Back in June, my car got hit while parked outside of my apartment while I was asleep. There was a witness and he chased the driver down and caught up to him while he was stopped on the side of the road checking the damage to his truck. When the witness confronted the driver, he jumped in his truck and took off, leaving two of his friends on the side of the road with the witness.
The officer that made the report gave the driver’s friends a ride home, but he couldn’t legally force them to tell him anything about the driver (or apparently about themselves, either) so he didn’t even ask.
Eventually, I was able to get the police report online and I drove by the address that was listed on it but there was no house there. When I talked to the officer that made the report, he informed me that he had driven past the address that night and there was indeed no house there.
The detective that is working on the case, who I finally spoke with about 2 weeks ago after trying to contact him since June, told me that they’re not looking for him, and even if they found him by coincidence they wouldn’t do anything to him. He said that flicking a cigarette butt out the window is worse than what this guy did.
I’m also having trouble with my insurance company. All they will do is send him a letter, but you can’t send a letter to a house that doesn’t exist.
I can’t get my car fixed until I pay the $1,000 deductible, which basically means I can’t get it fixed. Everyone tells me that I’m stupid for having such a high deductible and I should lower it, but if I lower my deductible my premium goes up so high that I end up paying the deductible anyway! I’m 23 and have a perfect driving record, but insurance in this state is absolutely ridiculous.
Anybody have any ideas of what I can do in this situation as far as finding the guy or getting my car fixed?
A friend of mine had a similar situation a couple of years ago. She had a phone number and a name of the offending driver and was able to locate the person (I think using the phone number and Google). She sent the person a letter demanding that they either make a claim to their insurance company or send her some money to cover the repairs, or else she would take her to small claims court. The person eventually notified her insurance and my friend got paid many, many months later. Sorry I don’t have more details for you.
Contact the DMV and get the REAL address listed on the title AND on the registration for the vehicle bearing that license plate.
Contact the DMV and advise them you want to put a lien against his title in the amount of your damages. He won’t be able to sell the vehicle until you release the lien.
You have an elected representative. County council, mayor’s office, something.
Odds are these fine people would love NOTHING better than to have an excuse to bitch to the Chief of Police about their officers not paying attention to a voter. Give one of them a call. Odds are they have a ‘constituent rep’ for just such things.
Politicians are your first line of defense against public servants acting like public masters.
Hey, that’s not bad. I was thinking of calling one of those “Whistleblower” news channels (I don’t even know if they have them here but they were pretty popular back in NC) but this might be an even better idea. Should I call the mayor’s office specifically?
Last April Lady Chance’s Jeep was broken into. The thief busted the locks on the glove box and floor box. Nothing was lost.
I call the police. They say they’ll send someone out to take a look. No one ever arrives.
Several months later our stone greyhound was stolen off our front steps. I call…this time I tell the dispatcher that my little girl is in daycare with the daughter of the chief of police. 10 minutes later I have a patrol car and my door and for a week later my neighbors are dropping by asking why cops have been questioning them as to whether they’d seen anything.
Look, I don’t want to slam cops. They’re busy. Very busy. I concede the point. But because of that if you want YOUR issue to be a priority you’ve got to provide them some incentive.
Find out the name of the producer of any of the local TV news shows.
The detective has a boss. Call him or her.
Tell this boss what his detective said. Tell him you’re planning to call Joe Blow, the TV producer, with this story, but that you’d rather just get some cooperation from the department.
Mention that the officer who gave the ride to the two friends needs some remedial training, since you can, in fact, force someone to testify against someone else.
9 days before my car was hit, the windows was smashed out and they stole the headrest. I called the police and they basically laughed at me but I didn’t really push the issue because I don’t know what the hell I expected them to do.
That one cost me $250 just for the window and I still don’t have a headrest :mad:.
I can’t believe that the officer just let those guys go. Where I grew up - and I KNOW this from being a rowdy kid - there’s no way that cop would have let those kids out of his sight until he found their friend.
That’s really not a bad idea if you own a car. If the public transportation around here was only slightly better I’d get rid of the damn thing for good.
I’m breaking my posting hiatus to post this but goddamn it will be worth it. I got this letter in the mail yesterday:
Goddamn. :mad: :mad: :mad: . This after 11 months of ASSURING me that I had nothing to worry about, they knew who the guy was, and it was inconceivable for me to not recover my funds.
What the hell is wrong with these people (the cops, insurance company, and collections agency)? This guy smashes into my car, they know who he is, yet he just doesn’t feel like taking responsibility so they’re letting it slide.
Cisco, I am sorry for your predicament. IAAL and I’m not giving you legal advice but here’s something you might want to consider. Here in Ohio where I practice, if you sue someone whose vehicle caused you damage and if you win the suit, then the person’s driver’s license will be suspended until the court judgment is satisfied. Sometimes having his-or-her drivers license suspensed gets the wrongdoinger’s attention, though sometimes it doesn’t. Depending on the amount you are owed, it might be worth it to sue the offender in small claims or regular court. Just something to think about, and your state’s laws may vary.