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California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

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Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#21
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like it barely moves, so I'm guessing that's not an option. He doesn't have the pink slip so he can't really sell it or donate it properly. Maybe he should start charging Amazon rent for the parking spot.

Amazon most likely does not own it, hence Amazon telling him to have it towed. The guy is being an idiot looking for publicity.

He is raising donations for a food bank and appears to have received $200 so far from Amazon thanks to this media circus

https://twitter.com/TheCaptainLou/status/1460773777164308482

Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#23
post #2

Can he … take it for a ride around the block? It’s clearly abandoned. He gave adequate notice. It should be his.

That's not how abandoned vehicles work in California. It's not yours because it's left on your property.

Here's a 12 step program to get rid of an abandoned vehicle that's probably worth money (I'd recommend getting law enforcement to take it, so they or their contracted impound yard can go through the steps instead of you)

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/vehicle-industry-regi...

Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#24
post #12
post #6

"I’m not going to have the vehicle towed. Amazon should be able to figure this out. So now it’s an act of defiance. I did not follow Amazon’s instructions to just call the cops and have it towed." There's a simple fix, and he didn't want to do it. Instead, he's whining on the Internet, blaming a company that doesn't own the vehicle and can't do anything about it, either.

The simple fix you're describing is Amazon or whoever owns the truck abrogating their responsibilities and shuffling them off onto law enforcement and California Man. Amazon can damn well pay for that truck to be moved and not a single tax dollar should go towards moving it. This man is correct in publicly shaming Amazon for their inaction.

When police tows a vehicle, owner has to pay for towing to get the vehicle back. If nobody picks up the vehicle then vehicle is auctioned off and proceeds cover the cost of towing and storage. So the only way tax dollars end up being used is if the vehicle is worth less then the cost of towing.

Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#26
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simple fix you're describing is Amazon or whoever owns the truck abrogating their responsibilities and shuffling them off onto law enforcement and California Man. Amazon can damn well pay for that truck to be moved and not a single tax dollar should go towards moving it. This man is correct in publicly shaming Amazon for their inaction.

When police tows a vehicle, owner has to pay for towing to get the vehicle back. If nobody picks up the vehicle then vehicle is auctioned off and proceeds cover the cost of towing and storage. So the only way tax dollars end up being used is if the vehicle is worth less then the cost of towing.

I think it's highly unlikely that towing is guaranteed to be a profit centre vs. a cost centre in police/city budgets but that's besides the point.

There's an opportunity cost to using police for such a mundane activity that could trivially be solved by a responsible individual. Every moment that a police officer spends on this trivial issue is one that they can't spend on a non-trivial issue.

I would much rather see law enforcement do law enforcement and Amazon be responsible citizens in our society.

Imagine I was your neighbour and I left junker vehicles all over your property and when questioned about it by you my response was "yeah just call the cops and get it towed or something man."

Don't make excuses for Amazon and blame the victim in this situation. This kind of behaviour doesn't fly when it's an individual and it sure doesn't fly when it's an organization with the resources of Amazon.

Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#27

Well, Florida Man would have installed a Jacuzzi in the van, been forced to abandon it after it became infested with alligators, and then fired about a hundred rounds of 00 buck into it before offering it to pawnstars.

agreed. Florida man would have solved that issue really quick. California man is tame and boring.

Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#28
Can't believe how many people want Lou to have the van impounded. The Amazon name is so big and so impersonal, anything and everything associated with it is expected to be taken care of by the System right away.

This is our culture. Lou at least got a chance to talk to the driver, but other than that it seems whoever owns the van hasn't thought to keep Lou informed about what's going on. Lou doesn't even know who owns the van, with the only lead being the Amazon association. And nobody at Amazon seems capable of connecting the two sides together. This is how we operate today, it's kind of terrible.

If I were Lou I'd at least leave a note on the windshield asking the owner to call him.

Edit: This happened a week ago, and is resolved. Great Twitter posts, and he did leave a note: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEVzOvJVkAAOTq2?format=jpg&name=...

Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#29
Clamp it, charge the statutory maximum for parking on private property; then after a relatively short period of time you can start the claim for ownership on the grounds of abandonment. (There is some DMV paperwork involved).

That van is worth something if repaired, airflow on a sprinter is normally something you can do yourself. If not there is a whole lot of scrap metal sitting there...

Re: California Man in 4-Day Standoff with Abandoned Amazon Truck in Driveway

#30
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When police tows a vehicle, owner has to pay for towing to get the vehicle back. If nobody picks up the vehicle then vehicle is auctioned off and proceeds cover the cost of towing and storage. So the only way tax dollars end up being used is if the vehicle is worth less then the cost of towing.

I think it's highly unlikely that towing is guaranteed to be a profit centre vs. a cost centre in police/city budgets but that's besides the point. There's an opportunity cost to using police for such a mundane activity that could trivially be solved by a responsible individual. Every moment that a police officer spends on this trivial issue is one that they can't spend on a non-trivial issue. I would much rather see…

I'm not trying to defend Amazon, but I don't think Amazon can legally tow a vehicle in this case. It's not their vehicle, it belongs to an independent business/contractor. The best they could do is to contact the contractor and offer to cover costs of towing. But we don't know what the situation is, what they tried to do.
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