Car Vandals

[meljo0177]

What is the name of your state? Washington
My car was broken into about 2 wks ago. My window was broken and my ipod, radar detector, and a bag for work (full of personal identification) were taken. I filed a report with the Snohomish county Sheriff's dept and a week later was contacted by the Seattle Police Dept by a detective saying some of my things were recovered in during a search warrant. My question is: can I sue the person who had my things? I mean I had to miss a day of work, have my window repaired, and change all of my bank accounts. It's not neccessarily all about the money, but I want to do what I can to make this thief pay!

 

[CraigFL]

You should be able to sue the person in small claims court(civil) for anything you were not able to recover from the sheriffs dept as well as damages to your vehicle -- any of which were not reimbursed by your insurance company. Sometimes part of the criminal conviction requires them to make restitution to you -- but I'm waiting for THAT to ever happen... The sad part is that these kind of people probably don't have anything so don't expect to actually recover any money.

 

[racer72]

You will have just as much luck collecting from a low life car prowler as the guy looking for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.