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Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

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Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#81

Post by CPLX »

nwiswell wrote: post #36
gnicholas wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: someone steals your car and you go to take it back. When you drive off with it, the thief's backpack/laptop/etc. are in the back seat. Can you now be prosecuted for theft? Obviously most people wouldn't want to hang around long enough to fully inspect the vehicle to make sure they're not taking anything that doesn't belong to them! My inkling, as a former lawyer, is that this would not be theft if you didn'…

> My inkling, as a former lawyer, is that this would not be theft if you didn't know the item was there Not theft, but still conversion. The thief could sue you for the value of the items. When a car is repossessed the chattels (personal items) have to be returned to avoid liability. There is case law establishing that if you tell the repo agent you have stuff in the trunk and he drives off anyway, that's prima facie…

Is there a citation for that case law?

It seems extremely unlikely that the simple repossession of a car with personal property is conversion given that roughly 100% of all repos will have at least some personal property within.

It’s clear they are obligated to return it to you, but your argument here doesn’t sound right.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#82

Post by joe_guy »

bgun wrote: post #4
Wojakmeme wrote: post #2

Did I miss what happend to the car in the end or was it omitted?

You missed it. For about an hour after the car was stolen we were able to follow it around on my app’s map because my asset tracker remained undetected in the backseat. After that, the thieves discovered it and ditched it ... Over a month after the car was stolen it was found abandoned in terrible condition in an impound lot: bullet holes in the roof

I wonder how the thieves knew it was a tracker and the author knows it was ditched because of it's discovery.

I do believe it's a contrived story as an attempt at "viral" marketing.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#83

Post by btgeekboy »

awb wrote: post #6
nostromo wrote: post #3

Some people don't know that you absolutely are allowed to take back your stolen property. You don't need to involve the police unless you want to. Repo folks do this all the time. Keep an extra key for your car at home and put an Airtag in your car. If it's stolen, just go get it back when it's safe to do so. Calling the police in most American cities won't get you far. They usually can't pursue a speeding car anymor…

Walking into an unfamiliar situation without training and potentially being confronted by known criminals does not sound like a great idea to me. Sorry, but my property just isn’t worth the risk. It’s replaceable, I’m not.

My vehicles are insured, and car thieves don’t treat vehicles with care. Once it’s been stolen, it belongs to the insurance company. I don’t want it back.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#84

Post by jacquesm »

seibelj wrote: post #7
nostromo wrote: post #3

Some people don't know that you absolutely are allowed to take back your stolen property. You don't need to involve the police unless you want to. Repo folks do this all the time. Keep an extra key for your car at home and put an Airtag in your car. If it's stolen, just go get it back when it's safe to do so. Calling the police in most American cities won't get you far. They usually can't pursue a speeding car anymor…

I mean what are they going to do, call the cops?

No, they'll just shoot you. They're criminals, remember?

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#85

Post by lupire »

nostromo wrote: post #47
abyssin wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if the car is used to store valuable and illegal goods? And a big amount of them? Now you’re the target of both the criminals and the police.

Nonsense. My car was stolen. I made a police report. It later turned up with some heroin in it. I called the police again. They thanked me, took the heroin as evidence, and went along their way.

what if they suspected you of lying about the theft, or found the heroin before you did?

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#86

Post by lupire »

btgeekboy wrote: post #83
awb wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walking into an unfamiliar situation without training and potentially being confronted by known criminals does not sound like a great idea to me. Sorry, but my property just isn’t worth the risk. It’s replaceable, I’m not.

My vehicles are insured, and car thieves don’t treat vehicles with care. Once it’s been stolen, it belongs to the insurance company. I don’t want it back.

Insurance companies don't give away cars. They'll make you pay some of it back over time in increased premiums.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#87

Post by [deleted] »

gnicholas wrote: post #68
nwiswell wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My inkling, as a former lawyer, is that this would not be theft if you didn't know the item was there Not theft, but still conversion. The thief could sue you for the value of the items. When a car is repossessed the chattels (personal items) have to be returned to avoid liability. There is case law establishing that if you tell the repo agent you have stuff in the trunk and he drives off anyway, that's prima facie…

I hadn't considered conversion, but it looks like under some statutes this still requires knowledge and/or intent. [1] It also appears that the 'unclean hands' doctrine could be invoked as a defense, and a thief who seeks return of his laptop that he stashed in your car that he stole would most certainly have unclean hands! There is one wrinkle in the intent issue, which is that you may not have had intent to take th…

[deleted]

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#88

Post by lupire »

awb wrote: post #76
jsqu99 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are you allowed to show up armed, in case they are waiting for you? If you end up in a shootout, will you be considered the aggressor? Seems dangerous to me

> are you allowed to show up armed, in case they are waiting for you Every US state has slightly different laws about open carry and concealed carry laws in public. They also have different rules about self-defense. There was a case recently where a guy sat in his own garage with a shotgun (due to some recent burglaries) and shot an intruder. He was charged with murder. I think because 1) it was pre-meditated (he exp…

"warning shot" is deadly force, a crime anywhere shooting is a crime, for good reason.

Displaying the weapon is the only "warning" allowed -- and even that is only legal if you have an Open Carry license or if you are responding to a threat.

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