| Author |
Message |
R. TERRY (207.230.144.240)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 11:03 pm: | |
My GMC RTS II has been stolen.
I am at a loss to describe the empty feeling that struck me when I discovered my bus was missing. First, I was overwhelmed with disbelief; it had been parked right there, in THAT spot. Now it was GONE!
I stood there for a long time thinking this wasn't possible. It wasn’t a Dodge Viper or a Corvette, or a Harley that was missing, it was a retired old city bus, for God’s sake! Who the hell would steal one of those?
The police didn’t want to believe it either.
“Your WHAT?”
“My city bus,” I tried to explain.
“For one thing,” the officer corrected me, “you don’t own a city bus. Only the City owns a city bus.”
“OK, I’m sorry,” I said upon greater reflection, “it’s a TRANSIT bus that I bought from the City of Phoenix and it just happens to look exactly like a city bus.”
I had the title with me to prove it. Both police officers looked at the title.
“This isn’t a valid VIN number,” one of them said. “There’s no such thing as a three-digit VIN number.” While waiting for the police to run a complete search of all MVD records pertaining to the vehicle in question, I tried to convince the officers that when I bought the bus at a surplus auction last August it came from the City of Phoenix with paperwork that showed only a three-digit VIN number. “Well, maybe it did,” the officer conceded, “but take my word for it, this can’t be a good VIN number.”
MVD reported no problems, ownership was correct and their records showed a three-digit VIN number. The officer handed back the title and said, “You need to look on the vehicle and confirm the VIN number because there simply aren’t any three-digit VIN numbers, I don’t care what this title says.”
“I’d like to do that, but the bus has been STOLEN! That’s why I am here talking to you now.” Apparently, it’s not everyday that someone rolls up to the police sitting in the parking lot of a Jack-in-the-Box and reports that their privately owned city bus has been ripped off. What are the odds? I mean, these guys are used to wacko stuff. And here I am. His reply was, “How do you know it was stolen?”
It took an hour to elaborate on everything I knew about the situation and for him to write it all down, every last detail. Before I finished, he interjected, “You know, this may just be a civil matter.” It even began to sound fishy to me. For a moment I thought, that would be great if the bus had just been misplaced. It made me feel better for about one second.
No, that’s not it at all. I am here with the police because of a stolen vehicle.
To be continued…
R. TERRY |
Jayjay (198.81.26.108)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 2:16 am: | |
My sympathy for your plight. I know the feeling about the incredulity of officers. No one wants to believe that the VIN number on my 4905 is # 122! I hope it turns up soon. ...JJ |
pete (152.163.188.227)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 7:17 am: | |
Spread it out hit all the bus boards with a discription. sorry to hear about the rig..personally..when found and who took it..broken kneecaps work for me
I have hidden a kill switch that goes directly to the starter to stop just this thing cause there was a 4501 stolen in AZ a year or 2 ago |
Geoff (Geoff) (66.238.120.14)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 8:39 am: | |
I think the cops may have thought it could have been removed by the landowner. I assume you contacted the owner of the lot to make sure he didn't have it towed away? Otherwise, grand theft bus is a heinous crime. But what do you do with a bus? Joy ride? Strip it down and cut up the body? Sounds like a lot of work! Hope it shows up in one piece soon. Oh, and the serial number plate is located above the transmission on the side "wall"-- you can see it once you open the side door. My RTS vin is:
1GOYT82J3CV820382
just you know it is more than three numbers.
--Geoff
'82 RTS CA |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (65.73.177.34)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 2:38 pm: | |
Aren't you in Phoenix?
I hope I am wrong, but I wonder if it may have gone south of the border. How about checking the border crossings to see if they remember it going over.
Good luck with your search.
Peter. |
Charles Seaton (205.183.220.250)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 3:36 pm: | |
Yeah, Mexico sounds right to me,too. Let this be a lesson for all of us. Hidden kill switch or conversion to key start sounds good.
Sorry about your loss. |
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