Posted on 03/29/2017 9:08:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Damein Nelson says he was put in a scary situation, one that landed him in the back of police patrol car.
“I was confused at first, but then again I was scared because I had my 1 year-old son in the car,” he said.
Damein's father, James, immediately thought the worst.
“They pulled him at gun point,” he said. “That's the first thing I heard.”
He was cuffed and stuffed in front of his little boy, even though he didn't do anything wrong!
Officers though couldn't know that at the time.
“They believed they were pulling over a car that had been stolen,” said Oklahoma City Police Master Sergeant Gary Knight.
When they ran the VIN number it came back stolen out of Arlington, Texas.
The only reason officers didn't haul Damein off to jail was because he was able to prove he owned the pick-up.
“He did everything right in this case. He was pulled over by police,” Master Sgt. Knight said. “He complied with what the police told him to do because they believed they were pulling over a car with felons inside of it.”
Here's where things don't add up.
Damien had already been in possession of the pick-up for about a month when it was reported stolen out of Texas.
He purchased it from this used dealership in Oklahoma City last November.
“They kept saying the car wasn't stolen,” James said. “They had to investigate it and see what was going on.”
Crossroads Auto Mall General Manager Chad Pennington tells the In Your Corner team there's no way they sold Damein a hot set of wheels from Texas since the pick-up had been in their possession in Oklahoma for the last four years.
“The timeline there's no way it could have even went to Texas, cycled back through that way and been stolen,” Pennington said.
We spent weeks on the phone with authorities in Oklahoma and Texas.
The Arlington dealership that reported the pick-up stolen was no help, because they're out of business now.
Oklahoma City detectives though were able to make a break in the case and confirm the stolen car report was bogus all along.
“Apparently [there was] a miscommunication in Texas somewhere. The vehicle ended up being reported stolen, however it had been up here in the hands of the dealership for quite a long time at that point,” Master Sgt. Knight said. “It was an either an error made or miscommunication of some kind in Texas, which led to this traffic stop in December.
Damein hadn't transferred the title to his name yet, so police released the pick-up to Chad and Crossroads since technically they still owned it, and then Crossroads worked out a new agreement with Damein.
“[We] took everything that he had paid on the truck, let him come out and pick up another car and we applied everything to the other vehicle,” Chad said.
Damein is no longer having to bum rides to get to and from work.
He’s leaving what happened in the past and instead focusing on what's in front of him right now.
There is still no word from the now defunct Arlington dealership.
Damein learned to transfer a vehicle title in a timely manner.
...needs to sue the dealer. Bet that is why they worked so quickly to replace the car. Wonder if the dealer was cause of the delayed registration.
.
>> “Damein learned to transfer a vehicle title in a timely manner.” <<
Nope!
It is the dealer’s job.
He should sue the dealer.
.
.
Correct.
Anyone who named their kid “Damien” after 1976 is an idiot.
A good example of why, even when there is a mistake, you don’t “go ghetto” and try to run, or start fighting with police.
That is a sure way to turn a small problem into a big problem.
Did you read the last line of the article?
Sorry...I didn’t catch the word “Arlington”.
Evidence? Who cares about evidence? Give him 263 years!
There’s at least one saint named Damien, why should some stupid movie ruin that?
At least they had the excuse first. Sometimes with bad cops they come up with the excuse later.
Reminds me of the cases where people are erroneously reported deceased but are in fact alive. It causes a whole lot of hurt and it takes quite a bit of effort to clear up.
Sounded like he was paying installments on the vehicle. They wouldn’t release the title until he’d paid it off.
I had an officer treat me with suspicion one day leaving work because I’d slowed down to let him get ahead of me (instead of seeing him trapped in traffic behind a bus). He waved me on and then ran my plates.
He pulled me over in the next block because he said that the plates didn’t match “the make of the car” even though they were as issued from the dealership (used Olds car from I think a Cadillac dealership). I’d owned the car for 5 years at that point and had renewed and had inspections (and even traffic citations) without issue.
He was suspicious of the clothes in the back seat of my car and asked if I was sleeping in my vehicle (I was not) and when he sent me on my way he told me to “be careful next time”. In short, he was a dick.
innocent until proven guilty
drawing a loaded weapon on a innocent american is wrong
Damein learned to transfer a vehicle title in a timely manner.
I also learned, abut 25 years ago, to turn in my sellers report of sale. I sold a car to a guy and then went to Disneyland with my family. Two weeks later, I come back to find out I owe money for storage of the car because the buyer did not transfer title, and was broadsided by the Seattle dinner train.
Fortunately, the car got a good price at auction and I was only out $50. It was a 1966 Dodge Polaris station wagon in really good shape (other than the severe crash damage.
But wait! There’s more!
Because I’m very cynical about companies that contract with large cities to tow and store cars, I showed up in person, paid cash, and insisted on a receipt for the amount. And sure enough, several months later I got a collection notice for the unpaid fee ($50 with huge penalties attached). The receipt was all it took to clear it up.
You really have to watch your back in this world. The system is corrupt.
The State of Idaho makes it easy for you. It's actually attached to the bottom of the Title. If/when you sell the car (if you're the title holder, and not the bank), you simply fill in and detach the notice, pay something like $3 (it's very much worth it), and send it in to the state. It releases your liability as of the date of sale (not the date they receive it).
New Mexico has an online form you can fill out. Also, take the plates, unless, for some reason, your state requires the plates to stay with the car (IIRC, California is like that, or was, for several years).
I just trade in cars nowadays. I buy them new, and trade them in, usually for about $500, because I ride ‘em hard and put ‘em away wet (VERY high mileage and almost certainly in need of major repairs).
I hate selling used cars to private parties.
CRY BABY WHINER USING A 1 YEAR OLD WHO WON’T REMEMBER A THING THE NEXT DAY. THEY BARELY ARE SAYING DA-DA OR MA-MA AT THAT STAGE. They are still in diapers. Not even enough memory for potty training..that comes at 2 or later depending on the child and the adult doing the training.
Raised 3 boys, have 7 grands, 5 g-grands. And had puppies to potty train and teach manners, still working on the 3 yr old Morkie 12 lb, who is extremely excitable looking for attention from any who enters the house. She is not a bitter thankfully,I cured that the first month. Nor does she potty in the house, she tells you she needs out. Not that she lacks attention, she is after all a lapdog and sleeps on my lap when we watch TV. Or between us on the couch.
What would’ve been the problem if you had slept in your car? My son is in a band, and when they tour, sometimes they have to pull into a rest stop and catch a few hours of rest before the next gig.
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