Does anyone know what the statute of limitations is on auto theft in California?

Say goodnight Gracie......... goodnight Gracie.

 

I think this really is one of the better posts and might I add more relevant, on this thread:

"My girlfriend had her virginity stolen, but she still has the box it came in!"

 

Its all bad mojo IMO.

 

Haaa Haaa, I almost spit my coffee out. I needed that this moring

 

Maybe he's waiting for it to be restored... THEN call the cops to get it back.

Sam

 

So, a simple question- what color is the car in question?

 

Cl***ic Hamb thread here with all the elements: *Accusations *Incriminations *Insults *Outright stupidity *People posting without reading the whole thread... nice to know I can always rely on some things never changing.

 

I don't know about most of the others here but if my Grandmother had a car stolen in the 70's and we (the family) got wind of it resurfacing AND being valued at well over ONE MILLION DOLLAR$ ... my grandmother would (damn well) be regaining possession of the car she legally holds ***le to/owns.

 

Stolen property reverts to the rightful owner when recovered ... no matter how many years have transpired. The statute of limitations refers to prosecution for the offense. The problem is the "Criminal Possession of stolen property" statute can be prosecuted as long as the culpability "knowingly" is present ...

 

Tucker Fan: In the course of my research on the 1948 Tucker, I uncovered one that was stolen in the late 1970s. I know where the car went to and where it went after that. I know exactly where it sits today and who owns it now. It's current owner is unaware of its history.

Borntoloze: You words make it sound like you know who stole it or certainly who would know who stole it when you say "I know where it went to and where it went after that".

Carl la Fong: Do you think that you could stretch that statement a bit a farther?





Beg Par? It is not a "stretch" at all. The car surfaced when it was registered using the serial number instead of the engine number. Tucker Fan claims to know "where it went to and where it went to after that". Tucker Fan has been following/researching the paper trail/ownership history of this car. That paper trail would lead back and STOP with whoever first registered it using the serial number. Soooooooo ... there is a very real possibility that the person who first registered the car using the serial number is either the thief or purchased the car from the thief (and can possibly lead the authorities to this person). With Tucker Fan having the name of the person who first registered it using the serial number, there is a damn good chance he either "knows who stole it or knows someone who knows who stole it".

Signed "douche nozzle" (whatever the hell that is).

 

Knowing where a car went and who stole it are WAY different things. For example, if the car was taken in Las Vegas and it showed up a few months later in Boston, you'd know where it went.

Now if you found out this information by reading old magazines and newspapers 30+ years later you would not be a thief, you would not be a POS, etc, etc. If when you first read about the car moving from Las Vegas to Boston you had no idea it was stolen and would not learn of that until nearly 5 years later you would be even less of a thief, POS, etc, etc.

For those that keep jumping on their high horse, this happened 30+ years ago. Nobody knows who took it. The next two people that had the car are dead. Hard to ask them what they knew. No known evidence exists that they were involved in any other criminal acts.

The women who had the car stolen from her has all the information if she wants to pursue it but she and her family have told me more than once she is not interested. They have got a good laugh reading this thread about how everyone thinks they should go take the car back. They seem to be happy knowing it still exists and that it is well taken care of. Her son did say they'd like to visit it someday and hopes they'll let him sit in it. I'm guessing that won't be a problem. It is good to know there are still some very nice people in this world.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong here but despite the fact the "owner" doesn't want it back isn't it still a stolen car. How has the current "owner" registered it in his/her name?

 

Yes

It is like people who owe you money thinking there is a statute of limitations on owing you money. Enough time p***es...

 

Interesting they don't want it back.
Sounds like they are in a good place in life and living and let live.

More power to them.

 

Your par certainly needs begging. If you think your theory isn't a stretch, then you need more time at the Betty Ford. Holy ****. I need the extra strength, oven foil for my hat after reading that ****ysis.
Douche nozzle? OK, here goes. You see, girls have this special thing between their legs, Now sometimes.....................oh, just ask your mom or science teacher

 

"The women who had the car stolen from her has all the information if she wants to pursue it but she and her family have told me more than once she is not interested. They have got a good laugh reading this thread about how everyone thinks they should go take the car back. They seem to be happy knowing it still exists and that it is well taken care of. Her son did say they'd like to visit it someday and hopes they'll let him sit in it. I'm guessing that won't be a problem. It is good to know there are still some very nice people in this world.

"

Yeah, as I see it, it's a HOT car with a compromised history/pedigree.

Here's another big question; What if a local car enthusiast/cop read this thread, and decided to have the car impounded and investigated by the State Patrol/DMV (VIN, ownership history, etc.)???
Now the state holds a stolen car that the rightful owner of 30+ years ago doesn't want anything to do with (other than let their Son sit in it!). It's now unclaimed State property and goes to auction along with the other State property?

Doesn't matter that the owner from 30+ years ago "doesn't want to press charges", because they're well off, senile, etc.
Some crimes get prosecuted whether or not the 'victim' wants to make a claim.

 

I hope no one on here has ever been called for jury duty.


Is the car now ***led with the engine number?

 

was it overhauled?? haha

 

"


Yeah, as I see it, it's a HOT car with a compromised history/pedigree.

Here's another big question; What if a local car enthusiast/cop read this thread, and decided to have the car impounded and investigated by the State Patrol/DMV (VIN, ownership history, etc.)???
Now the state holds a stolen car that the rightful owner of 30+ years ago doesn't want anything to do with (other than let their Son sit in it!). It's now unclaimed State property and goes to auction along with the other State property?

Doesn't matter that the owner from 30+ years ago "doesn't want to press charges", because they're well off, senile, etc.
Some crimes get prosecuted whether or not the 'victim' wants to make a claim.[/QUOTE]

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This may have happened many years ago.

All you **** Tracys out there beating your chests in the name of justice are jumping to conclusons. If you need to be the hero that solves this crime and gets Tucker the electric chair, Spend your time and money to find out the facts. As far as some cop on here impounding the car, If he is not in his jurisdiction, He will be in deep **** himself. I am sure that some infuriated HAMB detective has already attempted to contact the law. Good luck with that. If the **** in this thread wasn't so damn funny, It would be simply pathetic.. I'm here for the laughs.. Go get 'em cowboys!!

 

Possession of stolen property.........

 

Tucker Fan, I would post a link to your other Tucker history post if I were you. Maybe even put it in your signature. These numpties might actually then understand the lengths you have went to to research ALL of these cars, and not just the unfortunate fate of this one particular Tucker.

 

Just saw this thread. I was talking to a Illinois State Trooper a few years back (about 5). He went into a shop and was doing his checks when he spotted a 1965 Cobra roadster in the corner and took the Vin # info. When he ran it it came up stolen and the car was returned to the original owner even though the insurance had paid it off. So the car in ? if in Illinois would go back to the original owner.

 

[/QUOTE]

Very true. I've never seen a murder victim file charges against his or her killer.

 

Very true. I've never seen a murder victim file charges against his or her killer.[/QUOTE]


That was a quote from someone else.. The "quote" part didn't show up..

However, It is very true in California. Crimes are prosicuted by the District Attorney in felony cases and the City Attorney in misdemeanor cases. The victim is simply a witness. Except in the case of a murder. Then the victim is "evidence". Victim can not "drop" charges, They can only refuse to cooperate with the prosicution.

 

===============================================================

This may have happened many years ago.

All you **** Tracys out there beating your chests in the name of justice are jumping to conclusons. If you need to be the hero that solves this crime and gets Tucker the electric chair, Spend your time and money to find out the facts. As far as some cop on here impounding the car, If he is not in his jurisdiction, He will be in deep **** himself. I am sure that some infuriated HAMB detective has already attempted to contact the law. Good luck with that. If the **** in this thread wasn't so damn funny, It would be simply pathetic.. I'm here for the laughs.. Go get 'em cowboys!![/QUOTE]


Not out of jurisdiction if it's a local, State police officer (ie; CHP) or a Federal officer.
My quote;

Here's another big question; What if a local car enthusiast/cop read this thread, and decided to have the car impounded and investigated by the State Patrol/DMV (VIN, ownership history, etc.)???

I also made this quote you spoke of;

Some crimes get prosecuted whether or not the 'victim' wants to make a claim.

Murder, ***ault, battery, etc. are obvious. I'm not a cop so I wouldn't know if grand theft auto applies here ($ million car?)?

I'm just wondering aloud how hairy the whole thing could get if a determined law enforcement officer persued the "stolen" vehicle-whether the 30 year ago 'victim' approved of the deed or not. **** Tracy's? Hey, he simply asked.

My comments are not in any way directed as being negative toward Tucker Fan. I've thoroughly enjoyed following his terrific thread on Tucker history. Maybe the "electric chair" is intended by others, but certainly not me!

 

I went back through all my records on this car and found that the next person that owned (for lack of a better word) the car after it was taken was a member of the Tucker Club and advertised it for sale in their newsletter. He also had the car listed for sale in Motor Trend with the serial number in the ad. It would seem unlikely that someone would have stolen the car and then openly advertised that he had it. The car is still stolen but it seems unlikely that later owners were aware of its history. In any case, the next two owners after it was taken are long dead.


The problem with this car that would present some problems if the original owner did want it back is the way it was ***led. California used a system that had the motor number as the VIN. This car has had the motor changed out at some point in its life. Either prior to the theft or afterward. The car is now ***led using the serial number. Since the original owner only knew the number on her California ***le she had no way to know what serial number car she had. Tucker factory records are very poor. Cars sold at the Tucker plant bankruptcy sale had no records at all. Tucker historians over the years have pieced together a list of who bought what car. Many were sold without motors.


In some cases it would be very hard for someone to prove which car was theirs. You would almost need to show a complete history of all 50 cars to show that this car had to be the one. That is more or less what I did. The advantage I have is having all the records from years of research. Even then there is no way to prove 100% which car is which. Can we make educated guesses? Sure, but would a police department yank a car from a current owner without solid proof? If this were a 75 Chevy it would have stampings all over it and a build sheet from the factory. With a Tucker there is none of that. Only bits and pieces exist. The National Archives have nearly 75,000 do***ents relating to the Tucker Corporation. I’ve reviewed a lot of them but I don’t know if there are enough there to prove a court case.


None of this means the car is not stolen. It just is not as simple as some might think. I cannot see how any law enforcement person could look at the car and say it is stolen. There is a card at the PD with a case number. I ordered the police report several weeks ago and was told it will take awhile. The car does not show up as stolen in police department records of hot cars. The car now sits with a valid ***le using the serial number (I know it is still stolen), and the motor number used on the California ***le is not the motor that is in the car.

Knowing which car it is and proving it in court would be two different things. I doubt the court would say there is a guy that has studied all the cars and he says this is the car. This is an interesting case and would have been fascinating to watch.

 

If the car is still legally in the old ladies name ... get her to file for a lost ***le (if she doesn't still have the original) ... get her to sign it over to you and go claim your car you legally just bought.

This has been a fun journey ... thanks for posting. This is the kind of story where you sit there and think "I wonder if any of this really did happen or is TuckerFan just a great writer of fiction?" .... we may never know .

 

TuckerFan quote: "I went back through all my records on this car and found that the next person that owned (for lack of a better word) the car after it was taken was a member of the Tucker Club and advertised it for sale in their newsletter. He also had the car listed for sale in Motor Trend with the serial number in the ad. It would seem unlikely that someone would have stolen the car and then openly advertised that he had it. The car is still stolen but it seems unlikely that later owners were aware of its history. In any case, the next two owners after it was taken are long dead."

I am ***uming the quote above is the whole story in regards to your original quote of "I know where it went to and where it went after that". I do not believe it to be a "stretch" to suggest that the first guy who surfaced with an ownership using the body serial number is either the thief or got it from the thief. If the car was re***led from engine number to body serial number (and the original engine swapped out in order to hide it's true iden***y) he would feel pretty confident the car could advertised (in the Tucker club newsletter and Motor Trend) without fear of being caught ... based on your story, he didn't get caught and no one figured this out until you uncovered it. It is NOT (my opinion and you are en***led to it) unlikely that he is not the thief ... it actually makes sense that he is ... once the new engine is installed, there is no way anyone could identify it as being the stolen Tucker and being in the Tucker club he just might have access to the replacement engine (if he didn't own an engine already).

I stand by my statement that based on quotes directly from you ... there is a very real chance that you know who stole the car or know someone who knows who stole the car. You claim it is unlikely he stole the car ... I disagree.

 

8 pages about a car and it doesn't even have a smallblock Cheby in it???....or maybe it does...and it's registered to its VIN...and it's a Corvette motor...Zora's experimental ...that car was stolen when it was supposed to be smashed....and....nevermind...

 

Anything is possible I guess but in this case it is really unlikely that the person that ended up with the car knew its history. First off I've talked with people that met him during the years he owned the car which was nearly a decade. All of them say he was a straight forward honest guy. Second, if he were the thief, why not steal a car closer to home? Why drive hundreds of miles hoping that once you got there you could figure out a way to steal it? Third, if he were the thief, he'd have no idea how much information the family had on the car. How could he safely advertise he had Tucker #27, for example, and not be concerned the owner would find him. Fourth, he was a member of the Tucker Club for many years. If he were the thief, how would he know that the owner would not contact the Club and tell them to be on the lookout for Tucker # 18, for example, as it was stolen from their house? It is just unlikely someone would be that open about owning the car over a long period of time if they stole it. It is very likely he bought it from the thief but since he has been dead for many years it is hard to ask him.

It was suggested by some that I get the woman to have a duplicate ***le made and have it signed over to me. That is just so wrong on so many levels I won't even go there. I have a reputation to keep up. Taking car ***les from little old ladies and taking million dollar cars from their owners isn't my style.

I'd rather solve a good mystery or go for a ride in one of Preston Tucker cars.