I was cleaning out my car today and it made me wonder, when a car is impounded or seized by the police, what happens to any stuff inside the owner left behind? They must do something with all of the CDs, first aid kits, tire gauges, phone chargers, bottles of oil, maps, etc. in the cars they impounded. Are they just left in the vehicle when it is sold? Are they auctioned off separately or just thrown away? I imagine a typical impound yard has enormous amounts of this stuff to deal with.
I don’t have an answer to this, but popped in to say that I’ve had cars towed two times. I’ve had shit stolen from cars two times.
Tow truck drivers are the biggest thieves in the world. Wouldn’t surprise me if the cops had some sticky fingers, too.
Unless the contents of the car are evidence, they’re ignored by the police and they go with the car when it is hauled off.
I had a friend whose car was seized and he was able to go to the yard, present proof that it was his car, and get his belongings out of it. In other words, the car was under seizure, but the contents were not. As always, YMMV.
Certainly the cars that wind up in U-pull-it junkyards are still full of all sorts of random personal effects. I’d imagine anything good usually gets snagged somewhere earlier in the process.
If you’re traveling with lots of cash (lots could be maybe $2,000, maybe less) the police might steal it from you, excuse me, “seize” it, depending on the local statutes. Seems that having possession of too much money is suspicious in and of itself, goes the logic.
Try to get it back, and you might find your case adjudicated by a prosecutor, not a judge - guess whose side they’re on?
What happens to your money? Widows and orphans? Maybe the Children’s Fresh Air Fund? Or maybe the cops will spend it on a Zamboni, because what is law enforcement without one?
Vashbul - my understanding is the dollar amount that triggers problems with the police is $10,000 per title III of the Patriot Act (31 USC 5311–5330 and 31 CFR Chapter X) as well as the Bank Secrecy Act. Generally it is felt that $10,000 or more is an indication of illegal activities and the money may be seized pending proof that it is part of legal business transaction.
As far as personal items seized from cars, I would assume that you could claim them if they aren’t otherwise stolen somewhere along the line when the car is towed and there is no concern the items themselves may be stolen property. If the car is not claimed and goes to auction, they will sell anything of value as a separate auction lot. For example, here in San Diego, we have lots of seized vehicles used in the drug trade coming up from Tijuana. They go to places like this one: MccormackAuction.com is for sale | HugeDomains
I have gone to these auctions several times and can tell you they sell the vehicles separately from the items found inside, which explains small lots that often include baby seats and stollers in some case, or mountain bikes, kayaks, and Yakima roof rack systems in others. The last one I went to two weeks ago had a kayak and roof rack system.
When I lived in Philadelphia I drove a friend to an impound yard. His car was stolen and recovered. We arrived five minutes after they closed, but he saw his car through the chain-link and razor wire fence. He looked it over carefully for damage and was relieved it looked pretty much OK.
I took him back the next day. His fancy wheel covers were gone. They were there the previous evening, but gone the next day. There was no response to the complaint he filed.
Where’d you get the idea the process was clean and only applied to $10,000 or more? Google, you’ll find people who had much smaller amounts stolen by police. The CBC item mentions the fellow who was on his way to college and had $2500 stolen by police. The couple in the first article had $6,000 stolen by police with a simple extortion - sign away the money or go to jail charged drug money laundering and meanwhile your kids go into foster care. It’s highway robbery, the Canadian government has issued a warning to its citizens to avoid travelling in some areas of the USA with larger sums of cash.
There’s an article I saw by a Tennessee TV station where they noted that the vast majority of “seizures” were from out of state drivers, on the highway leaving the state. The police were not looking for drug traffickers coming in with drugs, they were more interested in whatever cash they could seize, from out-of-state people who would have difficulty getting back to contest the seizure.
I buy cars from auctions all the time. Many are police seizures or just impounded from parking lots or other private property. Tow truck drivers may take the nicer swag, but I’ve never seen it.
The cars usually have a lot of personal crap like clothes, makeup, CDs & crap.
I’ve never found anything worth keeping other than a nice backpack.
The BSA does NOT imply criminality in amounts over ten. Just requires reporting in certain transactions.
I worked at an auto auction for a little while, and they didn’t give a damn about what you did generally, but were very specific about not taking a mote from repos: that stuff still belonged to the owner.