A bittersweet theft recovery....

[cathan]

Hey TR owners....

I had posted 10 days ago about my stolen 87 GN in Colorado, and I got the call from the police last night to see if they had my car.

Well, I get to the crime scene where they have a gang punk in cuffs. I approach the vehicle and I see chrome bumpers, chrome 86 grille, T-type hood ornament, and (the worst part) little chrome Dayton rims with white stripe tires. They made a pimp ride out of my race car!!!!

I start shaking my head saying "no, this is not my car". Then I look under the hood and closer at the body and realize that, yes, it is. They had, of course, removed the GN emblems, except the 3.8 SFI TURBO ones on the hood.

The interior....they took out the GN seats and put in plush grey regal seats, a T-Type steering wheel and bandanas around the broken steering column. Along with a cracked windshield they put a fake VIN plate to match the plates and registration of a 1985 regal. They forgot to remove the decklid label with the real VIN.

The police traced these punks to what I call their "change 'em up shop" in another county and I may get back some or all of my original parts. The scum who was in cuffs had already been deported to Mexico once, and likely will be again.

A learning lesson.....garage it, protect it, insure it, and Lo Jack it. Or you might end up with a pimp car hybrid!

 

[Rodney87GN]

I'm glad to hear you got her back and in one piece...you know it could've been alot worse.

If they had it any longer the car probably would've had hydraulics by now. :wink:

 

[onefastcar]

They pimped your ride now i hope they pimp thier arses to jail for a while pimpin there back sides to bubba.

 

[VadersV6]

Just a matter of time now until he gets asked whether he prefers jelly or syrup with his tossed salad. Hope the deportation bus explodes and burns the guy alive. I hate theives more than I hate cancer.

 

[TURBOTWIN2]

Mojados-doing the jobs Americans won't do.

 

[mhogan6]

Mojados-doing the jobs Americans won't do.

How do you pronounce "Mojado".

Is it kinda like "Mopar"? :biggrin:

 

[Aztlanahauc]

You can always sell the Daytons if you still got them, if they are real ones. They are expensive wheels.

 

[2QUIK6]

This wasn't Rob Bakers old car was it? I know he sold it to someone on this board near your area in CO a couple of years ago.

 

[urhstry]

I agree with you, VadersV6!!!

 

[gnx139]

What a surprise, no one is bashing the cops on this thread. Once in a while cops do come through for us. I'm glad you got your car back dude. You are lucky.

 

[49-blues]

atleast they didnt put any of those 22" ghetto rims on it!

 

[cathan]

No, not Rob Baker's car, I have had it for 8 years.

About the wheels, I don't know if they are real Daytons, and I'm sure I could sell the cheez whiz 22" wheels for more, but the question I will get answered soon is this:

If they recover my stock wheels, seats, steering wheel, bumpers and grill etc.,that's great. If they do not, I really doubt they will return this car to me on blocks. One friend of mine said they might even give me the car as is AND my parts back? I also can't really see them asking a theft ring which parts "belong to them".

I really hope this leads to the recovery of other peoples' stolen cars, and maybe they can all be put back together or close.

No Police bashing here, that's for sure. No doubt there is serious stupidity, no matter how disguised the car, for these idiots to drive the car not only in the same town but A MILE AWAY from where they took it!

I get to go see it on Monday and give them a list of my missing stuff. I'll have to take and post some pictures of before and after.

I do consider myself lucky it has been found ....the biggest pain to fix will likely be the broken steering column.

I'll keep you posted

Chris

 

[RealestVIN7]

Yay for you dude. Let us know how things go. I might want the daytons BTW. j/k

 

[2QUIK6]

The rims on the car are probably stolen too, so it will be interesting to see how they handle them. I don't see that a theif would spend that kind of cash on rims to put on a stolen car.

 

[phillyturbosix]

If they are normal good cops they will give you the car back the way it is and all your old parts that they found. Around here is the cop likes the rims enough he'll take them for his own car. Seen that happen a million times. I use to work for State Farm and Allstate recovering stolen vehicles. I would go to the police impound yard to pick a car up and see a GN or really clean Trans Am or something. Come back a few days later and it would be stripped! Right in the impound yard! You saw the car so they know you know what it looks like. Unless the real owner (if they can find someone who put in a claim for those rims being stolen) shows up and claims those rims they should leave them on the car.
The police would sometimes recover a car and call us to pick it up where it was. They recovered a 87 Monte SS (this was in 90) and State Farm contacted the owner a woman in her late 60's. Since the only problem with it was a broken column they had me tow it direct to her. I got to her home she came out and started crying. Yelling my baby! The thugs painted the car, changed the rims and tires, changed the entire color of the interior, and chromed up the engine bay. She hated it and I wound up towing it back to State Farm and they paid her for it. I know the look on your face when you saw your GN like that! Hopefully the cops will not rip you off and give you the car as is with your old parts so you can sell that crap and make a little money to repair it and get it back to normal. It's always good when they come back though!

 

[PaulBZ65]

There was a story here in Milwaukee last fall about a guy who owned a stock 90' Caprice which was stolen, naturally. They found it a few months later being driven with some 20" rims, new paint, fancy woodgrain steering wheel, exhaust and stereo system....go figure. No proof the parts were stolen so he got the car back as they found it. Worth probably twice more and he was going to sell it since it wasn't exactly his style(middle age or older guy). Kind of funny in a sad situation I guess.