The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein | May 29, 2014
A woman who reported her car stolen to Portland police but was never told when the car was located and towed to a dealership plans to sue the city if she doesn’t get the car back or money to cover its value, according to a tort notice filed Wednesday.
Attorney Michael Fuller is representing Erica Battles of Southeast Portland, who had loaned the 2005 Dodge Magnum to her boyfriend last October.
The boyfriend, Jazman Moore, according to a police report, took the car to hang out with a friend at Sam’s Hideaway Lounge on Southeast 162nd Avenue. He picked up his cousin on the way there.
The cousin told Moore once they arrived that she didn’t have her identification and wouldn’t be able to get in. Moore parked the car in the club’s parking lot and ran inside to tell a friend he couldn’t stay. Moore left the keys in the ignition and the engine on as his cousin waited inside the car.
When Moore came out of the bar a few minutes later, the car and his cousin were gone, according to a police report.
Battles reported the car stolen, and Officer Sterling R. Farrar wrote up an incident report on Oct. 30. Farrar also tried to locate Moore’s cousin at two different addresses, but had no luck.
The car was found about one week later, but no one in the city notified Battles.
Sergeant’s Towing picked up the car on Nov. 6 from private property in the 12400 block of Southeast Caruthers Street after a homeowner’s association called the tow company to report it as abandoned. The tow company towed it to its lot on McLoughlin Boulevard.
The tow company impounded it and reported the car’s license and VIN to Portland police auto records within an hour of taking it, said Steve Preston, president of Sergeant’s Towing. Sergeants left the car alone for five or six days, and then filed a lien on it. The company obtained the owner’s name and address from the state DMV, and sent a certified letter to her home, which came back as undeliverable, Preston said.
What should have happened, Preston said, was if police had the vehicle reported stolen in October, police should have contacted Sergeant’s Towing and placed a hold on the vehicle, Preston said.
“That didn’t happen. They never contacted us to report it had been stolen,” Preston said.
Battles said she discovered her car’s location more than six months later during a call to state Driver and Motor Vehicle Services. It had been towed to Oregon Wholesale LLC on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard, which Preston runs, and advertised for sale on Craigslist.
Although she has the title to the car, she wasn’t able to retrieve it, Battles said. She tried to get an officer to go with her to get the car, but was told by police that the matter was a “civil” issue, she said.
“The Police failed to equally protect Ms. Battles as a crime victim, and violated her rights by failing to inform her when they located her car,” the tort claim notice said.
Battles is demanding $8,731.50 within 30 days, although she said she’d rather just have her car back.
“We own the car through a legal lien process. We still have the car. It’s sitting in our lot,” Preston said Thursday. “If she was wronged, we’d like to see her get her car back, but whoever made a mistake, owes us some money.”
Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said he could not comment on pending litigation.
