Seriously?! Impound our car for plates

[cincin5000]

Bought a new car at dealership about 4 months ago. Dealership put our old plates on the new car and said that they will transfer them. Drove home and never thought anything about it. Cop pulls my man over a few days ago for license plates being on wrong car(still registered to his old car). My man is anal about paperwork and actually had the sales agreement in with his car insurance, driver's license(perfect driving record). Yeah, too bad he wasn't anal about double checking that dealership did what they said they would, but it is what it is. I can understand writing out a ticket with fines to ensure that we do get this taken care of, but impound the car and leave him at the side of the road?! Seriously?! My son has been in and out of hospital this past week and his medicine was in car and cop wouldn't even allow my man to get his stuff out of the car. My brother in law that is a cop was pissed(these cops are in a small town and out of his jurisdiction), so I really wanted to find out who would impound for this and how do you justify it under these circumstances. If you wouldn't impound for this, should I assume that you are the police officers that actually protect our public and would be the one answering the call about 'stranded man gets mugged at side of road after cops impound his vehicle'...lmao.

[Cat_Doc]

What state are you in?

[retdetsgt]

I missed the question in there.

It's the dealership you should be mad at. People steal cars all the time, switch plates, etc often before the owner knows the car is gone. That's why we impound cars. Why don't you take your rant to your legislature and the car dealership?

[cincin5000]

Ohio.

He had his memorandum title and paperwork from dealership showing he bought it and traded in the same exact car with vin number on it that those plates were registered to. Car insurance for the car he impounded was also shown and in his name that was also on his ID.
I believe that people are pushing for lessor laws(the new one in california about it being unconstitutional to impound vehicle for driving without a license) only because some laws are being misinterpreted and enforced way beyond reason by a very select few that make it tougher for the general task force to do their job accordingly.

[retdetsgt]

I would suggest contacting the chief's office of that department and ask for an explanation. Hard to tell from here why he did it.

[pac201]

I would suggest contacting the chief's office of that department and ask for an explanation. Hard to tell from here why he did it.

this^^^

And yes I would be at the dealership throwing a fit and demanding that they fix it...(pay for the ticket and tow)

[Cat_Doc]

Maybe someone from Ohio will answer up. There are different statutes in different states. Also, as mentioned by RDS, the particular department probably has specific policies and procedures relating to what sounds like "fictitious display of license plates."

Was "your man" cited and if so, what were the charges?

[manahmanah]

I'm a California Police Officer, I've NEVER heard of it being unconstitutional to tow a vehicle after citing somebody for driving while unlicensed. In fact, I just did it a couple of days ago.....

[cincin5000]

The ticket is for Ficticious tags as the plates(personalized in his name) were registered to him, but not for that particular vehicle. Yes, completely pissed at the dealership and would've actually just paid the tickets and tried to go after dealership, but impounding the vehicle seemed excessive with all the paperwork he had on him(more paperwork than BMV requires to register the vehicle). (Insults against a law enforcement officer deleted. CD) Sorry, I just really don't understand the reasoning for the impoundment escpecially when it is impossible to get the car out since their police station is only open 3(yes, I said 3) hours a day.

[retdetsgt]

I'm a California Police Officer, I've NEVER heard of it being unconstitutional to tow a vehicle after citing somebody for driving while unlicensed. In fact, I just did it a couple of days ago.....

I don't think she's questioning the constitutionality of it, but asking if it was necessary. And again, it's hard to tell from here. I worked with a guy who suddenly got a thing for people from California (seriously) and towed every car that he legally could until a Sgt finally took him by the nape of the neck and told him to knock it off. On the other hand, as always we might not be getting the full story.

That's why I suggested she contact the department, only they can give her a full explanation.....

[Cat_Doc]

We will address legitimate questions about procedure the best we can, but degrading comments about fellow law enforcement officers will not be tolerated at this site.

In Arizona, the plates do stay with the owner and if the purchase was done through a legitimate dealership, the dealership will take care of sending the paperwork to the Motor Vehicle Department. If it was a private sale, the new owner has the responsibility of title/registration change through MVD. If Ohio is the same way, then you possibly have recourse against the dealership for dropping the ball.

If the police department has a policy that vehicles displaying fictitious plates are to be towed and impounded, and it is within the authority of state law, you have no recourse against the law enforcement agency.

You might consider speaking with an attorney regarding whether the dealership should be held responsible for tow and storage fees if they indeed were negligent.

With that said, focusing on the police officer doing his job is not justified and as mentioned before, personal insults directed at the officer will not be tolerated.

[cincin5000]

Manahmanah,

Below will just cite the court case and brief explanation of their findings. I believe it wasn't ruled on until recently as it was held up in court for a few years. There has been articles in journals written about this, but it is still happening as most people do not have the money to fight it in court. The case below is the prime example of someone fighting a law and winning only because somebody didn't use better judgement when impounding the car in the first place. I was for impounding a car for an unlicensed, uninsured driver, but to impound for an unlicensed driver and her licensed husband was next to her teaching her to drive...come on! That is where I stand firm that there are a few select cops that use poor judgement that create more and more problems for the rest of you.

In Miranda v City of Cornelius, 429 F3d 858 (November
2005), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals made it quite clear
that impoundment of a vehicle is a seizure without a warrant
within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Such an
impound is therefore unreasonable unless it fits within the
“community caretaking doctrine.”

[retdetsgt]

In Oregon, the dealer still issues a temporary tag for the vehicle to be used until the new registration form gets to the owner. Our DMV can take weeks to process something like that. I wouldn't drive around with the plates until I had the paper work from the state, but that's just me.

[cincin5000]

OMG, I went to highschool with the cop that pat him down and it was not intended to be an insult....which is why I put 'lol'. I apologize if that phrase offended you. He is a facebook(or should I say was) a facebook friend and I just commented on him having a bad day as he is always updating on what he is going through and how mad he is. He won't answer me back as we will now be in court against each other and he can't talk to me about it.

[Cat_Doc]

It did not offend me. It takes a lot to do that. You were given an admonishment because degrading comments or attacks on law enforcement officers are TOS violations and I have been tasked to be a site moderator. I moderated.