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Truck stolen and burned

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soul_venom

Junior Member
My vehicle a 1999 F-150 was stolen and found burned the next morning. My wallet was in the vehicle and they attempted to use my debit card at 2 gas stations. I had about $7G into the vehicle and about $1G in personal property & tools in the vehicle. I suspect that some property was stolen while the rest was burned but can not be sure. Insurance is giving me about $2800. I missed 3 days of work while trying to replace drivers licence, debit card and get a rental car. If the police catch the culprit/s can I sue them for the difference? Can I force them to pay the cost of the lawyer if I win? We have had a lot of vandalism by minors recently. If it was minors can I sue the parents? Happened in Nebraska.
 
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Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
What you can do will depend on the law of the state in which this is taking place, and you did not specify the state. For example, perhaps your state has a victims compensation fund that would pay for some of the damages that the insurance didn't cover. You may of course sue the persons who took your belongings for the value of them at the time they were taken. So you could sue them for the fair market value of the truck — what you could have sold it for to some unrelated person — as of the day the truck was taken. If you put more into the truck than you could sell it for that extra amount you put into it is a loss that you don't get to recover. Same thing for the tools, you can sue only for the fair market value of them. You can sue for the cash taken, too, but of course you have to prove how much cash there was, and that may be hard to do. You could sue for the lost wages as well. But note that your insurance company would be entitled to get reimbursed for what it paid you out of what you win. You don't get the cost of your legal fees included in your judgment in at least most states.

The biggest problem, though, is that many car thieves don't really have a lot of assets to pay a judgment. If the person(s) who did it don't have anything you can attach the judgment doesn't do you any good.

If the thieves were minors then whether you could successfully sue the parents depends very much in what state this is taking place and exactly what happened.
 

BuyLowSellHigh

Active Member
I had personal items stolen by a minor. The minor was caught but they still didn't prosecute. I didn't get items returned and they didn't prosecute because they require a greater burden of proof for minors. In fact they came back to my house and stole more stuff in retaliation for the arrest.

Don't try to make a citizens arrest if you catch the thieves. You may end up charged with murder. At least that's the way they do it sometimes in Georgia.
 

quincy

Senior Member
I had personal items stolen by a minor. The minor was caught but they still didn't prosecute. I didn't get items returned and they didn't prosecute because they require a greater burden of proof for minors. In fact they came back to my house and stole more stuff in retaliation for the arrest.

Don't try to make a citizens arrest if you catch the thieves. You may end up charged with murder. At least that's the way they do it sometimes in Georgia.
There is no greater burden of proof for minors.

And you can’t be charged with murder for making a citizens arrest unless you murder (or allegedly murder) someone - although citizens arrests on the whole seem to be a bad action to take. It is smarter to call the police.

If a minor commits a crime, the minor and the parents of the minor can be sued.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Insofar as the truck is concerned: You are only entitled to the fair market value of the truck at the time of the loss. I suspect that $2,800 is pretty close to that value.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
If you do learn who it was by all means consider using the courts to go after the minor and the parents and consider setting up a video camera to record where you park or a GPS based tracker system so if it happens again the thief can be followed electronically
 

quincy

Senior Member
In addition to a possible tracking device or surveillance camera, it would be very smart not to keep expensive tools, debit cards and $7000 in cash in your next vehicle, especially when you are parking in an area already known to have vandals wreaking havoc.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
In addition to a possible tracking device or surveillance camera, it would be very smart not to keep expensive tools, debit cards and $7000 in cash in your next vehicle, especially when you are parking in an area already known to have vandals wreaking havoc.
Agreed - but I don't think that the OP had $7k of cash in the vehicle. I think that OP was saying that he spent $7k on the vehicle including upgrades, etc.: "I had about $7G into the vehicle"
 

quincy

Senior Member
Agreed - but I don't think that the OP had $7k of cash in the vehicle. I think that OP was saying that he spent $7k on the vehicle including upgrades, etc.: "I had about $7G into the vehicle"
You’re right. Thanks for the correction. :)
 

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