So, the police stole my buddies car trailer...

[Sean88gt]

So much for "innocent until proven guilty". Civil asset forfeiture = Prove you're not guilty. Kind of like Sean calling everyone who disagreed with him a child molester and demanding they provide proof that they aren't. Only his had no legal consequences other than slander.

The other Sean, I presume?

[bcoop]

The other Sean, I presume?

Yep.

[Shorty]

What is the evidence that the trailer was originally stolen before being puchased by the coaches? It is referenced in the article but not expanded upon.

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I think they were able to locate the VIN somewhere else on the trailer? It was stolen years ago and insurance paid out. Insurance company and the previous owner didn't want it so the police kept it to auction off. Sorry it's been a while since this was a big issue on DORBA and I don't have a photographic memory like slow99.

[Broncojohnny]

I think they were able to locate the VIN somewhere else on the trailer? It was stolen years ago and insurance paid out. Insurance company and the previous owner didn't want it so the police kept it to auction off. Sorry it's been a while since this was a big issue on DORBA and I don't have a photographic memory like slow99.

Or they just said "prove it isn't stolen" then ran it through a kangaroo court process. I find it hard to believe that 75% of the trailers they pull over with no VIN were stolen. However I have no problem believing that they declare 75% of them stolen and the owners can't prove otherwise.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Or they just said "prove it isn't stolen" then ran it through a kangaroo court process. I find it hard to believe that 75% of the trailers they pull over with no VIN were stolen. However I have no problem believing that they declare 75% of them stolen and the owners can't prove otherwise.

exactly.

[Shorty]

Here's a story that gives better detail on the mountain bike team's trailer: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro...ce-custody.ece

Dallas high school bike team’s trailer in police custody

By CLAIRE Z. CARDONA ccardona@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer
Published: 07 July 2015 10:42 PM
Updated: 07 July 2015 10:42 PM

What started as a drive home from a high school mountain bike competition ended in a confiscated trailer and possible criminal charges against the team’s coach.

Members of the Dallas High School Composite mountain bike team were returning from Comfort in April when the two coaches were pulled over by Alvarado police for having the wrong registration tags for the trailer.

The officer determined the vehicle identification number had been purposely scratched off, an indicator of stolen property. The trailer was impounded after the coaches unloaded thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment. At a hearing June 8, a judge awarded the trailer to Alvarado police, who plan to auction it.

“There’s absolutely no way that I would’ve known” it was stolen, said Tyler Hancock of Allen, head coach and team director.

Hancock said he got the 16-foot trailer in September from his friend Grady Pace, a Plano man with a similar passion for mountain biking who wanted to support the team.

Pace said nothing seemed amiss when he purchased the trailer for $2,100 in 2010 from a man through a Craigslist ad. He said it appeared to have been in an accident and that several parts of the frame and hitch, where the VIN usually is located, had been replaced.

“The price was honestly not the best,” Pace said. “But it fit my needs, so it wasn’t like red flag signals were going off that this was probably not on the up-and-up.”

Pace later installed custom upgrades such as a shower, a kitchenette and rooftop solar panels.

When he no longer needed the trailer, Pace said, he donated the bulk of the cost — about $2,000 — as a charitable contribution. Hancock gave him $500.

Alvarado Police Chief Brad Anderson said Hancock admitted the trailer didn’t look homemade, as the registration indicated, and that Hancock changed his story about how much he paid for the trailer, from $2,000 to $500. Anderson said the trailer should have cost $4,000 to $5,000, and should have been registered as a manufactured trailer.

“It leads us to believe that he might have not known it was stolen, but he might as well put his head in the sand and continued to illegally register it and think no one would stop him or call him on it,” Anderson said.

He said the department is considering charges against Hancock, including a felony count of tampering with the trailer’s VIN and a misdemeanor count of failing to properly register.

Hancock said that when he took ownership of the trailer in 2014, he registered it with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles as a standard nontitled vehicle, as it had been since 2006. When he handed the department the paperwork he’d received in the sale, there were no issues.

The trailer was awarded to Alvarado police because the original owner who had it stolen had moved to Florida and did not want it, and the insurance company had paid off the claim.

Though Hancock owns the trailer, Anderson said he “is a suspect in the possession of stolen property case.” He said that because the mountain bike team is not affiliated with a school district or the University Interscholastic League, there was no one else to turn the trailer over to.

The Dallas High School Composite Team, a local chapter of the Texas High School Mountain Bike League, was formed in 2014 and comprises a dozen kids from around Dallas.

Steve Jumes, a Fort Worth civil asset forfeiture attorney, said there is not a lot of recourse for the coaches.

If the original owner wanted the trailer back, “it would be sad for the coaches, but at least it makes sense,” he said.

He questioned why police or the city should get the trailer.

“Because the cop pulled the right guy over?” he said.

Since the team lost the trailer, Hancock said, they are basically back where they started — hauling gear in the back of a pickup.

“It’s been a huge setback,” he said.

The team planned to bid on their old trailer at the auction using money from a GoFundMe campaign started by Hancock’s friend Jason Falk. But that “leaves a bad taste in everybody’s mouth,” Falk said.

Instead, members hope to spend the money on a new trailer. They have raised about $2,300 toward their $5,000 goal.

[Broncojohnny]

I wouldn't believe a word that comes out of the police chief's mouth about any of this because his department gets money from it. I do like him trying to blame the guy who is out taking his time to mentor young folks though. I guess if he can steal from a Cub Scout troop he'll do that next.

No really he "Moved to Florida" lol

[Shorty]

Oh, I think they are a bunch of jack booted thugs and full of shit. I'm not advocating for police theft under whatever guise they claim.

[Whiteboy2.0]

Or they just said "prove it isn't stolen" then ran it through a kangaroo court process. I find it hard to believe that 75% of the trailers they pull over with no VIN were stolen. However I have no problem believing that they declare 75% of them stolen and the owners can't prove otherwise.

If it's like 99% of the trailers I've every seen, after so many years of setting out in the Texas weather, the VIN is usually rusted, corroded or just fallen off.

[Broncojohnny]

If it's like 99% of the trailers I've every seen, after so many years of setting out in the Texas weather, the VIN is usually rusted, corroded or just fallen off.

In Alvarado that is known as stolen.

[racrguy]

So much for "innocent until proven guilty". Civil asset forfeiture = Prove you're not guilty. Kind of like Sean calling everyone who disagreed with him a child molester and demanding they provide proof that they aren't. Only his had no legal consequences other than slander.

What we have here is an analogy recognition failure.

[kingjason]

What is the evidence that the trailer was originally stolen before being puchased by the coaches? It is referenced in the article but not expanded upon.

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There are some very unique identifiers on trailers that most people don't know about. Probably why that one from above had a new tongue on it. That is why a lot of the meth heads that steal them cut them up and sell them for scrap. Orrrr sell them with no title off of a random street corner or craigslist add. I have seen a 40ft Hallmark loaded down with 30k in tools, stolen from Kansas, recovered the next day in Dallas, being sold on craigslist, with a home made tag on it.

Also if it is sold at auction, I believe they will be issued some paper work and a new VIN will be assigned to it.

[kingjason]

If it's like 99% of the trailers I've every seen, after so many years of setting out in the Texas weather, the VIN is usually rusted, corroded or just fallen off.

Some have a damn sticker on them as a VIN. I would etch my VIN into the frame A.S.A.P. Besides, even if your VIN fell off, you would still have the proper plate to it and current registration, and title at the house I hope.

[Jose]

Some have a damn sticker on them as a VIN. I would etch my VIN into the frame A.S.A.P. Besides, even if your VIN fell off, you would still have the proper plate to it and current registration, and title at the house I hope.

Ya when I bought a trailer from Lowes the VIN was a sticker. If I hadn't taken extra care of it, sucker would have been lost a long time ago.

[SSMAN]

I got news for you guys, a lot of cities are doing this now days. We have a commercial vehicle lot that has all kinds of trailers in it. Big business. I have a trailer my brother bought new in Alabama that he gave me. Said he would have to look for the title. I said I would just register it as a home made. Been that way for 10 yrs. Guess that could cause me some shit