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Man arrested for stealing own car

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Originally posted by: Unheard
Originally posted by: altonb1
Text

BALTIMORE - Baltimore City police have a new crime on the books: Stealing your own car.


Just ask Keith Spence, a Baltimore City resident who was arrested when he was driving home from work in a car he bought with a tax refund.

?I couldn?t believe it was happening,? Spence said.

Spence, 28, said city police pulled him over in his 1993 red Cadillac Elderado coupe for a cracked rear window in February. Four officers dragged Spence and his two passengers from the car and said they were under arrest for stealing it, he said.

?I was listening to the radio from the back seat of the police car. It said a gray Cadillac sedan was stolen; mine is a red coupe. I guess the officer must have been color blind,? he said.

?I tried to tell them it was my car, but they wouldn?t listen.?

Spence and his two friends were arrested, and the car was impounded. Charged with one count of motor vehicle theft, Spence represented himself in court in June.

?I owned the car ? I knew it wasn?t stolen,? he said.

Even though Spence had the title proving he owned the car, he said he was cleared of the charges because of the testimony of the owner of the stolen car.

?The whole courtroom fell out ? even the judge laughed,? Spence told The Examiner.

Still, police sold Spence?s car at auction two months before his day in court.

Now Spence is without the car it took him a year to buy, and his lawyer, Roland Brown, said he is preparing to sue the city.

?Not only did the police violate my client?s constitutional rights by selling his car before the trial, but the case demonstrates that young black males in this city are blindly targeted by the Baltimore City police,? he said.

Brown said the case also points out problems with the city?s management of stolen vehicles. ?You have to question why a stolen car would be sold at all,? he said.

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said police are investigating the incident.

?We?re looking into the circumstances surrounding why the car was sold,? Jablow said.

Spence said he only wants the Cadillac he worked so hard to buy.

?I loved that car.?
Click to expand...

Was waiting for the race card to be pulled. :disgust:
Click to expand...

I was going post "I bet the guy was black" before I read that sentence. You can deny racial profiling occurs all you want, until you have to step into the real world. Then again, maybe being from the South allows you to go through life without having to accept that.
 
Originally posted by: Playmaker
Originally posted by: Unheard
Originally posted by: altonb1
Text

BALTIMORE - Baltimore City police have a new crime on the books: Stealing your own car.


Just ask Keith Spence, a Baltimore City resident who was arrested when he was driving home from work in a car he bought with a tax refund.

?I couldn?t believe it was happening,? Spence said.

Spence, 28, said city police pulled him over in his 1993 red Cadillac Elderado coupe for a cracked rear window in February. Four officers dragged Spence and his two passengers from the car and said they were under arrest for stealing it, he said.

?I was listening to the radio from the back seat of the police car. It said a gray Cadillac sedan was stolen; mine is a red coupe. I guess the officer must have been color blind,? he said.

?I tried to tell them it was my car, but they wouldn?t listen.?

Spence and his two friends were arrested, and the car was impounded. Charged with one count of motor vehicle theft, Spence represented himself in court in June.

?I owned the car ? I knew it wasn?t stolen,? he said.

Even though Spence had the title proving he owned the car, he said he was cleared of the charges because of the testimony of the owner of the stolen car.

?The whole courtroom fell out ? even the judge laughed,? Spence told The Examiner.

Still, police sold Spence?s car at auction two months before his day in court.

Now Spence is without the car it took him a year to buy, and his lawyer, Roland Brown, said he is preparing to sue the city.

?Not only did the police violate my client?s constitutional rights by selling his car before the trial, but the case demonstrates that young black males in this city are blindly targeted by the Baltimore City police,? he said.

Brown said the case also points out problems with the city?s management of stolen vehicles. ?You have to question why a stolen car would be sold at all,? he said.

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said police are investigating the incident.

?We?re looking into the circumstances surrounding why the car was sold,? Jablow said.

Spence said he only wants the Cadillac he worked so hard to buy.

?I loved that car.?
Click to expand...

Was waiting for the race card to be pulled. :disgust:
Click to expand...

I was going post "I bet the guy was black" before I read that sentence. You can deny racial profiling occurs all you want, until you have to step into the real world. Then again, maybe being from the South allows you to go through life without having to accept that.
Click to expand...


yeap.

i hate it when the race card is played. i think its disrespectful to people who have had real discrimination pulled on them.

but this is one case i feel it is justified.
 
I was actually suspicious of the story because the Examiner is a pretty-much tabloid newspaper now and it relayed a lot on the victim. Google didn't turn up any additional stories on Keith Spence. However, searching the Maryland state criminal records cases, the case did popped up. It is amazing that the DA took this case to trial. Hopefully, the City will settle with the man.
 
Why would you sell someones stolen car???? Why not just give it back to them???

Give him the replacement cost and go on with life. Pay his lawyer bills and hope they go away.
 
Hey, everyone... wait a second. You've all over-looked something.

Even though Spence had the title proving he owned the car, he said he was cleared of the charges because of the testimony of the owner of the stolen car.
Click to expand...

Something's fvcked up right there. Unless there was only 1 car stolen in Baltimore that year, how could he even have the testimony "of the owner of the stolen car." He represented himself... this was all the car he could afford... how would he have even had the resources to find out who had reported the gray car stolen?

There's a lot more to this story than is in that article... some missing pieces, and I think they're pretty big pieces.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Hey, everyone... wait a second. You've all over-looked something.

Even though Spence had the title proving he owned the car, he said he was cleared of the charges because of the testimony of the owner of the stolen car.
Click to expand...

Something's fvcked up right there. Unless there was only 1 car stolen in Baltimore that year, how could he even have the testimony "of the owner of the stolen car." He represented himself... this was all the car he could afford... how would he have even had the resources to find out who had reported the gray car stolen?

There's a lot more to this story than is in that article... some missing pieces, and I think they're pretty big pieces.
Click to expand...

the gray car was never reported stolen... the red coupe was the stolen one... that's why it doesn't make sense for this case to even make it to the court. he had all necessary proof he owned the car, so if he was in court, what is it so hard to believe he called the 'owner' to the stand (being himself, and having the proof, the way the court works he would have been able to testify as both the owner and the thief, thus dropping the case when he states he wants to drop the case, because in the end he knows he would come out a winner, even though the 'owner' side of him would have lost. 🙂
 
You're missing it... 100's if not 1000's of cars are stolen... what good is the testimony of someone to say "well, my car was stolen, but it wasn't that car." The testimony of another person would be pointless and a waste of time.

Furthermore:
Spence, 28, said city police pulled him over in his 1993 red Cadillac Elderado coupe for a cracked rear window in February. Four officers dragged Spence and his two passengers from the car and said they were under arrest for stealing it, he said.

?I was listening to the radio from the back seat of the police car. It said a gray Cadillac sedan was stolen; mine is a red coupe.
Click to expand...
 Reading comprehension a problem??

There's more to this story than the twist than the newspaper is giving it.
 
I don't know the race of the arresting officers, but there is a large black population in Baltimore and the City Police force is representative of the demographics.

And...if the race card is going to be debated, we should refer to THIS article. For the record, although the article omits the details, the arresting officer was a black officer in this case.

Baltimore sucks. I moved to Pennsylvania last year and have no plans to move back to MD ever again.
 
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Moral of the story: Get a title for the vehicle, next time.

Well, next time he can by a Lincoln Mark VII or VIII and get a real american luxury sport coupe.
Click to expand...

Hey! WTF!

The 93 Eldo is a nice ride.. I have a 92 Touring Coupe - they are sweet, sexy rides!
 
Originally posted by: waggy
holly crap.

ok red and grey are close i give the cop that (hahah yeah im stretching). but to auction the car before he was found guilty?

to bad he is only going to win a few thousand on it.
Click to expand...

I think he could win more than a few thousand for it...

False arrest X number of people arrested. Defamation. etc etc... I dun think the lawyer would settle for just a few thousand... would like to see how this pans out.
 
wow, let me say sorry to the tax payers of Ballimore 1st, because if I was that guy. I would be finding the best lawyer in the land the sue the arse off the city....

Isn't it a crime to on-sell a stolen vehicle?
 
*waits for Bradruth to come in and defend the cops of America*

face it, when crap like this happens, changes need to be made. Police can get away with way too much crap and have way too much power.
American law enforcement is screwed up, and we as a people need to do something about it.
 
Originally posted by: Unheard
Originally posted by: altonb1
Text

BALTIMORE - Baltimore City police have a new crime on the books: Stealing your own car.


Just ask Keith Spence, a Baltimore City resident who was arrested when he was driving home from work in a car he bought with a tax refund.

?I couldn?t believe it was happening,? Spence said.

Spence, 28, said city police pulled him over in his 1993 red Cadillac Elderado coupe for a cracked rear window in February. Four officers dragged Spence and his two passengers from the car and said they were under arrest for stealing it, he said.

?I was listening to the radio from the back seat of the police car. It said a gray Cadillac sedan was stolen; mine is a red coupe. I guess the officer must have been color blind,? he said.

?I tried to tell them it was my car, but they wouldn?t listen.?

Spence and his two friends were arrested, and the car was impounded. Charged with one count of motor vehicle theft, Spence represented himself in court in June.

?I owned the car ? I knew it wasn?t stolen,? he said.

Even though Spence had the title proving he owned the car, he said he was cleared of the charges because of the testimony of the owner of the stolen car.

?The whole courtroom fell out ? even the judge laughed,? Spence told The Examiner.

Still, police sold Spence?s car at auction two months before his day in court.

Now Spence is without the car it took him a year to buy, and his lawyer, Roland Brown, said he is preparing to sue the city.

?Not only did the police violate my client?s constitutional rights by selling his car before the trial, but the case demonstrates that young black males in this city are blindly targeted by the Baltimore City police,? he said.

Brown said the case also points out problems with the city?s management of stolen vehicles. ?You have to question why a stolen car would be sold at all,? he said.

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said police are investigating the incident.

?We?re looking into the circumstances surrounding why the car was sold,? Jablow said.

Spence said he only wants the Cadillac he worked so hard to buy.

?I loved that car.?
Click to expand...

Was waiting for the race card to be pulled. :disgust:
Click to expand...

I lived near Baltimore for most of my life. Every lawyer in the entire region knows to play the race card if the Baltimore City police are involved. Statistically, they DO arrest more blacks (nevermind that those statistics are in-line with the population stats, nobody cares about trivial things like that)

And the cops ALWAYS capitulate and fire the officers involved. They've never held their ground as far as I can remember.
 
Originally posted by: EyeMWing
I lived near Baltimore for most of my life. Every lawyer in the entire region knows to play the race card if the Baltimore City police are involved. Statistically, they DO arrest more blacks (nevermind that those statistics are in-line with the population stats, nobody cares about trivial things like that)

And the cops ALWAYS capitulate and fire the officers involved. They've never held their ground as far as I can remember.
Click to expand...
I think they SHOULD capitulate in this case. They screwed up, big time.
 
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: EyeMWing
I lived near Baltimore for most of my life. Every lawyer in the entire region knows to play the race card if the Baltimore City police are involved. Statistically, they DO arrest more blacks (nevermind that those statistics are in-line with the population stats, nobody cares about trivial things like that)

And the cops ALWAYS capitulate and fire the officers involved. They've never held their ground as far as I can remember.
Click to expand...
I think they SHOULD capitulate in this case. They screwed up, big time.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but there's been case after case where that hasn't been the case.
 
anyone notice the name of the police spokesman: Matt Jablow

"Hey Matt, I know your police spokesman and all so I gotta ask you a question."

Matt: "Yeah?"

"Would Jablow me?"

LOL
 
Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
anyone notice the name of the police spokesman: Matt Jablow

"Hey Matt, I know your police spokesman and all so I gotta ask you a question."

Matt: "Yeah?"

"Would Jablow me?"

LOL
Click to expand...

lmao!
 
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