Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

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Idling Cars In Chesterfield Township Prone To Ticketing

Several Cars Snatched In Last Few Weeks

POSTED: 8:26 p.m. EST December 2, 2003
UPDATED: 8:53 p.m. EST December 2, 2003

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- As the days get colder, many local residents are tempted to start their cars and leave them unattended for a few minutes to warm up, Local 4 reported.

But, Chesterfield Township residents may want to think twice about that. They could be ticketed, or worse, their vehicle could get stolen.

In the past few weeks, several people have had their idling cars stolen from their driveways, so township police are advising residents against the practice.


Those who ignore the warning will be ticketed under the anti-car theft ordinance.

The fine for violating the ordinance is $45.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Anti-car theft ordinance?

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 10208

Child endangerment too.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Boston, MA, Center of the Universe
Posts: 4538

We are very fortunate to have the police doing everything they can to make sure we don't get our cars stolen on us. Like the time someone broke my window, and I didn't notice for a couple weeks, so the police had my car towed "for safe keeping" (that's exactly what it said on the paperwork) and it cost me $700 in storage fees to get it back a couple weeks later. Thank god they didn't let it sit there with a broken window, because if it had gotten stolen and totalled, it would have cost me my $500 deductible, and then I would have had to try to figure out what to do with a $6000 check. That would've been awful.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5178

So, basically, the police stole your car. Did you ever get the money back?
That's outrageous...

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Boston, MA, Center of the Universe
Posts: 4538

Nope. I have no recourse. The funny thing is that about 5 days before they towed it, I filed a police report over the phone because someone had jimmied my driver's door and punched the ignition in a failed attempt to steal it. I had a lot of shit going on and I had no real urgent need for my car, so I figured I'd just let it sit there for a couple weeks while I dealt with the insurance company and tried to track down a reputable shop, confident that it wasn't going to go anywhere because it wouldn't fucking start.

A couple days later, someone broke my window, presumably in a less sophisticated attempt to steal it, only to find that some dumb shit already destroyed the ignition while trying to do the same. The cops saw that, and presuming that I had no idea that my car was in danger -- in spite of the fresh report in their system saying that I noticed someone had tried to steal it and ended up leaving it immobilized -- ordered it towed for safe keeping.

By the time I noticed it was missing, called the cops, took a half day to go to the police station to get my free release form, and then find my way to the shadiest little junkyard in Boston, it had racked up $700 in storage fees. And had the spare tire stolen. The junkyard tells me it showed up with the tire missing. Those wacky aspiring car thieves. On a completely unrelated note, just last weekend I had to FIND A FUCKING JUNKYARD SO I COULD PURCHASE A REPLACEMENT SPARE TIRE FOR MY CAR BECAUSE I GOT A FLAT ON THE WAY HOME FROM WORK ONE NIGHT.
I really can't blame them for stealing my spare tire because it's such a perfect little scam for them, but I don't understand why they had to rest it on the roof of my car in the process, leaving a perfect ring of scratches in the paint. Oh, and they told me that they'd sent 3 registered letters to me right away, as the law dictates, so that I could have picked it right up and avoided the insane storage fees. It's just so unfortunate that they somehow got a 4 year old address for me.

The insurance company said it wasn't their problem and I actually agree. I felt like a whiny bitch even asking them, but both the cops and junkyard guy suggested that insurance would cover it, presumably just to try to get me out of their hair, so I gave it a shot.

So yeah, if that first prick had known how to correctly pop an ignition, I would have lost a car and made about $5500. Instead, I kept a car that has now had over $10,000 worth of work done on it, thanks to 4 separate incidents -- none of which were my fault -- and had to pay $1150. That's $700 for storage and $450 because I still had to get the steering column replaced, and I carry a $500 deductible.

I'm just glad that in spite of things like that, I've retained my child-like outlook on life and not become the least bit cynical or jaded. I credit Jesus.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5178

The only explanation that occurs to me (other than the undoubtedly more correct ones which you propose) is that your insurance company asked the police to "keep your car safe". After all, it is in their interest to not have to pay for the car if it were stolen, and as you discovered, they don't have to pay for the storage fees.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Boston, MA, Center of the Universe
Posts: 4538

I think that would require a degree of underhandedness and collusion between the insurance company and police department that, while certainly not unimaginable, would be somewhat surprising to me. Plus, barring some sort of kickbacks from the junkyard, I don't see any incentive for the police to bother creating paperwork for themselves. I didn't pay anything directly to the city. All of the money went to the towing company. But I honestly never even considered that possibility. It's certainly worth thinking about.

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Registered: May 2002
Location:
Posts: 9001

Jesus, Cage, you need to stop parking at crack dens and chop-shops.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Boston, MA, Center of the Universe
Posts: 4538

It was a private road into an industrial park. I didn't have a residential parking permit for th neighborhood at the time, so the only way I could avoid a ticket was to park on private property. That whole road is lined with cars every night, but it seems like if you leave your car in the same place for more than 2 days, it gets fucked up. We've since put my girlfriend's truck into storage, so I can park in our space in the secure garage under the building now.

I always take a taxi to my crack den.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: The Midwest
Posts: 999

Glad they don't enforce this nonsense around here. The Pontiac 6000 LUXURY EDITION needs to warm up for like ten minutes in order to not die several times on the road.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Essex, England
Posts: 4523

That sucks...shame it ain't easy to sue the police!

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Disgusting den of creepitude
Posts: 10708

quote:

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Originally posted by MstrG
Child endangerment too.

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