What is the name of your state? Maryland
Ok, here's what happened just yesterday. I was sitting in my car waiting for my wife to grab some groceries in the Giant store. I was parked at the curb just outside the door.
A guy comes out of the store with groceries in his cart.
He pulled his grocery bags out of the cart, put them on the ground.
Then he pushed his cart toward the stack of carts from a distance.
You know how carts interlock when you slam the front of one into the back of the other?
It seemed like he expected that to happen.
After he hurled the cart he then ignored it while he tended to his groceries
The cart bounced back from the stack rather than engaging
It turned downhill toward my car and the curb - going really slow
It slowly started rolling toward my car
I shouted to him to come keep it from hitting my car
He did finally rush toward the moving cart
But it was too late
The front 2 wheels of the cart dropped off the curb
And the top front edge of the cart hit my car
The guy withdrew to where his groceries were, with the cart
I got out of my car and inspected the impact spot
At that point the guy just acted like he couldnt see me or hear me - it was strange.
There was a scratch and a dent where the cart hit my car
I asked him if he could see what he did to my car
He ignored me as if I wasn’t there and as if nothing had happened - staring into the distance.
I said his cart hit my car and it scratched it
He (strangely) said “THIS is my cart” (the one he pulled back from my car)
I said “don’t you care that you just damaged my car”
He responded “what do you want me to do?”
I said “I want you to give me your name and your insurance info”
He said “I won’t do that”
I said, “then I’ll get your tag number, I’ll call the police and sue you”
He replied something like “that’s fine”
So I followed him to his car and wrote down his tag number and called the police
About 20 min later an officer arrived
I told him what happened and gave him the tag number and model/color of car
The officer told me this was not a crime but a civil matter
I said I had no way of taking civil action without the guy's contact info
So officer radioed for the subject’s name, address and phone number, and gave to me on a slip of paper.
I asked officer if he would witness the after-the-fact situation, namely the location of the scratch and dent and it’s orientation relative to where a cart would slip off the curb and hit my car.
He said he could not do that, and he believed that my car was hit by a cart
--> So now I know the guys name and phone number etc. I'm inclined to take him to small claims and sue him for damages.
--> Question - do I have a chance? Is the law on my side here?
By the way, the only witnesses were my 10 year old daughter and 3 year old son who were sitting in the back seat.
Ok, here's what happened just yesterday. I was sitting in my car waiting for my wife to grab some groceries in the Giant store. I was parked at the curb just outside the door.
A guy comes out of the store with groceries in his cart.
He pulled his grocery bags out of the cart, put them on the ground.
Then he pushed his cart toward the stack of carts from a distance.
You know how carts interlock when you slam the front of one into the back of the other?
It seemed like he expected that to happen.
After he hurled the cart he then ignored it while he tended to his groceries
The cart bounced back from the stack rather than engaging
It turned downhill toward my car and the curb - going really slow
It slowly started rolling toward my car
I shouted to him to come keep it from hitting my car
He did finally rush toward the moving cart
But it was too late
The front 2 wheels of the cart dropped off the curb
And the top front edge of the cart hit my car
The guy withdrew to where his groceries were, with the cart
I got out of my car and inspected the impact spot
At that point the guy just acted like he couldnt see me or hear me - it was strange.
There was a scratch and a dent where the cart hit my car
I asked him if he could see what he did to my car
He ignored me as if I wasn’t there and as if nothing had happened - staring into the distance.
I said his cart hit my car and it scratched it
He (strangely) said “THIS is my cart” (the one he pulled back from my car)
I said “don’t you care that you just damaged my car”
He responded “what do you want me to do?”
I said “I want you to give me your name and your insurance info”
He said “I won’t do that”
I said, “then I’ll get your tag number, I’ll call the police and sue you”
He replied something like “that’s fine”
So I followed him to his car and wrote down his tag number and called the police
About 20 min later an officer arrived
I told him what happened and gave him the tag number and model/color of car
The officer told me this was not a crime but a civil matter
I said I had no way of taking civil action without the guy's contact info
So officer radioed for the subject’s name, address and phone number, and gave to me on a slip of paper.
I asked officer if he would witness the after-the-fact situation, namely the location of the scratch and dent and it’s orientation relative to where a cart would slip off the curb and hit my car.
He said he could not do that, and he believed that my car was hit by a cart
--> So now I know the guys name and phone number etc. I'm inclined to take him to small claims and sue him for damages.
--> Question - do I have a chance? Is the law on my side here?
By the way, the only witnesses were my 10 year old daughter and 3 year old son who were sitting in the back seat.