Angier Five-O / Keystone Kops

steve remchak · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:33 am

i just don't really know how i feel about this, should i be pissed or should i laugh it off? i'm in a state of disbelief.

last year some time Tom, Cline and i bought a rough 1982 528e for LeMons / ChumpCar use. it has sat behind my building since then, locked up in the enclosed area. last week i moved the car to my front parking lot to deal with the weeds and grass in the back.

so this car has been sitting in front of my building for about 10 days. hasn't moved an inch in 10 days.

so i come in to work today and i see the rear passanger window is down about 2 inches and the car is unlocked. there is a business card on the windshield from one of Angier's Finest. the sheet i had covering the pristine dashboard (it's worth more than the car itself) was on the front passenger seat.

i'm thinking shit, somebody broke in to the car and stole the radio. i look and the radio is still there. WTF???????? so i pull the cop's card off the windshield.

"owner, your vehicle was entered because it did not have a tag and there was a sheet covering the VIN # so we needed to determine if the vehicle was an abandoned stolen vehicle." or something stupid like that.

now mind you they did this between 6PM last night and 8AM this morning. must of been a slow night in Angier last night as they obviously could not have waited untill today to check with me to see if maybe i knew anything about the F*****G BMW that has been parked in front of MY BUILDING for the last TEN DAYS.

maybe they figured they would crack that international car theft ring that is stealing $500 POS European Luxury Cars. :lol:

i think they broke the rear window mechanism but not sure. i get probable cause and all that but damn this is some stupid shit perpetrated by Johhny Law.

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:44 am

Clearly an abuse of power. I'd be pist they didn't wait to talk to you during business hours. Once they verified it wasn't stolen, the fact that they didn't put it back like they found it would highly irritate me as well. Leaving it unlocked with the window down is absolutely unacceptable. Am I surprised though? Not in the slightest. Par for the course.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:46 am

steve remchak wrote:

i "owner, your vehicle was entered because it did not have a tag and there was a sheet covering the VIN # so we needed to determine if the vehicle was an abandoned stolen vehicle." .

I don't think "abandoned" applies to private property, like wher you car was sitting. It it was on the shoulder of I40, yes, but in you parking lot, no. If is the case I have two at my house that qualify right now!

So did they break into the car, then move the sheet to find the VIN? That doesn't sound legal, not even close.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:47 am

yes, the cops broke into my car. but they left a note. :twisted:

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:50 am

steve remchak wrote:

i think they broke the rear window mechanism but not sure. i get probable cause and all that but damn this is some stupid shit perpetrated by Johhny Law.

If it is broken, I would be sitting in the Angier's Chief of Police's office with a quote directly from your closest BMW dealership to fix it.

TomFreeman · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:56 am

One of those window mechanisms was already broken - I believe it was the pass. rear. or pass front. All you have to do to get it down is to push on it a little bit.

As for pursuing this...whatever you do, don't get thrown in jail for being a smart@ss.

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:58 am

TomFreeman wrote:

As for pursuing this...whatever you do, don't get thrown in jail for being a smart@ss.

...and don't let the cop off easy for being a jackass.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:13 pm

TomFreeman wrote:

As for pursuing this...whatever you do, don't get thrown in jail for being a smart@ss.

Go for it. Call Stephen or myself if you need to make bail.

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:20 pm

Sounds like a rookie officer needed a donor car to practice 'slim jimming' in the event of a real incident.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:00 pm

TomFreeman wrote:

As for pursuing this...whatever you do, don't get thrown in jail for being a smart@ss.

Ignore Tom, FIGHT THE POWER!!!!

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:33 pm

Or, since you really want the local cops looking out for your business, you might contact the cop and his/her supervisor and nicely ask what you could do differently next time so that a more valuable car isn't damaged in their good faith effort to protect their employers (i.e. taxpayers like yourself).

Do you really want to get on the wrong side of the local law who, stupidly or not, were at least trying to do the right thing? :lol:

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:42 pm

DickRasmussen wrote:

Do you really want to get on the wrong side of the local law who, stupidly or not, were at least trying to do the right thing? :lol:

It's amazing what they can get away with under the blanket statement of "doing the right thing".

I'd say Steve shoukd at least get one "pass" for what they did. Maybe just a warning for the next speeding ticket that his is certain to get.

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:52 pm

DickRasmussen wrote:

Or, since you really want the local cops looking out for your business, you might contact the cop and his/her supervisor and nicely ask what you could do differently next time so that a more valuable car isn't damaged in their good faith effort to protect their employers (i.e. taxpayers like yourself).

I think you're giving the cop far more credit than is due here Dick, and that is precisely how we have come to be in this situation where the law feels that it is ok for them to violate Steve's property like they have in this situation. I'd be curious to hear why the cop felt like he couldn't wait until the next day and approach the business owner. If it was justified, I'll be really surprised.

DickRasmussen wrote:

Do you really want to get on the wrong side of the local law who, stupidly or not, were at least trying to do the right thing? :lol:

Fearing the law is a terrible thing and only promotes the stupid you speak of.

JasonWatts · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:54 pm

Vincent Keene wrote:

It's amazing what they can get away with under the blanket statement of "doing the right thing".

Yes, like being pulled over for a routine "random" traffic safty inspection on a motorcycle intenstive area with 5 other bikes pulled over, with grandma and grandpa driving their buick though and cutting EVERY corner?

as far as the topic... I agree the cop might have been looking out for you, but hell... should a cop be allowed to bust out the window in your house to investiage and make sure no burglers are present within your house and then leave the house unsecure?

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Thu Sep 09, 2010 2:18 pm

Next time you get pulled over for a speeding ticket tell the officer you were just looking out for him and you wanted to help him verify the calibration on his speed gun. You were just doing the right thing.

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