Motorcycle is gone -- and the problem is BIG!

[silverpig]

Bump for updates...

 

[Jzero]

Hold the phones....


<< I can't really file theft charges because:

a) I was there.
b) I did not tell him he could not ride it (never said he could, either).
c) Keys were in the ignition.
d) When he did not return for 10-15 minutes, I went along with his two friends to find him in their truck.
e) Looks like I am lying because I do not have insurance on the bike, so I am trying to cover my ass by filing criminal charges. >>



That can't be right!
If you were the victim of a carjacking:
You were there.
You didn't tell the perpetrator he could not drive your car.
The keys would be in the ignition.
You could potentially go looking for the perpetrator if you knew who it was.

The insurance thing isn't relevant. Sure, if you were driving it, one might say that, but you don't need to be insured on a vehicle you don't use anymore...
Based on these conditions, carjacking would not be a crime, especially if you rob an uninsured motorist?

 

[SsZERO]

Well, I haven't heard anything yet as to what happened to the guy, nor have I heard from anyone else who was involved.

I did not understand why the cop was making such a big deal about the keys being in the ignition. I should have asked hime, "If you got out of your patrol car to check something out and left the keys in the ignition, are you saying that I have your permission to take your car for a spin?" He'd probably feed me a line of BS about it and how it is different or whatever. I don't know.

If I do hear from that guy who fell or his family, I'll just tell them if they try to sue me for anything then I'll file criminal charges against him for stealing. Otherwise, I'm content to let it slide.

-= SsZERO =-

 

[silverpig]

I know that here, if you go outside in the morning to warm up your car, and leave it running with the keys while you go back inside for 5 minutes, and someone steals it, you're liable... However, if you were there watching it, and someone came along and took it from you, that'd be a different story.

 

[Jzero]

<< I know that here, if you go outside in the morning to warm up your car, and leave it running with the keys while you go back inside for 5 minutes, and someone steals it, you're liable... However, if you were there watching it, and someone came along and took it from you, that'd be a different story. >>


Liable in what way?
Your insurance company might consider you liable and not your policy, but theft is theft and is still a crime. If you leave your door open and someone walks in your house and steals something, he is still a thief.
Since the bike is not insured, though, it doesn't matter either way. It was still "stolen."

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

U need a lawyer. Bad.


Seems like to me that you are trying to rationalize not talking to one (ie your posts about where to find one, what to ask, say, etc...). Just use the phone book and start calling lawyers.


Anything less than that and you are just in denial. Sorry this happened, but you better start dealing with reality.

 

[Sluggo]

<< If I do hear from that guy who fell or his family, I'll just tell them if they try to sue me for anything then I'll file criminal charges against him for stealing. Otherwise, I'm content to let it slide. >>



He still FUBARed the bike, no matter how you slice it, he is liable for that. Even if he was too die, he (being his estate) is still liable for any damages incurred by you as a result of his actions. Sad to say but dead people get sued every day :disgust:

 

[Perknose]

<< And the officer said that if I try to say that he didn't have permission, it'd be stealing, and that I could not change the report without being arrested for making a false report in the first place. >>

All too many police officers are like that. They feel that making changes after they took the initial statement makes them look bad. Most officers HATE any and all paper work as it is -- and, paperwork is a HUGE part of their jobs.

You need a lawyer, right now! I'm not a lawyer. But you need to get your (true and complete) version of what happened into the official record ASAP, the sooner, the better. The officer above is just blowing smoke at you because he doesn't want to go back and change the original report. You need to get that report amended right away.

One last thing. I'm a PI. I work almost exclusively for lawyers. I can't tell you how many times I've had to track down and take a signed statement from a witness to an auto accident that happened four, five, six years ago, pursuant to a civil case. They can take that long to drag through the system. Cover your ass as best you can RIGHT NOW!!

Remember, while you are innocent until proven guilty, in a civil case (read: MONEY), your guilt need only be established by a preponderance of the evidence, unlike in a criminal case, where your guilt must be proven beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt. And we all know how juries are with other people's money . . .

Finally, it would be a key time right now for a lawyer to get his PI to take singed statement RIGHT NOW from the two guys who were the other witnesses at the scene. Incredibly, when a PI shows up on their doostep, most people don't know they don't have to say squat, they are more or less intimidated by the semi-officialness of it all, and a good PI can easily get them to cooperate (although there are also a lot of really crappy PI's out there -- it' not a glamour field).

Your best chance of getting these two witnesses to tell the truth is right now, before the relatives of the guy who bought/is buying the farm do the almost inevitable and hire counsel and orchestrate their own version.

Good luck. You need it. :frown: