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Nov 7, 2008 10:20 pm US/Central
Police Auction Stolen Car, Unbeknownst To Owner
(WCCO)
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If a vehicle is found by police the owner has just two weeks from the time they're notified to pick it up before it become the city's property.
CBS
A Twin Cities couple is out a car after St. Paul police sold it to someone else. Thieves took the car this spring. Police found it just days later, but the couple didn't know that until they found it themselves for sale online.
The papers have piled up after six months of searching and setbacks. It was in April that Dong Tran's '95 Accord was swiped off a St. Paul street. Tran went to police that day and waited for word.
"As time passes, [I] kinda feel that it's a loss. I only have liability [insurance], so I figure it's just a loss," said Tran.
Until last week, his fiancé found it on Craigslist. The couple thought they found the thieves who stole their car, they didn't. The guy bought it from police.
After reporting the car stolen on April 20, it was found on a side street by St. Paul police just two days later.
Sgt. Pete Crum from the St. Paul Police Department says things like this have happened before.
"With 13,000 vehicles you're going to run into a situation like this from time to time," said Sgt. Crum.
When police find a car, it's stored at an impound lot. Owners are supposed to be called and Tran wasn't. Instead, police sent a certified letter. Tran had moved so he wasn't there to sign. The letter went back to police and the car went up for auction.
"It's pretty frustrating that my car is there but I'm not the legal owner of it," said Tran.
After what he's been through, he has no plans to pay $3,000 to get it back.
Police say Tran can show police all his paperwork and will likely get the $1,200 back that they made off his car.
If a vehicle is found by police the owner has just two weeks from the time they're notified to pick it up before it become the city's property.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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