Driver forced to pay £150 after police remove his car 'to stop it being stolen'

[The Straight Story]

Driver forced to pay £150 after police remove his car 'to stop it being stolen'
A driver was forced to pay £150 to get his car back after police confiscated it because he left a window open.

Marcus Morris was told that police they had taken his VW Polo because the open window - which he had accidentally left down - meant the vehicle was at risk of theft.

Mr Morris, 25, had parked the car near to Leeds city centre as he went for a job interview but returned an hour-and-a-half later to find it had gone.


He contacted West Yorkshire Police believing it had been stolen but was told they had removed it to protect it from thieves.

Mr Morris, said: "I couldn't believe it. It seems outrageous.

"So what if I had left my window open? If anything had been taken then it'd have been my own fault."

...

West Yorkshire Police said it made no apology for taking action. Chief Insp Elizabeth Belton said: "Officers regularly patrol our communities looking for opportunities to prevent crime, which is exactly what has happened on this occasion.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7786622/Driver-forced-to-pay-150-after-police-remove-his-car-to-stop-it-being-stolen.html

[Art_from_Ark]

1. That sounds like something out of a Monty Python sketch

I can just picture John Cleese as the police constable, and Eric Idle as the man whose car was prevented from being stolen.

[demwing]

4. Or the movie National Treasure

"The fact is the only way to protect the declaration the car is to steal it. It's upside-down"

[old mark]

2. My empathy-my old Chevy was stolen...the cops found it still running

in an alley about 1 mile from where it was taken...They KNEW who stole it (He lived right near where it was found, stole cars regularly) He evidently was drinking at a bar near where I lived and didn't want to walk home in the rain...

The cops would not tell me the guys name so I could not retaliate on him, and I had to pay to get my car out of the police impound, pay for the tow, and pay to get a new license plate immediately since the number was on the stolen car list. Total was over $650. He also destroyed the steering column by popping the lock to steal the car, and it would not pass state inspection so I sold it for junk. I paid about $300 for the car, put over $900 in parts and work into it, got about $80 for it.
The law fucked ME while the theif got away clean and dry.

I know how that guy feels....

mark

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. " Police kidnap car, hold it for ransom" is more appropriate.

or
"Police fined citizen for being "maybe" a victim of crime".

[jody]

5. Makes sense in a society that demands gov protect & provide everything from cradle to grave.n/t

[enlightenment]

8. Which society would that be? It's not the British one . . .

or were you just using this story for a Libertarian rant?

[jody]

10. ROFL Visit the Political Compass, I stand with Gandhi. Where are you on the compass?

http://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2

[Angry Dragon]

6. They could not just roll up the window and lock the car??

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. IMO, if they did it as a service there should be no charge for the service.

Otherwise, it was THEY who stole the car and held it for ransom.

[Bitwit1234]

9. Not necessarily just think of this.

My sister had her car stolen. It was locked and the windows WERE rolled up. The police finally located it in a bad section of Baltimore under a bridge. She was FINED for having a vehicle in disrepair parked on a public street.
They charged her for towing. And she got tickets for all this. Of course the insurance partially reimbursed her for the car. But she had to pay most of the cost of the new car she had to buy because hers was beyond repair because most main parts were stripped. How do you like that. And they wouldn't forgive the tickets. Or the points on her license.