A man has filed a lawsuit against Bremerton police alleging that the department allowed a stolen SUV to be purchased at an auction.
Why does he care? Because he bought the SUV.
His lawyer says in court documents that the Washington State Patrol came knocking this past summer after he’d purchased the SUV. Informing him it was stolen, they seized the vehicle — though he had paid for it.
The lawsuit says the SUV was seized “during the course of drug enforcement activity,” by Bremerton police. Eventually, it was put on the auction block.
“The Bremerton Police Department knew or should have known that the vehicle was a stolen vehicle prior to the point in time in which it offered the vehicle for sale at public auction to the general public,” the lawyer wrote in documents filed Sept. 21.
The city will provide a response to the lawsuit, according to assistant city attorney Mark Koontz. In the meantime, its attorneys are still gathering evidence, he said. I’ll keep you posted.
Some one goofed – didn’t “run” the VIN numbers prior to auction, or visible number may have been buggered around – the vehicle is probably owned by an insurance company now that has since paid off the legal owner , if was stolen how did it get a valid registration plate – maybe wasn’t registered ??
He has a good case. Hope he gets the SUV costs, attorney fees, and a penalty to the PD for this obvious mistake (screw up). Treble damages would be appropriate.
Bremerton need to make whole the loss of this Man’s vehicle. As I understand he had posession and use of the Truck for several years prior to it’s discovery. The City either needs to negotiate with the vehicle’s legal owner to purchase it from them and return it, or they need to pay fair market value to cover his losses, plus costs in both senarios. After 4 years of use it is unreasonable to expect a full refund, but he should be able to recoup the market value of the vehicle.