Bad day for the FJR and me

[SkooterG]

One point I'd like to have clarified: Was the other FJR with the VIN that was pulled out of the cop's ass actually reported stolen by its owner, or did the cop just make that assumption based on the fact that the phantom FJR was registered to somebody other than who was riding it?
I find it hard to believe that the cop accidentally called in a random VIN belonging to a stolen FJR. I've been hanging around this place for over two years and don't remember very many stolen FJR's at all, if any. In fact, a search for the word "stolen" in a topic title turns up nothing on this forum connected to an FJR.

I'm sayin' the cops might have made that stolen shit up to help justify their weak-suck position after Barney Fife totally screwed the pooch.

Toe, that's a pretty strong accusation to just pull out of your ass IMHO. Especially if you go back and read RenoJohn's accounts of what happens, he already clarified that for the most part:

Apparently, when he called in the VIN ether he or dispatch transposed the last 2 digits of the VIN from 45 to 54. I can tell you the bike which end in 54 is a stolen FJR1300AE. I guess when dispatch confirmed the make, model, and color they did not feel the need to verify the VIN a second time just to be sure.

A cop is not going to do a felony takedown and arrest based on non-matching paperwork. You're right in that if that would ever happen it would be grossly negligent, but the odds of that happening are extremely slim. The cop did a felony takedown/arrest because his dispatch notified him of a "hit" - that the vehicle was a stolen vehicle. You find it hard to beleive? Mistakes happen all the time. Now the coincidence that an FJR with such a close VIN was reported stolen is amazing, but shit happens, right? It was just plain poor policework that the VIN was never verified at any part during this clusterfuck and everything sorted out.

Your tone suggest some bias or axe to grind. Waddup?

 

[Zoltan]

Bummer John T

Sounds like the mistake of that officer took a chunk out of your day.

You were lucky to have a lawyer available so quickly, or it would have been much worse.

I would ask the police to reimburse you for the lawyer fee and also ask them to give you confirmation, in writing, that this did not make it to the FBI database.

We all make mistakes, but you have spent enough time on this already. The least the police can do is completely rectify the situation, on their time.

Glad you are okay

Zoltan

 

[stellarsteve]

So let me get this straight, I assume the paperwork you gave him was some type of proof of purchase from the dealership (with YOUR name on it) and you gave him your ID/drivers license. Did he think that someone with the same name as what was on the proof of purchase stole the bike?

Like other people have said above, this would have been worth a doublecheck on the VIN number.

 

[Toecutter]

Your tone suggest some bias or axe to grind. Waddup?

I'm tryin' to help a brother out by asking the questions that need to be answered to help avoid a repeat of something like this in the future. We deal with numbers constantly in my line of work, mostly in the form of addresses. When somebody screws up the address, we go to the wrong house. In the meantime, somebody else might not be breathing at the right address. East v. West can be miles apart and even in a different city around these parts, which means delay in care and can result in death to the recipient of the screwup.

IMHO, a cop should make goddamm sure he has his numbers confirmed before he draws down on some human. And whatever happened needs to be determined and corrected for good. How do you think ol' John's gonna feel the next time he gets pulled over? All because of a stupid mistake.

We had an incident near my hometown a few years back where an officer, struggling with a suspect, pulled the wrong stun gun and accidentally gave the guy a fatal lead injection. Oops.

A license to kill comes with a corresponding amount of responsibility.

With age and experience comes wisdom. I've learned a couple of guidelines that have helped in my dealings with others. Rule #1. Nobody cares. Rule #2. The extent to which they appear to care is governed by self-interest. There are exceptions to every rule, but they are just that.

I've never had a business relationship with an attorney go off without me having to do some thinking for them, thinking which I assumed they were hired to do for me. In case John wants to pursue this to get the final analysis, he can use our input to assist him. Or not. But if I was the innocent guy that got to look down the wrong end of a heater, I'd damn sure be seeing it through to the end. There are no actual damages, other than psychological trauma, which isn't worth the trouble of pursuing, BTDT. However, getting all the answers can be very therapeutic toward the healing of those damages.

Like I said, trying to help a brother out.

Plus, in the respect of my own self-interest determining the extent to which I appear to care, I'm seeking confirmation that the random VIN actually belonged to an FJR that was reported stolen. The odds of that would be staggering, IMO (given that nobody has ever posted a stolen FJR on this forum), so my curiosity is piqued. In fact, I'll bet you a 20 that wasn't the case, if John's willing to PM me the VIN in question for purposes of my own confirmation.

 

[DocDanDC]

I call Bullsh't on the Stolen other FJR. I think Toe is correct. The Officer screwed up big time! Lucky nobody got shot! :angry:

 

[kulwen]

Toe, that's a pretty strong accusation to just pull out of your ass IMHO. Especially if you go back and read RenoJohn's accounts of what happens, he already clarified that for the most part:

Just a note:

I think there is a member by the name of RenoJohn, but it is not me.

I just don't want to pull him in this by mistake. What are the odds of two Johns owning FJRs in a small place like Reno and both members on this forum? Then, what are the odds of both of us having "john" in our user names?

Bummer John TSounds like the mistake of that officer took a chunk out of your day.

You were lucky to have a lawyer available so quickly, or it would have been much worse.

I would ask the police to reimburse you for the lawyer fee and also ask them to give you confirmation, in writing, that this did not make it to the FBI database.

"chunk out of your day" Heck, this started around 11:00 at night. I did not get home till around 4am, then I could not get to sleep. I wish it was during the day rather then night.

No lawyer fees on my part.

I pay $25 a month for a pre-paid legal service, plus $1 more for a service to help in the event I am arrested. The service does a bunch of other stuff such as prepare wills for members free.

The lawyer had a freind look into the FBI DB to see if I appear. At this time I do not, he is going to check again in 45 days just to make sure.

So let me get this straight, I assume the paperwork you gave him was some type of proof of purchase from the dealership (with YOUR name on it) and you gave him your ID/drivers license. Did he think that someone with the same name as what was on the proof of purchase stole the bike? Like other people have said above, this would have been worth a doublecheck on the VIN number.

From my first post:

"Apparently, when he called in the VIN ether he or dispatch transposed the last 2 digits of the VIN from 45 to 54. I can tell you the bike which end in 54 is a stolen FJR1300AE. I guess when dispatch confirmed the make, model, and color they did not feel the need to verify the VIN a second time just to be sure."

My ID/drivers license and insurance was all in order.

The paperwork (with my name and address matching my ID) and my FJR VIN numbers do match. Everyone here has nailed the issue on the head, he did not call the VIN in a second time to verify. He took make, model, and color details from the woman on the other end of the radio as confirmation it was the correct Bike. When he came to apologize, he told me this what he did. He told me if it had come back with a different make, model, and color he would have ran the VIN a second time. What are the odds of running the wrong VIN and it coming back as a silver Yamaha FJR1300? I know the VINs were only differant by 9 digits, but it seems long a long shot that would happen.

 

[Rogue]

What are the odds of running the wrong VIN and it coming back as a silver Yamaha FJR1300? I know the VINs were only differant by 9 digits, but it seems long a long shot that would happen.

Well I'll be you that 45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53 & 54 ALL would have come back as a silver FJR! since all AE models are silver and the VIN's for the AE's are probably different groups of numbers than the A's.

 

[otrfjr]

One point I'd like to have clarified: Was the other FJR with the VIN that was pulled out of the cop's ass actually reported stolen by its owner, or did the cop just make that assumption based on the fact that the phantom FJR was registered to somebody other than who was riding it?
I find it hard to believe that the cop accidentally called in a random VIN belonging to a stolen FJR. I've been hanging around this place for over two years and don't remember very many stolen FJR's at all, if any. In fact, a search for the word "stolen" in a topic title turns up nothing on this forum connected to an FJR.

I'm sayin' the cops might have made that stolen shit up to help justify their weak-suck position after Barney Fife totally screwed the pooch.

Toe, that's a pretty strong accusation to just pull out of your ass IMHO. Especially if you go back and read RenoJohn's accounts of what happens, he already clarified that for the most part:

Apparently, when he called in the VIN ether he or dispatch transposed the last 2 digits of the VIN from 45 to 54. I can tell you the bike which end in 54 is a stolen FJR1300AE. I guess when dispatch confirmed the make, model, and color they did not feel the need to verify the VIN a second time just to be sure.

A cop is not going to do a felony takedown and arrest based on non-matching paperwork. You're right in that if that would ever happen it would be grossly negligent, but the odds of that happening are extremely slim. The cop did a felony takedown/arrest because his dispatch notified him of a "hit" - that the vehicle was a stolen vehicle. You find it hard to beleive? Mistakes happen all the time. Now the coincidence that an FJR with such a close VIN was reported stolen is amazing, but shit happens, right? It was just plain poor policework that the VIN was never verified at any part during this clusterfuck and everything sorted out.

Your tone suggest some bias or axe to grind. Waddup?

Sticking my skinny neck on the line, but I think it's a fair question. I think we should ask along those line sans cop bashing (one of my best friends is a former trooper & everything I ever learned about radar evasion is thanks to him...not that I'm advocating avoiding getting blipped because we all know anything that exceeds the posted limit should occur on a closed course like all those commercials that have us hooked). If shit happens, why shouldn't shit be discussed? Given that this was a guy on an FJR at the time that the shit hit the fan, why shouldn't we hone a few edges? The next time I'm taken down at gun point (if I only had a quarter...), recalling this thread or searching for it might help an otherwise law-abiding citizen. Also, who's to say that I didn't purchase that 10-finger AE in question & want to make right so that no one else gets royally screwed by my bad judgment?

All the above is of course hypothetical. Except for the part about the quarter for every time being taken down at gunpoint.

But seriously, no disrespect meant, SkooterG & all the admins. Yes, there has been an insidious political element in some of the responses (yet nothing to warn the concealed carry crowd?), but I didn't take the original post as trying to incite those. But what do I know: I'm either A) a bike thief B) a state trooper C) an anarchist D) a transvestite writing from a jail cell E) a knowitall punk on an open forum F) a FNG or G) just some guy who just used up half his kharma.

I say let it roll in the off-topic subforum. What's the worst that can happen? Belay that: I have a pretty good idea of the PM's you'll get from the law enforcement agents who have every right & should be encouraged to join this Forum. Errr. yeah, so, how's the weather in your neck of the woods?

 

[SecuLaw]

At the risk of raising the dead (thread), my only question is.....did the cop buy your wife a Sunkist to replace the one that never made it home? :blink: