Posted on 01/25/2011 9:30:48 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
A Bronx man arrested in front of his kids for "stealing" his own car is suing the NYPD for $1 million.
Jamieson Prince, 43, says cops swarmed his 2007 GMC Yukon and cuffed him as he prepared to drive his daughters to school on Nov. 11 - even though he had papers proving ownership.
"I told them it was a mixup and proved to them I owned the car, but they wouldn't listen," Prince, a Norwood resident, told the Daily News.
"My little girls saw me arrested over nothing. It was so painful and humiliating."
Prince explained to the officers that his 23-year-old son had borrowed the SUV in July and fled from a crash in Harlem - leading to the son's arrest.
Cops say he hit a pedestrian and they seized the Yukon as part of that investigation.
When the elder Prince went to the 28th Precinct stationhouse to retrieve his SUV, police couldn't find it, according to court papers.
"They had absolutely no idea what happened to it," said Prince, an MTA track worker. "It had disappeared."
An NYPD spokesman confirmed Monday that the Yukon was stolen around 2 a.m. on July 7.
Four months later, Prince says, he found the Yukon, parked three blocks from the stationhouse.
He drove off, thinking everything was okay, but cops rolled up to his home and arrested him a week later - accusing him of removing police property without permission.
"How can the NYPD just confiscate property, lose it, then arrest you for possessing it?" said Prince. "It's totally wrong. I want an apology."
Prince's lawyer Neil Wollerstein said a rogue police employee may have improperly used the SUV, leading to its disappearance.
"You can't lose a 5-ton truck," said Wollerstein. "Either they're completely incompetent or someone was up to no good."
The charges against Prince were dropped Jan. 12.
"I just want my daughters to know their father didn't break the law," he said.
"This turned my world upside down."
Taken for a Ride? If you were in Jamieson Prince's shoes, would you sue?
He drove off, thinking everything was okay
There was his first mistake... How could he NOT call the police and tell them "Hey- I found my car". something is fishy about this.
If I was falsely arrested, you bet I’d sue.
On my job I’m held to a standard of 100% accountability and 100% perfection. Failure to achieve that gets *me* sued.
So I certainly wouldn’t give the NYPD a pass.
NYPD is corrupt and incompetent.
A courtesy call to the police might have saved him some grief. "I found the car you lost. I'm driving it. Thought you might want to know".
one would think that a reasonable person, upon finding their long lost car, would contact the PD and tell them where it was BEFORE just gettign in and taking off.
He drove off thinking the NYPD would only hassle him. He was right.
Of course he shoulda sued when they lost the car in the first place.
He can sue anyone he wants. He should be prepared to lose this. He should have taken the few minutes to clear this with the cops before he took the car. This vehicle was involved in a crime after all.
It should be pretty obvious that when the police impounded the car after his son enagaged in a hit-and-run, the policeman who was supposed to bring the car to the impound lot decided to borrow it instead while the case was open.
Oh, and kudos to the reporters for contacting the NYPD to get their side. Oops, they didn't.
My guess is the NYPD employee who was test driving the truck every day reported it missing after the owner took possession of his own property.
Four months later, Prince says, he found the Yukon, parked three blocks from the stationhouse.
He drove off, thinking everything was okay, but cops rolled up to his home and arrested him a week later - accusing him of removing police property without permission.
"How can the NYPD just confiscate property, lose it, then arrest you for possessing it?" said Prince. "It's totally wrong. I want an apology."
He *should* have called the cops when he spotted the truck and had them go over it to try and find the ID of the user.
The "police property" thing is ludicrous, though.
I would likely sue anyway, since the vehicle was never legally the property of the police, and they are asserting it was when they "lost" the truck.
I agree.
They might indeed be, but this guy’s story doesn’t get him any sympathy from me...
He should be humiliated in front of his kids...for being dumb enough to fail to notify the police.
More details here.....
According to court documents, police arrested him because even though the vehicle was officially categorized as lost, “it was still evidence in a case and the defendant did not have lawful custody,” and “did not have permission or authority to take, remove, or exercise control over (the vehicle) without first obtaining permission from the New York City Police Department.”
Earlier this month, on January 12th, almost two and a half months after his arrest the Bronx DA’s office dropped the charges against him.
He’s relieved about that, but still upset his daughters witnessed his arrest.
“Them seeing me in cuffs was very embarrassing and it really upset my family, a lot,” Prince said.
He has his freedom, but he still doesn’t have his SUV.
Police still have it.
The Bronx DA’s office told Eyewitness News that they are working on the paperwork to get it back to him.
Meanwhile, while he waits, this MTA worker is paying the car note and insurance for an SUV he’s not driving, but that he says he needs for his family.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=7916958
Something about this story doesn’t quite line up.
“So the car is used in the commission of a crime then reported stolen and this guy doesn’t think he might want to let someone know he found it?”
Its pretty obvious NYPD didn’t care about the vehicle except for joyriding purposes. Heck some cop was probably driving it to work everyday. Thats the real reason he was arrested, some cop was left without a car and had to take the bus.
NYPD “lost” a car they took control over which also happened to be evidence in a crime. What exactly is there to excuse that little oops (aka incompetence).
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