UPDATE Saw my van stolen just now!

Jeff Horton

Member
Messages
4,272
Location
The Heart of Dixie
Exciting morning around here. Sitting here in my office and I look out the window and I see a wrecker towing my van... well actually it's my brother-in-laws van down the road!! It's a work van, with a bucket/lift on it. I was sitting down beside my barn, just out of sight of the house.

I almost panicked. I jumped up and had to find my lost car keys and tried to chase the wrecker down. I have a neighbor that has a white wrecker and drives by the house all the time. I though it was his wrecker and but for the life I me I couldn't figure out why he was towing it and didn't talk to me. By the time I got out of the garage and on the road it was out of site so I called 911 and headed for his shop. When I got there, there sat his white wrecker but no van.

Police finally showed up and acted like they could care less honestly. Officer was convinced it was picked for a repo.Didn't really want to do anything. Well, I knew better, it's a old almost worn out van and there hasn't been a mortgage in years on it. Bucket arm was the only reason it was worth anything. Handier than a shirt pocket!

I called the Sheriffs department and they were much more helpful. At their recommendation we started calling wrecker companies. They explained if it repo'ed the agent was supposed to contact them immediately after picking it up. And there was no repo's today. I relayed a message to the BIL who works out of state most of the time. Well as fortune would have it, we found the wrecker company that picked it up. It appears someone living near me sold it as scrap, got the VIN number off of it and wrote a receipt claiming to be the Grandson of the owner.

BIL has been in contact with the buyer and he, the buyer is furious. He was going to police to file a report for the kid selling stolen property. And looks like the van will be returned shortly. I am amazed and a bit annoyed we had to do the Police work too. I am not a cop hater by any means but this annoys me big time.

I just looked at when I called 911 and it's been less than two hours. Made for an exciting morning!
 
Last edited:
Glad you saved the van! I really feel sorry for the poor guy that thought he bought it too. Does a letter stating to be the grandson of the owner give someone authority to sell it? :huh:

I've been on a few "repo's" when I worked inside a car rental branch and a customer wouldn't bring a car back. I had dogs attack me, my life threatened (verbally only) and been called more than a few choice names.
 
What a morning! I really have to qustion anyone who thinks they bought a vehicle without the paperwork changing hands(?). Maybe that's a California thing(?). Sounds like the buyer gave the kid the money before he got the pink or they were supposed to link up after the van was at a mutually agreed upon location(?). Around here your car can be dead in your driveway for a decade and there is still paperwork to get rid of it even if you want it crushed.
 
Wow what a morning Jeff. I am amazing that no one knocked on the door before taking it. Sounds kind of a flacky excuse from the towing company and they should be more accountable and responsible. Hey on the positive at least you were home to see it happening and were able to chase it down pretty fast. Interesting to know that some kid has been wandering around casing out your place, that would really concern me. Glad it has a happy ending.

Yea I agree with Stu take the rest of the day off and relax and get your blood pressure back down.
 
BIL has been in contact with the buyer and is starting to get suspicious that he isn't coming clean. But we have the Wrecker Company as witnesses. They said he had a Bill of Sale they apparently sold (I meant saw the BOS) before they picked it up. Have a name of a local kid, but that may be phoney.

Yea, it's got my attention. But if you are on the other side of my barn your out of site of the house. Nothing I can do about that. Just need to replace the fence, remove the gate and that will stop most people. Someone drove though the fence and I didn't fix it this summer. Just removed the damaged section. But I will soon repair it and move the gate to the house end.

You do have to have a title since 1977 in Alabama. So he couldn't have gotten a tag for it. But I guess he could have scrapped it and sold the Lift for good money. Just stripped the van.

Got work this afternoon, need to the money. And the adrenaline rush is over now. :D
 
Last edited:
I would be tempted to write or visit with the local mayor, and city councilmen and explain the attitude of the police department.

Let's see, the supposed buyer is guilty of receiving stolen merchandise, and the kid is guilty of auto theft. I hope your BIL gets a lawyer. I think(?) that even the sheriff's office could initiate a case. Give them both 10 years and move on. Do they still have chain gangs down your way?
 
.... Do they still have chain gangs down your way?

Not sure, since our last Sheriff recently died. But he had reinstated chain gangs and a lot of strict codes in the jail. Crew cuts were mandatory, removed the TV's except for one. And it only had two or three channels. Disney and the Weather Channel I think it was. Won elections big time! Prisoners hated the jail and that was his goal. He ran a jail, not a Bed and Breakfast.

Not sure if the new Sheriffs will be as strict or not. Will see if he keeps the Chain Gangs. Hope so!
 
Not sure, since our last Sheriff recently died. But he had reinstated chain gangs and a lot of strict codes in the jail. Crew cuts were mandatory, removed the TV's except for one. And it only had two or three channels. Disney and the Weather Channel I think it was. Won elections big time! Prisoners hated the jail and that was his goal. He ran a jail, not a Bed and Breakfast.

Not sure if the new Sheriffs will be as strict or not. Will see if he keeps the Chain Gangs. Hope so!

Glad to see someone had the balls to do something like that. Here the prisoners have a golf course in one jail and more rights than the general population and if you can beleive it mom's are smuggling drugs in stuffed inside babies clothing. Ok the stipid side of that is that the gaurds that complained about this happening are told that they have crossed the line when it comes to the prisoners rights? Ok isn't that what Jail is about? giving up your rights when you are caught and sentenced.
 
boy sorry to hear your woes jeff but look on the bright side the scrap weight you got in your shop was worth way more than the van,,the crook missed out big time:rofl: there seems to be more all the time of creatures needing our stuff more than us. :(
 
I am always surprised how much effort and creativity goes into theft. I'm really glad to hear you were able to track it down. I don't think you would have ever seen it again if you weren't home!

Wes
 
Well just got word that the Van is gone. Never to be seen again. Long story but BIL works out of town. Works for TVA building high voltage power lines. With the recent tornadoes they get pulled in working to restore power in the area.

Finally gets home and goes the Sheriffs department and finds out the truck was taken a scrap yard and cut up the same day. All this time everyone was ling to him and never bothered to cal the Sheriff to see if anyone had indeeded filled charges. I know he was busy, but I offered to follow up on this too.

I see lot of questions, like why did the scrap yard accept it without a title and scrap it? The tow truck operator says he delivered it to the store, not the scrap yard. I see a strong law suit here but it's out of my hands. Knowing him he won't pursue it either.

This really ticks me off. There was a lot of attempted cover ups and Sheriff or Police, not sure who has jurisdiction is investigating. It's not mine to meddle in but if was I would sitting in my lawyers office right now!
 
Jeff, I am sitting here stewing!!! The heck with the adults involved, what is this kid learning? Better get prepared, he just got away with a large theft and will continue moving on up the ladder. Sorry to hear of the loss of the bucket truck. That has to be as handy as a loader on a tractor.
 
Man, that stinks! Encourage your brother to persue this. If he doesn't have time, maybe give you power of attorney in this matter. I agree, the kid that did this needs to learn the right lesson. Otherwise it could be a big big problem. Jim.
 
second the motion!!!

do what is nessacary to get them,, we cant keep takun it on the chin,,, time we gave them a few licks back.. i am no lawyer but i dont see having power of attorny after the fact working???? if that was the case then there could alot of suits filed "because i can and he gave me permision to do so"""
 
Sorry to hear of this Jeff. I really hope your BIL pursues prosecution on this. I think he should talk to a lawyer too. There are several responsible parties involved here that should be held accountable!
 
Boy, oh Boy, do I ever agree with everyone that he REALLY needs to pursue this, because there are just TOO many unanswered questions it appears to me. Not only does the KID need to be stopped RIGHT NOW, but it sure does sound like there are some adults involved as well that are just as guilty for taking in things that they suspect , (or know for sure) that are stolen and turning a blind eye to it all. Who knows, they may have orchestrated the whole thing, since everyone involved seems to be covering up for themselves AND everyone else. Until these SCRAP yards are held more accountable for what they take in, we will never be able to stop or even slow down the thieves, and Police and Sheriff Depts. as a whole seem to be extremely lax in ANY monitoring of these folks, which they could do in the same manner as they do the Pawn shops.

(This from one who has had to "eat" over $80,000 in losses with no avenue for recovery).:bang:
 
It is being investigated and someone will be arrested if they haven't been.

But I see at least the scrap yard at fault too because they didn't have a title. Towing company.... not sure they have any faoult. But how do you buy a vehicle and scrap it without a title? I see a nice payment from their insurance company!

If it were up to me I would be in my lawyers office right now. But I can't, it's not my vehicle. And I am just as annoyed at my BIL as anyone right now.
 
Jeff I feel for you...

Quite a few years ago now we had some firewood piled up along this small country road near us. Now granted we should have had it closer to our houses or something, but that is hardly the point. One day we noticed a pickup truck loading up with firewood, when I pulled up they took off.

So here I am chasing these guys on a pickup truck down this narrow, dirt, county road at 50 to 60 mph. At the same time I am calling the sheriff's office on my cell phone and telling them the plate number. After a minute or two they got it and tell me this, and I quote...

"Oh these guys don't have any money so there is no way you are going to get paid for it. Besides you guys own plenty of land anyway and have enough firewood."

Now keep in mind this is a small town where everyone knows everyone, and families like mine have been here for generation upon generation. Less then a week later I was stopped for speeding. Man was I frosted. When the sheriff deputy got out I did not even give him time to ask for a thing. I just let right into him.

"You know its pretty darn sad when a working man gets his firewood stolen off him, he calls it in and you guys don't do one darn thing about it. Here I am coming back from work, going a bit fast, and you guys want to fine me for speeding."

This kid, and he was a kid, just shook his head and said,"I can see you're having a bad day Travis, I'm just going to let you off with a warning," and walked back to his car...never even looked at my license or anything. The truth is, the police officers see the injustice WAY more then we do, so he knew I had a valid point.

As for the neighbors of ours that stole the wood. Well the statue of limitations is up on that one,so I can tell you what happened. We figured if they wanted a little fire in their home, (a camp really) they ought to have one. They never rebuilt so problem solved.

I've said this many times before on here...when it comes to farm, friends and family, you got to take care of yourself because no one else will.
 
Top