# Come get you or put out warrants? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170 "2016-09-17T16:40:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/1 "2016-09-17T16:40:43Z")
Suppose you keyed a car and ran but someone got the license number and turned it over to the police. What’s happens then? Do the police come get you or they just put a warrant on the license plate and catch you on the street? I believe this is criminal mischief and considered a misdemeaner. I don’t know what class though. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/2 "2016-09-17T16:43:57Z")
If you’re running, why do you have a license plate? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/3 "2016-09-17T17:08:18Z")
Been on the job since '82, and YMMV depending on location, but I don’t know what “putting a warrant on a license plate” is. Never heard of such a thing. A county or statewide BOLO alert might be issued but not an actual warrant. Around here the plate would be run and officers would have a conversation with the vehicle owner in the course of the investigation. Depending on the extent of the damage it could be a misdemeanor or a felony crime. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/4 "2016-09-17T17:18:48Z")
Or, if the department was understaffed, overworked, or underfunded, they’d say “We didn’t see it, so it didn’t happen.” Or, they fill out a Police Report, for Insurance uses, & never give it another thought. When my bicycle was stolen ($300), nobody even bothered to come out. They just filled out a police report over the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/5 "2016-09-17T17:34:21Z")
Depends on which city you live in. In San Jose the police can not be bothered with such things. No police report, no crime there fore we are in a safe city. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/6 "2016-09-17T17:38:08Z")
Just try to find the identify of the person and go on Judge Judy to get some money. You won’t gain anything by having them arrested, which seems unlikely to happen if the police didn’t seem them in the act. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/7 "2016-09-17T17:45:26Z")
Does the same apply with busted headlights and broken mirrors? It all goes to the insurance I guess. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/8 "2016-09-17T17:47:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Just try to find the identify of the person and go on Judge Judy to get some money. You won’t gain anything by having them arrested, which seems unlikely to happen if the police didn’t seem them in the act. I meant when the person is IDed from the plates. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/9 "2016-09-17T17:53:14Z")
Plates don’t ID people, they ID cars. Sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/10 "2016-09-17T17:59:27Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > Does the same apply with busted headlights and broken mirrors? Say, umm, you’re not planing anything, right? _Phew!_ Good! ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/11 "2016-09-17T19:26:54Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Plates don’t ID people, they ID cars. Sometimes. Ah, good point. Count, no it’s not me. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/12 "2016-09-17T23:05:45Z")
Something similar happened to me. Someone had thought I had hit the car next to mine, while pulling out of a parking space. He got my plate #, and a while after I got home, a cop showed up at my door, accusing me of being a hit-and-run. This did not end well for me. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/13 "2016-09-17T23:33:43Z")
What happened there? They can’t just take someone’s word that you committed a crime. Your word against his so to speak. I think they need hard evidence to have a case like a video. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/14 "2016-09-18T03:53:16Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > They can’t just take someone’s word that you committed a crime. Your word against his so to speak. > > I think they need hard evidence to have a case like a video. People are convicted of crimes all the time based on nothing but their word against someone else’s. Someone else’s word is evidence. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-get-you-or-put-out-warrants/766170/15 "2016-09-18T13:40:32Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > People are convicted of crimes all the time based on nothing but their word against someone else’s. Someone else’s word is evidence. It’s been known to happen, but I don’t know about “all the time.” It’s extremely hard to make a case to a jury on a single person’s testimony alone. Usually there is also at least some other evidence - perhaps only circumstantial - to accompany it.