Need APD LEO Help: Grand Theft Auto case

[Se7en62]

Confronting a possible Grand Theft Auto suspect since APD isnt interested...

Context: Monday night during the big storms, a friend of mine had his brand new 2014 VW CC R-Line ($36,000 car) stolen from out front of his apartment near Slaughter/Manchaca.

After the police report and all, he searched and sear h classifieds and has now found a guy nearby selling his tablet PC that was in the car when it was stolen. He has contacted the authorities about this and they have done nothing.

Tonight, he has managed to set a meeting up as a prospective buyer for the tablet at 9pm. Again, no law enforcement is interested.

I advised him to simply talk to an on duty LEO about it and have them accompany him or do a little sting from around the corner or something. Not sure if that's SOP, but it seems that APD has no interest in actually catching these guys even when they are dumb enough to sell the goods on craigslist.

My request now is for an APD LEO to either give some advise, or even come help tonight. I don't want this guy to knife or shoot my friend if he asks him where his car is. I'm also under the impression that the guy cannot be held unwillingly without risking illegal confinement charges or the like.

Please advise and thank you in advance.

 

[TAZ]

Setting up a meeting with a person you believe to be a felon is a BAD idea. What possible positive outcome does he think will come from that?

It's a property crime. Not surprising that APD or any other PD would have low priority on it.

 

[Se7en62]

...and this is why criminals run rampant while Law Abiding Citizens loose more and more rights as time goes by.

It wasn't even my car, and I am outraged as how it's being dealt with by APD. 100 years ago, if you stole a man's horse, you were hung in public as a horse theif.

 

[Se7en62]

I'm really looking for active APD LEO's to chime in on this will truly relevant advice.

I know meeting a felon at night, even in a public place is a bad idea. I'm not for it, but what is he suppose to do: chalk it up as a loss, let his insurance handle it, and walk on by without a car? If he doesn't have gap insurance he is going to be liable for about $10k worth of depreciation value. Again...how is this not a priority for APD?

 

[Saltyag2010]

Good luck.

 

[TexMex247]

Hmm. Good luck with this one. I had a similar situation years ago when I owned a motorcycle shop. The APD makes virtually no effort when it comes to property crime. This was my story http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/...38-stolen-cc-used-buy-scooter-urban-moto.html. Meeting the perp FTF sounds like a risky idea however, it might be worth it to show up, show no interest in the item and record plates/description of perps as best as you can. We virtually had to arrest the guy ourselves who used a stolen CC to buy a bike.

 

[Se7en62]

Unreal. It really puts citizens at a greater risk when we have to do the job of the guys our taxes pay to enforce the law.

 

[grasshopperglock]

How does he know the tablets his?

 

[Se7en62]

Here's the deal:
Car was stolen Monday night with tablet inside.
Tablet was posted for sale Tuesday.
Seller of tablet has it listed WAY cheap.
Seller of tablet is also located near Slaughter/Manchaca
Friend saw his car drive through Slaughter/Manchaca intersection yesterday morning.
Friend is nervous about the meet, because him and his girlfriends pictures are in tablet and he's worried he'll be recognized.
APD could care less.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

He should just arrange the meet, ask what car to look for, drive by and get the license plate number and keep going.

 

[BG1960]

APD will get very interested when someone gets shot or killed.

Having dealt with HPD on a number of break-ins at the day job, we just write it off and get on with our lives. Much less stress than being pissed at cops for not doing what we think their job is. I get that they have other things to do, but it still gives ya the redass.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Here's the deal:
Car was stolen Monday night with tablet inside.
Tablet was posted for sale Tuesday.
Seller of tablet has it listed WAY cheap.
Seller of tablet is also located near Slaughter/Manchaca
Friend saw his car drive through Slaughter/Manchaca intersection yesterday morning.
Friend is nervous about the meet, because him and his girlfriends pictures are in tablet and he's worried he'll be recognized.
APD could care less.

There's still zero proof the tablet is his. What happens if it's indeed not his? Some guy selling a cheap tablet doesn't hold water.

Why didn't the friend call 911 when he saw the car? Regardless of your views of APD, the police will show up.

 

[Se7en62]

I have no predefined views of the APD and have always had a devout respect for LEO's. I'm just surprised that no one is willing to look for a stolen car that's still being driven around the area.

We're going to do what ZX9RCAM recommended and just act to do the deal, but then just drive by and scope it out and get a good description from afar with BINO's. If he is actually driving the car, then we'll just call 911 and tail the car from a distance until the cops intercept it and then we will let them do their jobs without interfering. This seems pretty safe and sounds like a fun way to spend the evening while my wife is out of town.

 

[DMC]

Stefan202,

I could tell you 20 stories over the last 15 years about personal vehicle thefts, vehicle burglaries, home burglaries and various other crimes. Some of those would be my own personal stories and some of my tenants and my parents tenants. No crime was ever solved, no suspects questioned, no property recovered by police, and no contact from the police at all after the incident.

My own truck was recovered in a nice neighborhood when the home owner got tired on my truck with a smashed window parked in front of her home for three days. A police officer lived four houses down and never thought it was odd.

On the way to work one morning I noticed a neighbors Avalanche sitting on bricks. Talked to him and found out the rims were stolen between 11pm and 6 am. I checked my camera system, I couldn't see his house from the angle of the camera but I got the license plate of every vehicle that went by his house. I called the police and asked if they wanted a copy of the video, a week later they want it. I gave them a dvd of the video. About two months later they called back and said some thing was wrong with the disk and needed another copy, too bad my DVR only stores about two weeks of video.

 

[Southpaw]

My advice would be to never have said anything on a public forum and handle the business that needs to be handled.

 

[Se7en62]

Southpaw, it's not like we're planning to take over the world. Just figure out if we can recover his property in and instance where the suspect is dumb enough to post items from the car for sale on Craigslist in the same area and quite possibly be driving around in his car.

If this is literally the level of enforcement of the law, I seriously question anyone's ability to find this forum and connect the dots. That said, if they did, what could come of it? "Oh those guys were attempting to get stolen property back...for shame!"

 

[karlac]

.....That said, if they did, what could come of it? "Oh those guys were attempting to get stolen property back...for shame!"

Have a job and family? Do you really want to put both in jeopardy for property? You think the police and criminal justice system is bad, wait until some ambulance chasing lawyer comes after you with a civil suit if someone gets hurt in an endeavor you have blabbed about on a public forum.

Sad, feel your pain, but you've already tainted any result you might have achieved.

 

[Se7en62]

That's true. karlac, I have both. Thanks for talking some real sense. I'm out and will call it off ASAP.

It really sucks that we can't rely on our own law enforcement to actually recover these things on purpose. Maybe my friend will get his car back in a few months after it's been partially destroyed in a high speed chase. I really came on here expecting an off-duty LEO to say "Hey, yeah, lets chat and see how I might be able to be of assistance to you and keep all parties out of harms way."

 

[txinvestigator]

I have no predefined views of the APD and have always had a devout respect for LEO's. I'm just surprised that no one is willing to look for a stolen car that's still being driven around the area.

We're going to do what ZX9RCAM recommended and just act to do the deal, but then just drive by and scope it out and get a good description from afar with BINO's. If he is actually driving the car, then we'll just call 911 and tail the car from a distance until the cops intercept it and then we will let them do their jobs without interfering. This seems pretty safe and sounds like a fun way to spend the evening while my wife is out of town.

Without a serial number the tablet is a non issue.

Regarding the car, what makes you think they are not looking for the car? There are a bunch of cars stolen in Austin every day. They do not have the resources to assign one officer to go out and search for each car.

 

[ed308]

Give APD time to find the car. Stolen vehicle are usually found within one to two weeks, if not in Mexico. Your life and health is way more valuable than a car and a tablet. That's what insurance and the police is for.