Victimizing the victim
By
Jeffrey Fazio
Special Sections Writer
A
month and a half ago, I was away racing for the weekend and I came
home to a very unpleasant surprise. The car I use for daily driving
was gone. Gone. Stolen. Not where I left it.
I
stood blankly staring in disbelief at the empty parking spot where I
had left the car a mere two days earlier. My mind started flipping
through scenarios faster than a hyperactive kid flipping through TV
channels.
Did
I leave it at work? No.
Did I leave it at my mechanic's place? No.
Did I park it somewhere else? No.
Did someone borrow it? No.
Am I going crazy? Maybe.
So where did I leave the car? Right there, but it's not there.
I
went inside and looked out my front window one more time at that
ominously vacant parking spot. Even from inside, the car was still
gone. It couldn't be gone. It was.
I
checked my voice messages. low and behold the third message was from a
City of Reading police officer. He was calling to let me know that
they had found my car the previous night in south Reading on fire. He
was curious if I knew anything about this or if I knew who might have
had my car. I didn't.
Upon
returning the police officer's phone call, I learned that this
"happens all the time in the city." They've got to be
kidding, right? I mean people double park "all the time" in
the city, they can't mean "all the time" in that same
context, could they?
They
took down my information and filed the report. It cost me $15 to get a
copy of this report. I was then informed that a local towing company
had possession of my car and I had to contact them to resolve the
towing bill. What?
That's
right. I was away for the weekend. My car was stolen, left somewhere I
did not want it and it was set on fire, but I have to pay the bill for
it being towed. Isn't life grand?
So
I call the towing company. They inform me that I owe them $85 for the
towing and $30 per day for storage. This has got to be a joke.
I
never wanted my car at their towing yard. Not only did I have to pay
to have my car towed from a place I did not put it, but now I had to
pay to store it at a place I did not take it. Talk about victimizing
the victim.
Hold
on to the chair folks, this gets better.
Next, they inform me that I cannot resolve the towing and storage fees
until I get the city to release the car back to me. What?
Apparently
when something like this happens, the city takes possession of the
property and the victim must pay $10 to have it released back to them.
This isn't a joke, this is reality.
That
Monday morning I got up early and did the necessary running around. I
pay the city $10 to release the car and I run over to the towing yard
and pay the $85 I owed for the towing.
The
night before I had gone to the towing yard to take some photos of my
car. This visit was only 14 hours later and there w ere already two
more burned-out cars that had been added to the towing yard. When I
asked about this, the lady at the towing yard explained, "It
happens all the time."
How
is that we live in a society that cars being stolen and burned is
commonplace? The police simply take down your report with as much
empathy and surprise as a waiter taking your lunch order. The people
at the towing yards are as shocked by your loss as a dentist who finds
a cavity. This whole business is just part of their day. Next please.
I
asked them what was going to happen to my car. They said I needed to
have it removed or I could sign the title over to them so they could
junk it. They graciously offered to waive the accrued storage fees if
I signed the car over.
Needless
to say, I was not at a point to weigh the options of having the car
taken somewhere else so I just accepted the loss and signed over the
title to end this nightmare. In hindsight, that was a mistake since
the car did still have some value (new tires, good wheels and the
engine was most likely fine).
With
the connections I have in the car world I had more options than I
realized for storing and parting out this car. I wish that I wouldn't
have been pressured to make such a quick decision, but that is our
system. It truly victimizes the victim.
When
it was all said and done, I paid $110 to have my car stolen. I'm sure
I could have found a better deal if I shopped around first.
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