Ugh..Freaking Idiiot!!-(wreck/*race re-cap)

[Smokewagon]

Just joined the club for wrecked Titans.

Heading down the Highway on a nice Sunday morning listening to my radio that actually works and next thing I know, I get side swiped by some moron! I go to pull over, and the kid takes off!

I was involved in a hit and run before and had nothing but problems with insurance etc. afterwards, so I was determined to not let this one turn out the same. (Didn't get his plate number before he pulled off either)

So I pull my wonderful but newly marred monster back on the highway and chased his Toyota Carolla a$$ down. When I finally caught up to him he upped the speed some more. After another mile of chasing him, he finally realizes he's not losing me. He pulls over, and I pull in front to block him in.

Redneck gets out: "What happened, did I hit you?" I was like WTF?!? You side swipe me, my truck knocks you back in to your lane, your mirror is hanging off and you didn't know?? Him-"Dude I'm sorry"

About that time a guy in a Frontier (who stopped earlier with me) pulls up. He walks up looks at my truck and says, "Holy crap! You left me 5 miles back down the highway I can't believe you caught him. What does this thing have in it?"

So truck is messed up a little on drivers side, but that's ok. Chasing the little SOB down is what made my day. Don't intend to drive it that fast again, because I am not into the racing thing or acting like an idiot on public roads. But when the others on this site tell you other Ford/Dodge guys these things move, believe them! This one did well over a hundred wrecked. (ok not "wrecked" but nicely marred)

Ok, finished venting and now have the courage to go out and look at it again.

[FRD ETR]

What is the deal with all the hit and runs lately? Seems like that is becoming common practice. Did he have insurance? Hope you helped him out of the car

[BigJoe_Titan]

Man that sucks!! But you got the bast&*d! Did the cops get him for hit-&-run? You have the guy with the Frontier as a witness too.... I would have had a hard time not smashing his face and then saying, Oh did I hit you.

[Austin]

Hope you restrained yourself from pummeling him...

[Smokewagon]

Dallas police...don't get me started. "well he did stop, we dont call it a hit and run since he said he didn't know until you caught up with him." What??

His insurance is somewhat questionable. It was current but the car he was driving wasn't listed on it since he just bought it from his aunt. Again police were "ok".

Have to admit when I got out I was REALLY upset. But as much as I LOVE THIS TRUCK! It's still just a truck. My main concern was how he was going to re-act, but I did have my little friend in his case under the seat.

See Conceal and carry thread.

[37L1]

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience today. Glad you were not injured and that you kept your wits about you. Been there myself lately.

Keep in mind, it's one thing for the police to charge H&R but the DA (aka, "Let's Make a Deal") would reject the case, as a "a jury would be unlikely to convict based upon the fact the defendant stopped (eventually) and indicated he wasn't aware he caused damage." Also known as "reasonable doubt." All this despite the obviousness of the situation.

Hey, I don't make this crap up. That's the reality the cops have to deal with. They could have explained this to you and you might have a different opinion of their work (maybe). You also could have forced the issue and placed him under "private person's arrest" but the end result would still be the same.

The system is overloaded, the DA wants "slam-dunk cases wrapped up in a little bow" and the cops can see the end result while taking your report making it seem like they don't care. This goes on all the time, even with much more serious crimes.

Let your insurance company screw with this guy. Get your truck repaired and forget about it. If he were to face charges then you could relive this over and over again with the numerous court subpoenas and delays before it would go to trial where, if he were convicted, he would get a slap on the wrist, probation, suspended sentence and, if you're lucky, maybe restitution.

I know this doesn't make you feel any better when you look at your Titan now. Wish I could make it all go away. . . .

[Dude]

Keep in mind, it's one thing for the police to charge H&R but the DA (aka, "Let's Make a Deal") would reject the case, as a "a jury would be unlikely to convict based upon the fact the defendant stopped (eventually) and indicated he wasn't aware he caused damage." Also known as "reasonable doubt." All this despite the obviousness of the situation.
Disagree bigtime. There is very little doubt. Why?

1) His mirror was hanging off banging against his car.
2) He drove excessively fast to get aways as Smoke said he was over 100mph.
3) The damage should have been sufficient enough to show that any reasonable person would know that is caused a loud noise that the driver couldn't miss.
4) Why would he stop if he did nothing wrong? I would not stop if I truly did nothing wrong. I would think the guy following me was a maniac and would either call the cops on the cell phone or drive to a police station.

The cops were peckerheads and didn't feel like filling out the paperwork. Maybe if someone was hurt they might have taken out a pen? Unless you murder somebody, the cops basically don't give a crap about you. I have seen it time and time again and experienced it myself. Remember this guy would not have O.J.'s dream team, it would be a simple case to prosecute. Even if the guy was innocent, he would be lucky to win with a public defender. It's not the cop's call, it's the prosecutors. He still should have been ticketed. This dumbass probably wouldn't have fought the ticket.

No offense 37L1, I just can't stand lazy cops. Can you tell I have had experiences over the years where cops pulled the same kind of crap?

[37L1]

Originally Posted by Dude

1) His mirror was hanging off banging against his car.
2) He drove excessively fast to get aways as Smoke said he was over 100mph.
3) The damage should have been sufficient enough to show that any reasonable person would know that is caused a loud noise that the driver couldn't miss.
4) Why would he stop if he did nothing wrong? I would not stop if I truly did nothing wrong. I would think the guy following me was a maniac and would either call the cops on the cell phone or drive to a police station.

The cops were peckerheads and didn't feel like filling out the paperwork. Maybe if someone was hurt they might have taken out a pen? Unless you murder somebody, the cops basically don't give a crap about you. I have seen it time and time again and experienced it myself. Remember this guy would not have O.J.'s dream team, it would be a simple case to prosecute. Even if the guy was innocent, he would be lucky to win with a public defender. It's not the cop's call, it's the prosecutors. He still should have been ticketed. This dumbass probably wouldn't have fought the ticket.

No offense 37L1, I just can't stand lazy cops. Can you tell I have had experiences over the years where cops pulled the same kind of crap?

Don't doubt what you say at all.

What I wrote is also true from years of first hand experience.

I'm sure your experience leads you to feel the way you do about cops. Sorry for that. Most cops do care about what they do and take extreme risks daily for the benefit of others. Too many pay too high a price.

Generally speaking, cops don't get paid enough for the crap they have to endure but like any other profession there are some that just don't care any more and maybe never did. The vast majority are not like that.

Private person's arrest or citizen's arrest is always an option when dealing with "lazy cops." As a citizen (in California, at least), who is the victim of a misdemeanor that did not occur in the cops presence, one can place the other party under arrest. That way you aren't limited by what the cops will or won't do.

How do you deal with "lazy prosecutors?" They get rated for successful prosecutions and get dinged for the ones they lose. They are forced to play the "devil's advocate" and "triage" their assigned cases. The "system" is set up to let the bad guys go long before they are held to answer.

Taking a "criminal" report v. an "accident" report isn't going to change the fact that his truck got dinged, lazy cops or otherwise. My point was that even if the cops had done what you think they should have, nothing probably would have resulted from it once it got to the DA.

Hope the insurance companies and the DMV screw him.

[Dude]

You're probably right, but I bet if you stole a pack of gum from the 7 Eleven they write you up and prosecute you.

I also agree that cops are way underpaid as are teachers and Firemen, but....if you don't like the pay, then do something else if you are not willing to do your job to the best of your ability. By doing something else you will help create a demand for the profession and thus drive up salaries, and then we might have better people doing those jobs. I guess there isn't much use to debating this as I think this is one of those where both sides are probably right. There is a lot of gray area here. I just feel bad for Smoke getting screwed by that bum. Did I mention Death Wish was one of my favorite movies? Hint, Hint

[37L1]

Originally Posted by Dude

You're probably right, but I bet if you stole a pack of gum from the 7 Eleven they write you up and prosecute you.

I also agree that cops are way underpaid as are teachers and Firemen, but....if you don't like the pay, then do something else if you are not willing to do your job to the best of your ability. By doing something else you will help create a demand for the profession and thus drive up salaries, and then we might have better people doing those jobs. I guess there isn't much use to debating this as I think this is one of those where both sides are probably right. There is a lot of gray area here. I just feel bad for Smoke getting screwed by that bum. Did I mention Death Wish was one of my favorite movies? Hint, Hint

"Did I mention Death Wish was one of my favorite movies? Hint, Hint :gunz"

You and me both.

That could be an unfortunate natural progression when people feel the system has failed.

Hope Smokewagon's truck get's well soon!

As for the other guy, I've been around long enough to know "What goes around, comes around."

[bestatchess]

Perhaps you can sue him in civil court (maybe you can do this yourself without paying any lawyer, check your local small claims court rules), he will probably not respond, then you get a default judgment. Record it and screw up his credit rating, and periodically garnish his wages (if he has or gets a job). If his questionable insurance is going to pay, you can might release less than all of your claims (or release the insurance company but not him). I have done that a couple of times over the years. On one guy it was pretty effective retribution as I prevented him from buying anything major on credit for several years. If you get a decent judgment, there are collection companies that will pursue for a % and you don't even have to mess with it.

[Chilicat]

First, yup, they are underpaid and I would not be a cop for a million a year.

I moved to the Detroit area from Canada and did my undergrad in Detroit (Wayne State), worked at bars in downtown Detroit (Bricktown), and did clinicals at the Detroit Medical Center while doing my undergrad. My experiences with cops in Detroit:

1) Car stolen while I was working at Detroit General. Cops take a phone report and tell me car is gone, they're not "wasting their time coming out to take a statment", wait 30 days, get the write off.

2) Driving home and several fine gentlemen pull along side me and brandish a gun, tell me to pull over. I'm in my F150, they're in a low slung Prelude, I see a cop car several cars over on the highway. I pull along side the cops, get their attention and tell 'em the guys next to me have a gun and just tried to car jack me. The cops says, honest to god, "Go down to the station and file a report" and they take off. I followed them until the Prelude exited the freeway.

3) I'm doing 15 over the limit on that same stretch of road. I get a nice ticket.

4) I make a left at an intersection I've used for years. Three days ago (the cop informed me) they put up a no left turn sign. It's hard to see, the cop admits, but "people will catch on after enough tickets get written".

So how do I feel about Detroit cops? I could draw conclusions but I did one better, I moved and helped to further deplete the tax base.

[pagerdaddy]

[quote=37L1]"Did I mention Death Wish was one of my favorite movies? Hint, Hint :gunz"
You and me both.


Death Wish? Was that the one with Emilio Estivez?

J/K I liked the one where Bronson played a watermelon farmer and put
that Ford truck through hell. I remember Ford even turned it into a
commercial. Can't remember the name of it.

My favorite Bronson movie was Hard Times with James Colburn. Also
liked The Magnificient Seven.

I better stop or these guys will think I am as old as you are 37L1!

Steve

[giddyup]

Whewwww......you People Have Too Much Time On Your Hands. Its A Hit And Run And He Should Have Been Cited.let The Courts And Insurance Companies Work It Out From There.

[pagerdaddy]

Originally Posted by giddyup

Whewwww......you People Have Too Much Time On Your Hands. Its A Hit And Run And He Should Have Been Cited.let The Courts And Insurance Companies Work It Out From There.

So you think that beginning with an insult is the proper way to join in
on a conversation? After such a statement, guess how much value I put
on your opinion.

Steve