Hit and runs A-OK in Tulsa!

[tulsavw]

yeah, i guess i lurked around long enough here that I actually thought I'd posted before...  hmmm.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by tulsavw

yup, its tough trying to find time for violent crimes with all the speeders that must be brought to justice!

Yea.  I know what you mean.  Never mind people lose more property through wrecks then all other crimes combined 10 fold.  Never mind 3 times more people get killed in collisions then are murdered.

Police got better things to do.

[MDepr2007]

quote:Originally posted by tulsavw

yup, its tough trying to find time for violent crimes with all the speeders that must be brought to justice!

There are a lot of criminals brought down because of speeding.  Then they get back out too soon because of the liberal thinking law makers in this State. Including ex TPD officer Lucky Lamons

[Hoss]

quote:Originally posted by MDepr2007

quote:Originally posted by tulsavw

yup, its tough trying to find time for violent crimes with all the speeders that must be brought to justice!

There are a lot of criminals brought down because of speeding.  Then they get back out too soon because of the liberal thinking law makers in this State. Including ex TPD officer Lucky Lamons

Care to back that up?

[deinstein]

quote:Originally posted by MDepr2007

quote:Originally posted by tulsavw

yup, its tough trying to find time for violent crimes with all the speeders that must be brought to justice!

There are a lot of criminals brought down because of speeding.  Then they get back out too soon because of the liberal thinking law makers in this State. Including ex TPD officer Lucky Lamons

Look at the nearest window as you read this....

See that flying out of the window? It's your credibility.

[tim huntzinger]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur


Yea.  I know what you mean.  Never mind people lose more property through wrecks then all other crimes combined 10 fold.  Never mind 3 times more people get killed in collisions then are murdered.

Police got better things to do.

Sooooo when a dude basically almost kills someone, maybe high on crack or crunk, and there is a tag and vehicle description and the area of town the suspect fled, what could be more important? And to think this happens eight times a day, 250 times a month, about 3000 times evidence like a tag and vehicle ID are gathered and unused in our fair town.  Strange days indeed!

What is the point of enforcing traffic laws then? If the point is to head off a tragedy before it occurs I would think that once a hit-and-run accident has occurred finding that perp should take a higher priority than hustling commuters for a ticket.

Do we need to ratchet up the penalty or start paying individual ossifers cash for catching people? Both?

[flybriz]

Sorry everyone, didn't mean to throw a topic out there and then duck out for four days.  Kinda like a forum version of a hit and run, don't you think? []

The idea of an illegal alien being the hit and run driver is certainly a reasonable theory - that and no insurance.  Certainly would prompt certain individuals to get away as fast as possible.

And thank you for understanding the sarcasm in my comment about condoning hit and runs.

I know that hit and runs are a dime a dozen - and believe me we're all very thankful that all that was ruined was a car.  It could have been way worse - and is for many people.  I guess I thought that having a tag number would have been a magic bullet.  After reading your posts, I see now that it's really meaningless.  I will say though on a side note, I'm selling my house and a title issue came up last week - Some lady's name I'd never heard of was on the title due to a clerical error.  The title company said it would take a few days to find her, but in one evening on the interweb I found her new married name, her address in Missouri, her home phone number, her cell phone number, and spoke to her in person while she was on vacation in Chicago.  I was able to get all of this info from people search websites starting only with her first and last name, and my current home address as a reference point (even though she's never lived here).  I guess if I would have had her tag number instead it would have been an improbable search.  Viva la informacion!

[tim huntzinger]

How pathetic we are.  Talk about lowering the bar! All the lame excuses. 'Probably a Mexcan, anyway.' 'Couldn't prove it, anyway.' ' These things happen all the time.' 'Could've been worse.' 'We are too busy.'  What absolute unmitigated bullcrap.  Unacceptable. Frightening to see the Slide Toward Hell greased so quickly and efficiently by such apathy.

[Chuck-Davis]

Your mother might try running the tag number through OTC for registered owner and also pursuing through OPS, ultimately it "might" (should) from a insuance prospective

Her insurance agent might (should anyway) be helpful in locating the drive away driver, they have day to day access and familarity with the system

The system is far from perfect and just *****ing about don't help anyone

[cannon_fodder]

I would hope they at least looked into it.  If it was not the low-hanging fruit that we think it is, I could understand not spending more time on it.  Perhaps this all (the discussion) could have been avoided with a bit of detail in the letter (after a precursory review the tags do not match the car, therefor the lead is of little value... or something).

BUT, I will back up the fact that many criminals are brought down because of simple traffic violations.  Most criminals act nervous or flat out try to run when being pulled over by the police.  Probably 50% of the drug busts and outstanding warrants are filled by traffic stops.  Don't you people ever watch cops.  []
- - -

Side story:

When I first moved to Tulsa I was exiting the BA at Harvard.  I saw a red pickup run the light and plow into a the rear quarter panel of a Civic.  The bumper fell of the truck, glass shatter, the whole works.  It was a hard hit.

After a moment, the red truck sped away.  Instinct kicked in and I tried to get the plate.  He accelerated into the neighborhood towards ~25th and Marion.  In my stupidity I followed (overzealous).  There is a dead end back in there, which he went into.  I stopped behind him, he hopped out and ran away on foot - the truck (still running) idled forward into a post at the dead end.

I had a neighbor (who was looking on with "pancakes" all over his face) call 911.

The cops came and questioned/chastised me.  When they searched the truck they found a room key to a hotel.  When the search on the plates came back, it was a stolen truck.

I told the cops about the accident, they said it had not been reported.  I had to affirm that there indeed WAS an accident.  A cop followed me to the intersection which was still strewn with glass and various car parts; we pulled into the funeral home lot and there sat the Civic.  All banged up.

Clearly thinking it was strange to be hit and not reported/sticking around they called in that car's plates.  It didn't belong to that car.  They called in the VIN and the car had been reported stolen.

What are the odds?

(for those in the know, yes.  That was the same intersection I got shot at.  Very strange)

[flybriz]

Chuck - Good idea.  We may do some investigation on our own.  Time and my attention span have both been at a record low this month with selling and buying a house, my wife's job in jeopardy at SemGroup, and some other recent events.  The insurance company received the info about the truck too.  They seemed disinterested.  They just wrote a check to total the car and closed the books.

Cannon, agreed too that more detail in the TPD letter could put this situation in a different light.  I'll grab a scan of it next time I'm over there but over the phone it sounded very terse with zero detail on the nature of the case closing.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by Chuck-Davis

Your mother might try running the tag number through OTC for registered owner and also pursuing through OPS, ultimately it "might" (should) from a insuance prospective

Her insurance agent might (should anyway) be helpful in locating the drive away driver, they have day to day access and familarity with the system

The system is far from perfect and just *****ing about don't help anyone

If you file a claim with your insurance company, your insurance company then has permission to run the tag number and go after the OWNER in order to fix your car.  Since insurance goes with the car and not the driver, it won't matter who was driving, it's the car's insurance who fixes your car.

Remember, two different things at work here.  Police have to identify a driver in order to prosecute the criminal side.  Your insurance company only has to go after the insurance to get your car fixed for the civil side.

[tim huntzinger]

quote:Originally posted by flybriz

Chuck - Good idea.  We may do some investigation on our own.  Time and my attention span have both been at a record low this month with selling and buying a house, my wife's job in jeopardy at SemGroup, and some other recent events.  The insurance company received the info about the truck too.  They seemed disinterested.  They just wrote a check to total the car and closed the books.

Cannon, agreed too that more detail in the TPD letter could put this situation in a different light.  I'll grab a scan of it next time I'm over there but over the phone it sounded very terse with zero detail on the nature of the case closing.

Yeah well let this be a lesson to you before you go popping off with some unwarranted negative yapping about T-town! SHAME on you! EVERYONE knows the correct answer is 'Mom, SOMEONE says they got a tag number and a vehicle ID.  250 cars are totalled like yours EVERY MONTH in town and in EVERY CASE they have a tag and vehicle ID.  It was probably a penniless illegal Mexcan anyway, and besides, you did not die did you? Yeah, a terse letter? Mom, what did you want, flowers?'

[Wilbur]

quote:...250 cars are totalled like yours EVERY MONTH in town and in EVERY CASE they have a tag and vehicle ID....

Wrong!  Unless you'd like to post your source.

I realize facts shouldn't get in the way of a great conspiracy theory.

Extremely few result in totaled cars.  If there is enough energy to total one car, it will normally result in just as much damage to the other car, preventing it from leaving the scene.

Many hit and runs are minor scratches in parking lots with no witnesses.  The only thing to go on is the paint color left by the paint transfer.

Most with tag numbers get solved and prosecuted, but not all.

[tim huntzinger]

Lemme see, where did I put that conspiracy theory . . . hmmm . . . nope can not find it.

I was just busting chops on your initial statement.  Sounded like you meant Briz's mum's deal was the sort of thing that happens everyday when to most it seemed fairly unusual. Sort of like saying in response to the baby-labrador situation 'dog bites happen all the time' to the family.