Ask Officer Michelle – Question #398
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
Comment by TJetton
Posted on June 14, 2011 at 4:57 pm
A cousin of mine just had her car stolen and she was told by one of the officers that if it were found it they would ONLY call the tow company. And furthermore they said that she would have to call everyday just to find out if it has been found and towed. That contradicts what you stated above. Has the policy changed? Is the officer mentioned above mistaken?
Comment by Blog Moderator
Posted on June 15, 2011 at 2:11 pm
If a recovered vehicle is driveable, it is the general practice of Sac PD to try to reach the owner. Not every agency will necessarily do this. It is a customer service we try to provide. Sometimes we aren’t successful in reaching people especially when it’s the middle of the night or we don’t have a good number. Remember too, a vehicle may be stolen in the city, but recovered by different agency.