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Criminals Steal Cars By Calling Tow Trucks
WSVM ^ | 02/15/2011 | WSVM

Posted on 02/15/2011 4:19:00 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Stealing cars has apparently never been easier. Criminals aren't using fancy tools or new technology; they're just calling the tow truck and having cars towed away.

They weren't asked for proof they owned the car.

The law does little to protect a car's owner when the vehicle is at least 10 years old. Thieves can call in a wrecker service and have it towed right out of an owner's yard; they don't even need a title.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsmv.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: autotheft; criminals; nashville; tennessee; theft; tn
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1 posted on 02/15/2011 4:19:03 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

nothing new-— 30 years ago at UCLA the thieves just brought the tow trucks over to the parking lots and trolled for the expensive ones


2 posted on 02/15/2011 4:23:44 PM PST by 1000 silverlings (everything that deceives, also enchants: Plato)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

I can’t think of a reason why the towing company couldn’t be sued...


3 posted on 02/15/2011 4:24:01 PM PST by wendy1946
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Hmm... Clever. I’ve had to utilize a towing service on a couple of occasions and just as the article stated, I never had to show any proof that I actually owned the car I was having towed. I don’t even recall showing any ID. I just gave the driver my name, address and a wad of $20 bills.


4 posted on 02/15/2011 4:25:12 PM PST by Gena Bukin
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To: wendy1946

The thief makes a fake bill of sale and shows a fake ID.


5 posted on 02/15/2011 4:25:57 PM PST by Leo Farnsworth (I'm not really Leo Farnsworth.)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Tow trucks and their companies are usually protected by local laws because they tow the vehicles that the government wants impounded. The police and courts also give them added protection

The way to stop this is for wrecker companies to be held civil and criminally responsible. If a wrecker tows a car in an attempt to steal it....the wrecker company and driver are charged with being accomplices. If I help someone steal a car, even if I do not profit or take possession of it...I can be charged of stealing....put the wreckers on the same rules


6 posted on 02/15/2011 4:26:09 PM PST by UCFRoadWarrior (Newt Gingrich and Chris Matthews: Seperated at Birth??)
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To: 1000 silverlings
Yep, happened to me in 1983 on a college campus. I was parked not 50 feet from where an old fart of a campus security officer was directing morning traffic.

They towed my car away (never to be seen again), and Officer Retard never even raised an eyebrow.

7 posted on 02/15/2011 4:26:51 PM PST by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: Leo Farnsworth

I have some friends that have called the tow truck to have their car towed home when they were too drunk to drive, AAA or their insurance covered it. They rode along in the cab.


8 posted on 02/15/2011 4:27:01 PM PST by Lachisula
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Pity the tow truck driver who pulls into my yard to steal one of my cars. If he is fortunate enough to leave in a vertical position, it will be on foot. The truck will remain in my yard.


9 posted on 02/15/2011 4:27:45 PM PST by pallis
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To: 1000 silverlings

I agree. This is old old news.
Winch em on a flatbed, load em in a container, and off to Mexico, Africa, or wherever.
My buddy had a Vette that disappeared from Detroit and was found in Hawaii - mid 1970s.


10 posted on 02/15/2011 4:28:22 PM PST by nascarnation
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To: nascarnation

lol, yes went to Hawaii in the 80’s, loved all the classic cars being driven everyday


11 posted on 02/15/2011 4:31:46 PM PST by 1000 silverlings (everything that deceives, also enchants: Plato)
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To: Charles Martel

lol, sorry, i guess you should have paid him every day to keep watch. my old car was worthless so i never had to worry


12 posted on 02/15/2011 4:33:24 PM PST by 1000 silverlings (everything that deceives, also enchants: Plato)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Remember that amazing footage 5 months back of that insane amount of military rifles, ammo, uniforms and vehicles they captured from a Mexican narco gang?

They ran the VINs of alllll those vehicles and EVERY ONE had been recently stolen from border areas of the USA.

They’re stealing benefits, ID’s, and selling us poison, sure we knew that, but they are not even buying their own vehicles with all that loot.

About 6 years back some ambitious reporter went over to a city-owned parking lot in Nuevo Laredo and ran VIN’s —almost each and every car there was stolen from the US. Oh! The lot belonged to the Mexican COPS there..! Those were police-owned vehicles, you see?

I’m serious.


13 posted on 02/15/2011 4:37:40 PM PST by gaijin
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

How the heck is this even legal????? When did theft stop having a statute of limitation?


14 posted on 02/15/2011 4:40:03 PM PST by pnh102 (Regarding liberalism, always attribute to malice what you think can be explained by stupidity. - Me)
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To: gaijin

You don’t want to own a black SUV in San Diego. The Mexican police/criminals love black SUV’s.


15 posted on 02/15/2011 4:46:26 PM PST by forgotten man (forgotten man)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Popular vaiant here in Anchorage.

I guy trolls apt parking lots looing for a car that masn’t been moved in a bit - say a week or so.
Uses a tow truck to pull it.
Puts it n storage - and charges $375/day ‘storage fee’
Gets a mechcanic lien title
Sells the car
Pockets the cash
All legal and the SOB is still at it.


16 posted on 02/15/2011 4:47:40 PM PST by ASOC (What are you doing now that Mexico has become OUR Chechnya?)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour; Salvation
This is done in Oregon all the time!!!
17 posted on 02/15/2011 4:48:51 PM PST by investigateworld (Free Traders don't need guns 'cause they know The Peoples Republic of China are their friends)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour
This is a slightly different turn than I've seen in the past.

Using a commercial towing service is a new innovation.

In the past, I've seen cases where the industrious car theif just buys a tow truck. If you own the truck, you just cruise around with your "shopping list" and look for your target vehicles and pick them up from parking lots. Usually people assume the tow truck guy belongs there. Unless the owner of the target car shows up, nobody even notices.

18 posted on 02/15/2011 4:53:09 PM PST by cc2k ( If having an "R" makes you conservative, does walking into a barn make you a horse's (_*_)?)
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To: Lachisula

“I have some friends that have called the tow truck to have their car towed home when they were too drunk to drive, AAA or their insurance covered it. They rode along in the cab.”

MUCH less expensive than the true costs of a DUI, even if YOU pay for it...I have friends who have “paid” for a DUI they got years earlier...


19 posted on 02/15/2011 5:03:18 PM PST by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: ASOC

bear food


20 posted on 02/15/2011 5:10:44 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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