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4tyears

I had my vehicle taken because of three roaches found in it by a
sniffer dog. Now I hear from a former fellow employee that my
van appears and disappears from the impound lot. How do
I keep the police officers from joyriding in my car while I try to get it back
from them?

 

Niteshift

First question: Has it been forfeited?

Second: Do you know this for a fact or is it just something a guy told you?

Third: What made you decide it is "joy-riding"?

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4tyears

Niteshift. Sorry for delay in answering. I haven't seen vehicle
myself, so I'm going on second hand information. The paperwork
and security bond has been sent to the state claiming an interest
in the property, so it has not been forfeited.
I used the term joyriding because they seemed very pleased with
their new acquisition at the time of the seizure. I guess it's possible that they were just taking it out to be washed and waxed for me. But since I did not personally see them riding in it
my information may be incorrect and I shall reserve judgement for
now.
If you do know how they are supposed to treat and store seized
vehicles and the contents, I would appreciate the info. At this point I have not been to court or convicted of any crime.

Niteshift

First thing, being convicted or not is a totally seperate issue from forfeiture. So not having been convicted is a moot point. Forfeiture is a civil proceeding, as opposed to the criminal proceeding regarding your charges.

If you haven't seen it, or have no evidence, don't jump to conclusions.

I doubt they were taking it to wash it, but they may have been taking it somewhere to search it more thoroughly. If they felt there were drugs hidden elsewhere in the vehicle, they may have decided to search it further. Why drop the gas tank in some parking lot when you can take it somewhere that has a lift?

Lastly, depending on the laws in your state, there is an outside chance that they are allowed to use if for undercover while it is in their custody. That's rare, but remotely possible.

Lastly, yeah, they probably were pleased when they seized it. Not because they immediately figured they could go "joy-riding" in it, but because they made a seizure. It's part of their job and any time you have a success in your job, you get a little happy over it.

Krippul

****ty deal man.. Me and my friends were high on the side of the road.. in his car, we also had roaches in the car.. and to top it off, the owner of the car and only one with a liscence was in the trunk (the hatchback kind) when the cop arrived. All that happened to us was we had to dump out the roaches and find somewhere else to go. Good luck with the car.

 

footix

So how much mj do you have to have before they can take your car?

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Niteshift

Generally speaking, the car has to be part of a felony crime. Since I don't know what state you're in, I can't be real specific.

However, some states are now doing short term seizures (not forfeitures) on cars used in misdemeanors like DUI, prostitution etc.