night it is very difficult to verify that the finance company actually ordered the repossession. It turns out they wrote it off in 2003. He pretended to try to get into the vehicle to allow us to get her stuff out of the vehicle, but obviously could not. I went back to get her keys to get in and get her personal items, but while I was gone he and the police officer got into a big argument, almost into a fight (typical abuser tactics used on the officer and he was obviously very good at it). Then we find they also had the church credit card in the vehicle! I called them to get it back, but my concerns were avoided and I threatened to charge them with credit card theft if they didn't return it immediately (I am the church custodian).
Tuesday morning I talked to here and had the vital tidbits revealed, chiefly that she had a copy of the title in the glove box, proving there was no lien on the vehicle. DMV also confirmed there was no lien on the vehicle. Also, there were no plates on the vehicle, something that the police officers totally missed. She is attempting to get all the proper paperwork together to file a stolen car report on it and name the officer as an accessory for totally refusing to follow proper procedure on this. The repossession agency is required to register the collection with the police BEFORE taking the vehicle and this was not done. The paperwork was not legal either. It was a work order with information readily available on the internet, which we found by accident while trying to get a duplicate title (She misplaced it in here multiple moves to avoid being found by her abusive ex-husband, who kidnapped her children a few years ago.
This is a very interesting and sophisticated car theft ring. You have the improper paperwork on you in case you get caught in action and you have no license plates to trace if only seen, but not followed and apprehended. I was too tired to connect the dots, but I have been studying the tactics of child predators for years and recognize the symptoms of an abuser quickly. I was just too tired to think clearly and was getting extremely agitated at the idiot police officer. The sheriffs department investigator is saying the officer is totally in the wrong (based not only on our observations and responses, but on the police report). At the very least the officer should have required this guy to release the vehicle, as required by law, and give my friend the opportunity to confirm the status of the loan against the vehicle. When it got close to a fight the officer should have arrested the "repo" man!
Mike D.