Stolen bike, hidden storage charges.

[ACECAFE]

G'Day Chris, those shits stole my bike too on Friday night. I caught two of them on the act and identified them to police and thats how they found other bikes. My bike is still missing and I am trying to find out more information. Do you mind if I get your phone # or e-mail address? Wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the fucks. Thanks mate. Merry x-mas

[mstriumph]

it seems really unfair .... it was stored for the convenience of the police, i don't see how that's your fault

have a word with the police you dealt with

hope it didn't ruin your festivities too much ...... sometimes life sucks

[car]

G'Day Chris, those shits stole my bike too on Friday night. I caught two of them on the act and identified them to police and thats how they found other bikes.

Good work. I owe you a beer.

My bike is still missing and I am trying to find out more information. Do you mind if I get your phone # or e-mail address? Wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the fucks. Thanks mate. Merry x-mas

PM'd. That sucks, though, not having yours back. Mine's unrideable, but as has been suggested, better to be grateful that it's back than pissed about anything else. And I'd no clue that this was anything other than an idle opportune theft. Two little DRs as well? Weird. Maybe they're easier to punt on, too common, or commonly ridden but not registered. Two's not much of a statistic, I suppose.

[car]

it seems really unfair .... it was stored for the convenience of the police, i don't see how that's your fault

have a word with the police you dealt with

hope it didn't ruin your festivities too much ...... sometimes life sucks

I was pissed off at the time, but the farther away it gets, the more I think I'm probably mistaking anger at being robbed with anger over some minor snafu over tow charges. Annoying, yes; end of the world, no.

I might have another frosty cold one -- it's my birthday in 19 minutes.

[Anarkist]

you probably wont get the bike back without paying as you already know, and good luck getting any reparations.
nate got done for 'sustained loss of traction' when the cops saw him go sideways around a corner on a rainy day -not his fault, something (i expect diesel) on the road and it kicked the arse out. he was probably lucky that he had the skill to keep it on the road and power out of it.
car went into impound and he lost his licence for 28 days. court case came up, he explained the deal, case was dropped due to lack of evidence to support he had provoked it, and that the car wasn't exeactly capable of 'burnouts and sideways driving'.
cops refused to pay the almost $1000 tow and storage fees, and he didn't even go into loss of earngins and shit like that. he pretty much had to jsut suck it up and get over it.
lucky yours is only $300 and you got your bike back maybe

Dude, that sounds exactly like what happened to me.

I was driving passed a spot where the illegal drags were on in my car (not attending) and the cops were there, but I thought nothing of it. A week or so later I arrived home to a letter from the police saying they'd witnessed my car doing burnouts and were charging me with 'Sustained Loss of Traction'. Two days afterward three cops and a tow truck turned up and took my car out of my driveway and served me with an impoundment notice rendering me no way of getting to work for the next month until it came out of impound. Furthermore they served me with a subpoena to appear in court on the charges.

I went to the extent of proving my car wasn't capable of the claimed 30m wheelspin and clouds of smoke by having a local rally driver try and do what they claimed in their statement while we filmed it and prepared it to be shown in court as my primary form of defence. My car at the time was a FWD Toyota Levin (with not much more than 120hp) which had alloy wheels and fatter tyres than standard. It struggled to spin them in the wet, let alone a decent skid in dry.

After incurring the cost of above mentioned filming, and lawyer costs I showed up in court feeling pretty confident about my defence only to have them drop the charges due to lack of evidence!

What did it cost me? Fees for paying the rally drivers time, lawyer fees and court costs not to mention 30 days in the impound and the tow truck fees and alternative transport to work (30km in each direction). I wondered whether it was worth attempting to get the money off them but he said it was probably cheaper to leave it than risk them trying to change their mind and go ahead with the charges.

Sometimes it's unbelievable the things that happen, and the ridiculous costs an innocent person has to pay just because that's the way it is. I fully sympathise with anyone in this situation who truly doesn't deserve it.

[imne1]

I was pissed off at the time, but the farther away it gets, the more I think I'm probably mistaking anger at being robbed with anger over some minor snafu over tow charges...

dont pay, take it up with the police complaints authority. no way you should be held liable for those fees. you're not the guilty party.

Dude, that sounds exactly like what happened to me..... After incurring the cost of above mentioned filming, and lawyer costs I showed up in court feeling pretty confident about my defence only to have them drop the charges due to lack of evidence! ... What did it cost me? Fees for paying the rally drivers time, lawyer fees and court costs not to mention 30 days in the impound and the tow truck fees and alternative transport to work (30km in each direction).

you should also lodge a complaint with the PCA, failing that go at the attorney general (go talk to your lawyer about it). they should have to pay all of your costs as well as bus fare or whatever for the month you were without your ride and any loss of earnings from time off you needed to deal with the mess they created.

[Patrick]

They can make mistakes, but when they do they should be punished with demerits and fines... E.g If a cop issues a speeding ticket or a lane splitting ticket and if it gets taken to court and the defendant wins, the cop should have the same demerits reflected to his own license and/or pay the fine himself... then well c the no of bs tickets reduce in a hurry!!! neeeaaaahhhahahah foolish pigs...

Don't worry. They don't win. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

this is the way it should work in a sane country

Thiefs steal bike
Police find bike
Police tow bike back and store it AND PAY FOR IT.
Police then charge the thief with fine+jail+towage fees.

Absolutely. And while you're at it, any reparation ordered by the court gets paid out by the Justice Dept. They then set loose the bloodhounds (fines enforcement) to recover any and all monies... plus interest!!!!

...After incurring the cost of above mentioned filming, and lawyer costs I showed up in court feeling pretty confident about my defence only to have them drop the charges due to lack of evidence!

What did it cost me? Fees for paying the rally drivers time, lawyer fees and court costs not to mention 30 days in the impound and the tow truck fees and alternative transport to work (30km in each direction). I wondered whether it was worth attempting to get the money off them but he said it was probably cheaper to leave it than risk them trying to change their mind and go ahead with the charges.

Sometimes it's unbelievable the things that happen, and the ridiculous costs an innocent person has to pay just because that's the way it is. I fully sympathise with anyone in this situation who truly doesn't deserve it.

I suggest you use a telephone and try "talking." To the officer in charge of the case or the prosecutor even. It is free.

An interesting concept, but "talking" can produce outstanding results, and mounts up no costs whatsover.

dont pay, take it up with the police complaints authority. no way you should be held liable for those fees. you're not the guilty party.

you should also lodge a complaint with the PCA, failing that go at the attorney general (go talk to your lawyer about it). they should have to pay all of your costs as well as bus fare or whatever for the month you were without your ride and any loss of earnings from time off you needed to deal with the mess they created.

Just contact the Sergeant or Senior Sergeant in Charge and discuss your concerns over the costs that the "Police" racked up for the storage. No need to spend more on "lawyer fees" or generating unnecessary paperwork when a short visit in person (coz its better than a phone call) can resolve it.

Or put it through the complicator if ya like... just takes months longer to sort.

[Ixion]

Whilst feeling for the OP, who has the annoyance of the fees added to the stress of the theft, one cannot but feel that the police are betwixt a rock and a hard place.

They turn over Loser Larry's flop.There's a bike there. This your mudaboike? Nah, bro, I done stoled it. Oh, well then you're arresticated.

Now, once Larry is hauled off to the cells , what are they to do with the bike? Leave it where it is ? In which case Larry's bros will be off with it right smart. Moreover they need to get it fingerprinted, cos in court Larry will swear he's never seen it before and someone else left it there.

So, they take it back to the station, or wherever. Now, Tom the Towie is going to expect to get paid for the job. So, someone must pay him. The police could well argue , Why should we pay ? We are doing you a favour as it is , we could have left your bike at Larry's and you could kiss good bye to it. We've already done you good by recovering it. And we need to fingerprint it (which inevitably will take some time) cos otherwise Larry will walk free. Which is bad for everybody.

If the cops hung on to it for weeks, well, that's another matter. But the cost of the tow, and , say, one day's storeage? Seems to me that's just something that the poor victim has to suck up. Unfair? Yes, it is. But havig the bike stolen in the first place was unfair. The unfair just continues a bit. The real problem is not the police it's the limp wristed judges who won't order reparations for such expenses that the crooks put us to.

[Patrick]

For the OP...

Just re-read this thread... You are covered by insurance, so you supply the wrongdoers details to them and they recover ALL costs. This includes your excess. You lose nothing in cash and your no claims remains intact. Speak to the insuerer.

[roy.nz]

Fight it plus make them pay you some interest for the stuffing you aroung part.