Two trucks stolen and....

[rainamy]

Well, it's been a rough couple of days.

Learned on Saturday that two trucks of ours were stolen up in Massachusetts from where they were stored.

One, a 1987 Suburban, has a lot of sentimental value as well - the last new truck my mom ever bought, I ended up buying it from them when she stopped driving it. She has a terminal lung disease these days which makes it all the more important.

The other was my old college truck, a 1979 diesel silverado that had a 69 327 swapped in. A fun truck with a pretty rusty bed, not nearly as upsetting as the suburban.

After finding they were gone I was scouring the Internet to see if I could find a trace of them, and luckily, I DID. There was a pretty sketchy guy a couple towns over trying to sell parts off them on craigslist. Called the police for the town they were stored in who, we'll it's ongoing, but the detective said he didn't have much experience with this sort of thing. (Makes me kinda nervous.)

The guy who had them was told to stop selling anything else, however, we don't know everything that was stripped, the stories are very fishy, and I ended up having to tell the officer things that were missing based on the craigslist ad that the detective himself seemed not to know, but had the ads??

Anyways, bad news gets worse when we're told he admitted to selling at least one door and that now "animals had been living in it." I don't know which of the two "it" was either, both had great interior and we're weather tight. (Even uncracked dash pads, new seat in the truck, etc.)

So, I need to try to find a good lawyer from 950 miles away to go to with a contingency case against 2 companies, and two guys, who were involved in 2 different cities/counties. I'm not even sure how to find someone with connections in the D.A. offices to help drive the prosecutions, but that sounds like it ought to be best to me... blind shot in the dark bUT anyone have ideas?

I also need to try to find a way to get these things moved, possibly just all the way to georgia. I'm partially disabled these days (spinal neck/back issues) so short spurts of bending or neck movement are about what I can handle before I need lots of medicine and to take a good rest.not sure how to verify it's my 3.42 limited slip going back in the truck, brakes bled, so on so forth...

Is there anyone in the hampden/Hampshire counties area that has any referrals for someone they know on the legal side of things? I was a little vague in details since it's an ongoing police matter, AND, I need to call the other town where the vehicles were verified to be today during day-shift to see what they can do as well.

Unfortunately, unless the people who bought the parts want to be nice, I don't think I've got any chance in he'll of getting them back since they're protected as buying/not knowing it was stolen...

[Rickysnickers]

Well, I cannot help you with the lawyer part but I may be of some help with the auto theft part. When were the truck discovered and reported as stolen? It makes a big difference in hwat the ultimate outcome is.

If they were reported stolen some time back the sketchy dude is now in possession and has been selling parts, then the likelyhood of him getting arrested isn't that great. However, you will still get the trucks back. Reading the condition, it sounds as though they have been gone for quite some time.

I would suggest that you contact the detective again and ask specifically what is being done. If you aren't getting any answers then talk to his/her supervisor. You may also want to see if there is a regional auto theft task force for that county/area. You would be able to do that through the detective or the D.A.'s office. If there is one, then talk to them as well.

I'm sorry to say this, but auto theft isn't really considered a hgh priority on the grand scale. I worked it for 2.5 years and even though it is a very high dollar/value crime, nobody is really that interested in prosecuting these people.

[Dead Parrot]

Depending on value and state limits, might be better to pursue a small claims court case against the seller of parts and others involved. Guessing most storage locations have theft disclaimers but possible you could get a settlement due to negligence if they let someone in that didn't have a locker and didn't wonder why two vehicles were leaving with someone that didn't check them in. The advantage of civil actions is the bar of proof is much lower then a criminal case.

2nd the notion that most LEO/DA combos aren't very interested in property crime if they can't get in on a piece of the action. Might suggest they pursue criminal forfeiture action against the parts sellers if it can be proved they knew the vehicles were stolen. You get your trucks back and the authorities get the property where the selling was taking place.

Suggest you visit the trucks and try to make an honest assessment on current value and condition. May make more sense to finish the parts selling and use the proceeds from that and any court settlement to purchase a replacement(s). Be sure to figure in any transport costs.

Keep track of all your costs as you might be able to recover some of those in a civil action.

[Bloodhound]

I'm in Massachusetts and I'm in law enforcement, but on the other side of the state unfortunately. So the trucks were in fact recovered or no?

[TwoFiftyShifter]

Collect the insurance payout and move on I say. Plenty of nice burbs out there.

[rainamy]

We were informed the trucks might be gone last saturday. Over the weekend I was able to find them late sunday which was also my confirmation that had indeed been taken. On Monday I called to report them, as well as provide all the information I'd been able to gather, and the detective for the jurisdiction they were taken from notified the current person in possession of the status and not to do anything with them what-so-ever.

It appears the act of taking occurred at some unknown point - one suspect saying "several months ago" although he did lie, in writing, about lack of knowledge on other facts and the trucks were known safe in early january.

I have not recovered possession, although, I am led to believe by the detective (who is NOT in the jurisdiction the vehicles are now in) that I would be able to do so - not an easy thing to do with a partially stripped burban they took the wheels/tires and the rear end out of among other unknown parts.

[Redneck Rydes]

If it was me, Southern Justice would prevail!!!

[Man With A Gun]

Justice = Just Us

[hatzie]

It shouldn't be a surprise that the word of thieves and brigands is taken as gospel in Mass. They furlough murderers from prison.
Posession of stolen property, regardless of the possessors knowledge of the status of said property, used to be a criminal offense before the liberal jackwagons took over Taxachusetts.

You can bet if Elizabeth Warren or Patrick Deval or some other politician in Mass had cars stolen and chopped up with parts for sale on Craigslist the police would be all over the people that were responsible.
It sounds like they sent a sternly worded note to the thief telling him they were going to spank him with a wet noodle if he didn't stop selling parts from these vehicles. Yeah. That'll stop him.

This kind of selective enforcement is coming to your state if you let it...