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Ask Officer Michelle - Stolen Vehicles Towed After Recovery

by Michelle Lazark, published on September 5, 2010 at 11:56 AM

Storyline: Ask Officer Michelle

Community Tags ask officer michelle blogsacpdorg downtown law enforcement midtown sacramento police department stolen vehicles

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Posted by tlstay

Good Morning,
My vehicle was stolen in February from my driveway. It was recovered in perfect condition after only a couple of days one mile from my house. Apparently, standard operating procedure is to have the vehicle towed to a tow yard before we are notified that the vehicle was recovered. We were advised of the recovery at 3pm and couldn’t leave work until 4:30, which was when the tow yard closed. We went to pick it up at 8 am the next morning, and the charge for towing and storage was $245. While I was happy to have the vehicle recovered, this was frustrating, to say the least. While I understand the need to remove stolen vehicles from their location in a timely manner, I don’t understand why a call wasn’t placed to us. Our home and work numbers were readily available on the police report and a call could have been placed to us just as easily as to the tow company. A sensible solution to me would have been a call from the police department to say that the vehicle was found and I had X number of hours to come and get it or it would be taken to the tow yard. Even if the vehicle wasn’t drivable, the towing on my insurance policy would have brought the car to my house. If I didn’t have this coverage and had to pay towing out of pocket to my home, it would still be less than the cost of the standard tow charge in these situations (more than any other tow charge) + storage. I could have walked to the recovery location to drive my car home! Could you please explain why the tow companies are automatically called in this situation? Perhaps there is a piece to this that I’m not understanding.
Thank you, and thanks to all of the officers for their great work.

Dear tlstay,
I understand that this could be maddening to you. I too have had my vehicle stolen out of my driveway before I was a police officer. It is a very strange feeling when you go to use your car and it is gone. You never realize what a liberty it is to have a car until it is gone. Usually, when officers with the Sacramento Police Department find a stolen vehicle, we try to contact the registered owner. If you or someone at your address is the registered owner, the police will radio to dispatch to attempt to contact the registered owner. When the registered owner arrives on scene, the officer does the necessary recovery and transfer paperwork and releases the vehicle to the owner. I can’t speak for the officer who recovered your vehicle. I’m sorry for your trouble.

Take care,
Officer Michelle

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Dale Kooyman

September 5, 2010 | 12:40 PM

This is the first I've heard that PD tries to contact the victim prior to the towing. The $245 was an unnecessary and exhorbinant amount to pay and adds insult to injury for a service that people's taxes already pay for.

BUT then the PD needs money.

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Michael Althouse

September 6, 2010 | 1:34 PM

I have never heard of a stolen vehicle recovery in which the registered owner was contacted prior to the vehicle being towed. But I know more than a handful of people who have told the same story that "tistay" wrote about. And it's not just the Sacramento PD... it happened to me in Reno. The police recovered my stolen truck and, after holding it for evidence for several days, would not release it to me until I payed the tow company that they had bring it to them.

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Denise Coleman

September 7, 2010 | 9:53 AM

AND I learned early in my driving career the the towing company contracted by the Police Dept. is much more expensive than non contracted towing services insurance or not...

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cogmeyer

September 8, 2010 | 12:36 PM

ditto here. My old Honda was stolen last week as well (2nd time... but it keeps coming back!).

I too got the call from the Sac City police long after the vehicle was already at the impound yard. I think this is pretty normal procedure.

I suppose in the big picture it is probably not a bad strategy for the police to immediately arrange a tow, since leaving an unlocked car with a jimmied ignition on the street for even a few extra hours increases the likeliehood of a "re-theft" or of parts being stolen, either of which could easily cost $245.

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Michael Althouse

edited on September 24, 2010 | 10:38 AM

If this was the Sacramento PD's strategy, then that might be a good rationalization for it. But Officer Michelle clearly states that their policy is to notify the registered owner upon recovery before the vehicle is towed and impounded. Based upon my experience and that of others, this would appear to be in direct conflict with reality. One might counter that we are not talking about a large sample of vehicle theft victims - that the numbers accounted for by me and the others who have commented here do not represent a large enough percentage to draw that conclusion. But when looked at from the other side, isn't it telling that not one story of a successful vehicle recovery sans impounding has been told? Not one. Curious, no?

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thsas

September 8, 2010 | 2:03 PM

Perhaps the tow service and related storage fees should be covered by our auto insurance, perhaps as a low cost option, similar to rental vehicles coverage?

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Dee

September 15, 2011 | 2:54 PM

My Van was stolen a couple of weeks ago and all my piano tuning tools and everything was inside and to this date have not found the van or tools, we call everyday to see if it's been found. The Van isn't the problem my husband tools were his earning tools as he's is self employed....Very upsetting.

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