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I stole a car

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cynic

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Posts
1,541
I ask for the crew car at a small airport and the guy says 'Its a van in the parking lot and the keys are in it.'

So I go outside, open the door to a nice Nissan Minivan and the keys are in the ash tray. I go to lunch, come back in an hour and the guy says 'I thought you wanted the crew car.' I say, yeah, I took the white van. He says that wasn't the crew car.

Oh well. Don't leave your keys in the car with the door unlocked!
 
cynic said:
I ask for the crew car at a small airport and the guy says 'Its a van in the parking lot and the keys are in it.'

So I go outside, open the door to a nice Nissan Minivan and the keys are in the ash tray. I go to lunch, come back in an hour and the guy says 'I thought you wanted the crew car.' I say, yeah, I took the white van. He says that wasn't the crew car.

Oh well. Don't leave your keys in the car with the door unlocked!


Thats Funny!
 
Rentals.

No ditch to deep nor curb to high. Offramp speed limits negotiable.
 
That is hillarious!

Oh, and scoreboard, don't forget reverse 180s when backing up, and donuts.
Don't do that stuff in cars with Onstar or whatever the Ford version of that is.
So, I'm doing this beautiful donut in a Lincoln Towncar, and some friggin phone rings inside the car, and the lady asks "are you alright?".
...
 
hahahaha, that's actually pretty funny. Wonder why someone would leave the door unlocked and then leaves the keys in it.
 
Alin10123 said:
hahahaha, that's actually pretty funny. Wonder why someone would leave the door unlocked and then leaves the keys in it.
That might have been his back up set or maybe the car was dropped off by family or friends of a pilot that was flying in.

If the guy wanted to be smart ass, when he found out his car had been operated without consent he could look up who had it by reviewing the FBO records. Then, he could take a look around the car for fresh damage like scratched rims, door dings, any dent that appeared new and file a lawsuit for damages. It would be his word against the person who used the car without permission, but civil juries only need to have a preponderance of the evidence in a civil case.

As for pursuing state charges of operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent, that could be a waste of time...or not. Depends on how much the guy was ticked that someone took the vehicle and whether or not the DA would take the case.
 
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It would be a bit of a stretch, but in WI they could nail you for 3m if anybody of importance wasn't believing your story about driving the vehicle by mistake. 3m modifies 3.​




943.23 Operating vehicle without owner’s consent.​
(1)​
In this section:
(a) "Drive" means the exercise of physical control over the

speed and direction of a vehicle while it is in motion.​

(c) "Operate" includes the physical manipulation or activation
of any of the controls of a vehicle necessary to put it in motion.​

(2)​
Except as provided in sub. (3m), whoever intentionally

takes and drives any vehicle without the consent of the owner is
guilty of a Class H felony.​


(3)
Except as provided in sub. (3m), whoever intentionally

drives or operates any vehicle without the consent of the owner is
guilty of a Class I felony.​


(3m)​
It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a violation

of sub. (2) or (3) if the defendant abandoned the vehicle without
damage within 24 hours after the vehicle was taken from the
possession of the owner. An affirmative defense under this sub-​

section mitigates the offense to a Class A misdemeanor. A defendant

who raises this affirmative defense has the burden of proving
the defense by a preponderance of the evidence.


 
mcjohn said:
FN FAL, how do you know so much about legalities. Av Bug was the same way. Did you guys do an online law degree or something?!
No, I live upstairs from a cop and he talks in his sleep. :D

Yea, I'm almost done with a bachelor degree in a related subject.

In case you guys are wondering, I believe the accidental story myself. I'm just practicing looking cases and laws up, because it forces me to read them.

I just posted the relevant WI law, so you didn't see that yet. But notice how they amend the lesser class I felony to a class A misdemeanor if the car is returned unharmed in 24 hours? Kind of weird, probably for joy riders?

This OMVWOC is an intentional thing, meaning you intended to do it...you'd have to run into a real pricky situation with the cops and the owner making a complaint before that would become something. But you could see where something as innocent as driving off with someone's car by 'accident' could turn sour, if people became "confused" right after you drove away?

I can actually picture the same exact thing happening at the FBO I go to...sliver FBO van, it's a beater. Keys are in it! Go outside and next thing you know, you're in the mayors suv and he's called the cops. Go figure.

On the civil side, I'm not kidding. If the guy that owns the car is a dick, remember that anybody can sue anyone, for anything.
 
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mcjohn said:
Interesting......I think? Good work!

I don't know if it's good work or not. I just get bored...starting a new class on tues and the jump season is already started with flying to be done this weekend and tues for the DZ.

Maybe I can give you guys a break and concentrate on getting good grades and having fun for a change.

I was merely pointing out that confused small town cops and irate car owners could be a bad day for someone who might have been stopped after driving off. Most people would understand what happened, but there's always that one guy in the newspaper saying, "I didn't do it!!! Honest!"

You're right, the owner should have not had the car unlocked with keys in it, but notice that the Wisconsin law doesn't say a thing about how the car became operated or driven...other than "intentionally" and "without consent".

My biggest worry for the guy that got in the car would have been in the case of an accident? Who's insurance would cover? Mine covers other people's cars if they loan me theirs. My company covers me in other cars, if they are rented for work.

But who's car insurance covers you when you don't belong in the car?
 
I had a similar incident, and it was VERY embarassing.

I had placed a nice boat in storage near a lake. Months went by; the time finally came for me to get the boat out and clean it up. I drove the long distance to the storage facility only to realize I had long since lost the key to my lock. So I drove to a hardware store and bought one of those HUGE lock cutters, like the ones the janitor used in school to snip locks off of lockers.

If you've never used one, they're impressive. I chopped that old lock off in moments. Too bad when I rolled up the storage door, I found some other dude's boat (and a jet ski) in MY storage unit. Oh, wait, COULD THIS BE SOMEONE ELSE'S UNIT? AUUGGG! (think Charlie Brown) Unfortunately, the security guy watched this whole thing go down, a bit suspicious, I'm sure.

I apologized profusely, and handed him the new lock and key that I'd bought for my storage unit. He laughed a bit and realized we were harmless and stupid. I was at least 4 doors off from the correct unit.
 
Mark (Lrjtcaptain) and I tore up a rental Explorer in Powell, Wyoming.

That was hysterical. We're rolling through mud, peeling out, offroading everywhere. At one point Mark turns to me and says "I don't think this is a road" we both look at each other, laugh, and I floor it.
Then we pick up our passenger and the truck is coated in mud.

Man that was fun.
 
Gorilla said:
I had a similar incident, and it was VERY embarassing.

I had placed a nice boat in storage near a lake. Months went by; the time finally came for me to get the boat out and clean it up. I drove the long distance to the storage facility only to realize I had long since lost the key to my lock. So I drove to a hardware store and bought one of those HUGE lock cutters, like the ones the janitor used in school to snip locks off of lockers.

If you've never used one, they're impressive. I chopped that old lock off in moments. Too bad when I rolled up the storage door, I found some other dude's boat (and a jet ski) in MY storage unit. Oh, wait, COULD THIS BE SOMEONE ELSE'S UNIT? AUUGGG! (think Charlie Brown) Unfortunately, the security guy watched this whole thing go down, a bit suspicious, I'm sure.

I apologized profusely, and handed him the new lock and key that I'd bought for my storage unit. He laughed a bit and realized we were harmless and stupid. I was at least 4 doors off from the correct unit.

That's hilarious...I have caught myself wondering why my key wouldn't open the door to my car, only to find that it was one that looked similar, parked in the same area.
 
my wife has a black jeep grand cherokee. I walked up to it, did the unlock thing, and it didn't light up. I did it again, same result, then I looked inside and saw the baby seat, realized it was the wrong car.
 
sky37d said:
my wife has a black jeep grand cherokee. I walked up to it, did the unlock thing, and it didn't light up. I did it again, same result, then I looked inside and saw the baby seat, realized it was the wrong car.
Was that before or after you saw the paternity suit papers laying on the front seat?


:beer:
 
Sorta related: One of my college roommates and I drove up to our other roommate's parent's cabin at Lake Tahoe. He described the place and gave us the address...and told us he'd meet us there on Saturday. We got in late on Frday night, finally found the place, and hit the rack. It was very nice two-story A-frame...well equipped.

The next morning we got up and foraged for food. The fridge was full of diabetes medicines and baby formula. Hmmmmm?

We ate pretzels and a couple of cans of peaches we found in the pantry. We spent the next few hours watching TV and wondering why there was so much baby stuff all over, since Marc was the youngest in his family.

At noon we were bored and starving so we hopped in the car to drive to McDonalds. On the other side of the street we spotted Marc's bright yellow Jeep.

Rut Row!

We ran back inside, grabbed all our crap, cleaned up everything that could be cleaned in 90-seconds, and hauled-butt over to the correct cabin.

After a few hours of peeking thru the blinds to see if the owners showed up (to be followed by the inevitable call to the cops), we agreed to drive back to school and avoid Lake Tahoe for the rest of our lives.
 
Hasn't there been a story of regional carrier pilots flying away in a plane belonging to another carrier.... i.e. ASA,ACA,Comair,SkyWest?, I don't remember the details, but have heard the story.

Lilah
 
I don’t know about taking another company’s a/c. But I remember a company e-mail about checking the release with the a/c n-number. In beagle speak means “some one took the wrong a/c don’t you do it”.
I really liked the e-mail about turning off both the engines before you leave.
 
Mistaken identity? How about grabbing the wrong luggage?

Why does just about every pilot not only have the same type of bag, but in black? I've personally now seen 4 incidents where halfway out to the aircraft on the crew bus, the guy realizes he's grabbed the wrong bag because it virtually looks identical to the other 1000+ bags in the crew area.

I made it a point to get a non-black, non-Travelpro/Purdy Neat Stuff bag. Otherwise, someone could end up seeing all my porn! (Just kidding about that last part...:) ).

FastCargo
 
You wonder sometimes about some shoplifting cases being an accident. I think it can happen.

I lost my garage door opener remote a long time ago and called up the local, "bob's overhead door and boat anchors" place and he had one in stock.

So I run down there, take a look at the unit and make sure it's the right one. We get to talking and he answers a few calls, shuffles some papers and since I'm off on a list of errands, I turn to leave. With the stupid remote in my pocket.

He just about has a goat..."Hey, aren't you going to pay me for that remote!" and he gets all windmilly, like I wouldn't have gotten home and realized that I needed to make a trip back to pay for the thing.

No problem, but don't freak out...next time, it'll be Shopko or Wal-Mart...they got the things just hanging on a rack for about 10 bucks cheaper, dude.
 
my old boss used to "rent" out my car when i was on a trip. I'd allways come back to a full tank and a 5 on the dash. Could never figure it out. My mom said, "I saw you in town but you didn't stop." I thought she was losing her mind.

Then i figured it out that when a person came into the airport, my boss would just say go ahead and take that truck there. It's a small town and we allways left our keys in our trucks.

So i started renting out his truck.

That ended that.
 
FN FAL said:
You wonder sometimes about some shoplifting cases being an accident. I think it can happen.

I lost my garage door opener remote a long time ago and called up the local, "bob's overhead door and boat anchors" place and he had one in stock.

So I run down there, take a look at the unit and make sure it's the right one. We get to talking and he answers a few calls, shuffles some papers and since I'm off on a list of errands, I turn to leave. With the stupid remote in my pocket.

He just about has a goat..."Hey, aren't you going to pay me for that remote!" and he gets all windmilly, like I wouldn't have gotten home and realized that I needed to make a trip back to pay for the thing.

No problem, but don't freak out...next time, it'll be Shopko or Wal-Mart...they got the things just hanging on a rack for about 10 bucks cheaper, dude.

When I was a young(er) lad, my bros and I used to drive down streets continually pushing the button to the garage door opener.
It was pretty interesting to see how many garages we could open up.
We would laugh and keep driving and then eventually go to Burger King and then harrass those idiots with the lowered trucks.
Ah, those were the days.
 
Occam's Razor said:
Sorta related: One of my college roommates and I drove up to our other roommate's parent's cabin at Lake Tahoe. He described the place and gave us the address...and told us he'd meet us there on Saturday. We got in late on Frday night, finally found the place, and hit the rack. It was very nice two-story A-frame...well equipped.

The next morning we got up and foraged for food. The fridge was full of diabetes medicines and baby formula. Hmmmmm?

We ate pretzels and a couple of cans of peaches we found in the pantry. We spent the next few hours watching TV and wondering why there was so much baby stuff all over, since Marc was the youngest in his family.

At noon we were bored and starving so we hopped in the car to drive to McDonalds. On the other side of the street we spotted Marc's bright yellow Jeep.

Rut Row!

We ran back inside, grabbed all our crap, cleaned up everything that could be cleaned in 90-seconds, and hauled-butt over to the correct cabin.

After a few hours of peeking thru the blinds to see if the owners showed up (to be followed by the inevitable call to the cops), we agreed to drive back to school and avoid Lake Tahoe for the rest of our lives.

He he, one night after a long day I got back to my apartment. Went inside, threw down my bag and remembered I needed to check the mail.
I go to the mailboxes and while walking back I start thumbing through the 3 days of mail and not really paying attention. I'm thinking "mmm, some bacon and eggs sound really good right now" as I scan a bill that is overdue.
I turn left, up the walkway, open the door, throw the mail on the table and head to the fridge only to find it fully stocked with food and beverage.
WHAT?
I then skedaddled out of there real quick, but rembering to grab my mail before I headed out the door.

I sneak peaks to see if anyone notices. THe good thing, my neighbor was in the laundry room and never suspected a thing. Whew.
 
Ill Mitch said:
When I was a young(er) lad, my bros and I used to drive down streets continually pushing the button to the garage door opener.
It was pretty interesting to see how many garages we could open up.
We would laugh and keep driving and then eventually go to Burger King and then harrass those idiots with the lowered trucks.
Ah, those were the days.

I can dig it...:laugh:
 
Ill Mitch said:
He he, one night after a long day I got back to my apartment. Went inside, threw down my bag and remembered I needed to check the mail.
I go to the mailboxes and while walking back I start thumbing through the 3 days of mail and not really paying attention. I'm thinking "mmm, some bacon and eggs sound really good right now" as I scan a bill that is overdue.
I turn left, up the walkway, open the door, throw the mail on the table and head to the fridge only to find it fully stocked with food and beverage.
WHAT?
I then skedaddled out of there real quick, but rembering to grab my mail before I headed out the door.

I sneak peaks to see if anyone notices. THe good thing, my neighbor was in the laundry room and never suspected a thing. Whew.

I was on the other end of one of those "mistakes".

My wife and I were talking one afternoon after work and we heard keys jingling in our door knob, it sounded like the person was adamant about getting in.

I kind of figured that it was mistaken residence syndrome based on what it sounded like, but I went down there loaded for bear with the USP .40 cal. Even as the person furtively attempted to make those keys work in our door, I positioned myself so that my foot would block the opening door and unlocked it, my pistol positioned along side my leg.

As the person pushed the door abruptly against my my foot, I stuck my face in the door, they shoved again. I just said, "don't push on the door again!"

He had a confused look on his face and then left. Could happen to anybody and guess what...he never knew that I was prepared for whatever.

Moral of the story? Everybody makes mistakes and there's no need to get 'windmilly' about it.

I placed myself in that guy's shoes...what if you tried to get into what you thought was your appartment and a stranger answered the door?
 
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cynic said:
So I go outside, open the door to a nice Nissan Minivan and the keys are in the ash tray.

I think your damn lucky that there wasn't an occupied child safety seat in the back.
 
Got the keys to the hotel room in Vegas one time, opened the door and there was a large, angry looking black man standing there in his underwear....:eek: I turned around and made a quick retreat before he could do or say anything.
 
KigAir said:
I think your dang lucky that there wasn't an occupied child safety seat in the back.
Or a Kilo of the white poney where the spare tire was supposed to be...or a rocket pod in the back seat.
 

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