stephenk said:
why do they think you arranged to have your car stolen? has the car been recovered?
Without going into a long drawn out description, which I will if you want, the best I can figure is as follows. All of this is speculation from the questions he asked me, by the way.
There was a girl that worked for my brother, up to about 2 weeks before the car was recovered. She up and quit without an excuse. 2 weeks later there was a car that was attempted to be delivered to my brothers auto repair shop. It was a C.O.D. delivery from 50 miles away. My brothers policy is to deny all COD without prior payment from customer. There is another company with similar name close to my brother and they always get eachothers vehicles by accident. Getting paid after the fact is always difficult.
Anyways, the car the was going to be delivered was my car! The best I can guess is that the girl that used to work for my brother stole it and was storing it at her sistsers place where she was living. Her sister moved to another state. Days before she was scheduled to leave the state is when the car was attempted to be delivered. My guess is that the girl that used to work for my brother was telling her sister is was just being stored there. As time was closing she panicked and didn't know what to do, she quit working for my brother and left her sister with the car. Her sister, not knowing, just called a tow truck to have it towed to my brothers shop.
That is what started all of this.
The police talked to my brother and he answered all their questions. A week or so later, the police talked to me (the interview I discussed above).
I am not stupid, I can see (in hindsight) how this looks to the police. But the reality is, the only thing they have is the fact that the car was going to be delivered to my brother (which he did not initiate). They probably have a statement from the girl that used to work for my brother trying to deflect blame, pure speculation. She did have possession of the vehicle (well, it was at her sisters house). They did ask me if I knew her (girl that used to work for my brother) but that is all they asked relative to her.
I guess it turned out to be a long description afterall. What are your thoughts?
Many of the questions the detective had for me had to do with my financial situation, obviously trying to establish motive. I explained to him that I have an excellent job and I also own my own business. The payments for all my vehicles are payroll deducted so I am never behind in payments. My credit rating is great. I am late on a payment here and there for misc. items but that is because I am a procrastinator. I have plenty of money in the bank. This car being stolen cost me a lot of money. I had to finish paying for 2500+ for the loan amount the settlement didn't cover. Plus I had to buy my wife another car (downpayment, insurance, etc.).
The detective was so desperate in his first interview with me that just before I told him the interview was over he told me that my brother told him the whole story and now is the time to come clean. Being an obvious lie, that is when I realized that I needed to end the interview.
I have a question, what sort of obligation am I under to answer any more of his questions? I realize clearing this up is the right thing to do, I intent to. But for my information, what are my legal obligations here? Not that I would, I would like to, but could I tell him to "Bleep up a rope, I answered your questions!" Can he arrest me for obstruction of justice or something for not answering his questions any further?
I am so tarnished by watching the "legal system" on television (NYPD Blue, CSI, Law and Order, etc.) that I have no clear concept about what I am obligated to do, reality-wise. I didn't do anything wrong, so I didn't think it would hurt "clearing up a few questions" that the detective had. But once I realized that he was trying to build a case against me I knew I needed to stop the interview.
I didn't sleep at all last night, by the way! This guy has me all stressed out. I keep saying to myslef that I didn't do anything wrong, he can't possible do anything to me. But we all know that innocent people do go to jail from time to time.
I, for the life of me, cannot remember what I did the night before my car was stolen. It was 4-5 months ago! How important is this? I will look through credit card receipts and bank statement to see if there is some sort of information that might help me remember, but I am at a loss.
Sorry this is so long, I guess I am venting - help me please!
