Topic: Arrested for stealing a truck, by buying it.
Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
Colossal blunder has buyers fuming
By PATRICK BRETHOUR
Thursday, December 19, 2002 � Print Edition, Page A1
CALGARY -- When the men with handguns burst out of the two black vans parked near his new truck, Graeme Harfman's first thought was that he was going to be carjacked.
Then he realized the gun-toting men were police. And then he and his pregnant wife, Michelle, were forced to the pavement of a mall parking lot and handcuffed -- because police had been mistakenly told that the Harfmans' new $58,000 pickup was stolen from a car dealership.
"Take care of my wife, she's pregnant!" the 33-year-old electrical engineer recalls screaming as a police officer knelt on his back.
The couple spent only a few minutes in handcuffs before police realized that they had made a giant blunder, a chain of errors that began with a mix-up of paperwork at the dealership where Mr. Harfman had bought the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado nine days before and ended in the armed takedown on Dec. 15, complete with police dogs.
The Harfmans, thankful that their unborn baby is not injured, are nevertheless furious -- but not at Calgary police. They said their anger is directed toward the dealership, Shaganappi Chevrolet Oldsmobile, whose staff told police last Friday that a Silverado had been stolen from their lot.
The previous week, Mr. Harfman had picked up what he thought was his newly bought truck from the dealership. The salesman he had dealt with was on holiday and a second salesperson mistakenly gave Mr. Harfman a pewter Silverado that had been sold to another customer.
When that client arrived to pick up the vehicle, it couldn't be found. The dealership staff checked with their suppliers, and the provincial vehicle-registry office, but came up empty. Shaganappi Chev-Olds even contacted the OnStar service to see if the on-board communications system had been activated. It had not.
Concluding that theft was the only possible explanation, the dealership alerted Calgary police. Police then tapped into the OnStar satellite system to find the Silverado, pinpointing the pickup just as the Harfmans pulled out of an auto-parts shop on their way to do some Christmas shopping at a northeast Calgary mall.
Hours later, the couple were put in handcuffs as they returned from Wal-Mart.
For its part, the dealership acknowledges it made a serious error, and has apologized several times to the Harfmans, including offering to pay for a weekend trip to Banff. But general manager Ben Maitland said his employees believed a vehicle had been stolen, and acted appropriately. He added that if the change in ownership had been registered, or if the OnStar system had been activated, his staff would not have reported the vehicle stolen. (Mr. Harfman had almost a week to go in the 15-day period car buyers are allowed in Alberta to register their vehicles.)
The couple consulted a lawyer, but do not plan to sue.
Mr. Harfman said he and his wife were freed as soon as police were able to speak with staff at the dealership and confirm that they had not stolen the vehicle.
In the fifth month of her term, Mrs. Harfman wasn't obviously pregnant. But the couple were already worried about the child, which will be their first, even before the arrest. Mrs. Harfman, 40, had miscarried 18 months ago and had quit her job to ensure that this pregnancy went smoothly.
They lauded the police for being quick to apologize, and trying to inject a bit of humour into a traumatic situation. "This will be something to put in your scrapbook for your baby," one officer said. Police also called emergency medical services when Mrs. Harfman complained of abdominal pains.
But the couple do question why police rushed at them with guns drawn. "We were treated like criminals," Mrs. Harfman said.
Calgary Police Staff Sergeant Paul McCorquindale said the officers violated no procedures, but added that a less aggressive approach was an option.
While the entire episode started with a simple human error at the dealership, its staff should not have been so hasty in contacting police, he said. "Negligence is a little bit strong, but there was certainly neglect on their part in procedure or process."
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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"He added that if the change in ownership had been registered, or if the OnStar system had been activated, his staff would not have reported the vehicle stolen."
I sure hope he was only throwing this in as information, because it sure sounds like he's trying to shift some blame onto the customers.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Well, if I need a new car I know where I can get one, all I have to do is activate the OnStar.... It will, by the sounds of it, take a bit of searching through paperwork to see if the car had been stolen or not, so I can get in the general direction I want to go...
I might even send them a thank you note when I am done with it....
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
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"He added that if the change in ownership had been registered, or if the OnStar system had been activated, his staff would not have reported the vehicle stolen."
I sure hope he was only throwing this in as information, because it sure sounds like he's trying to shift some blame onto the customers.
Probably if they had activated the on-board system, he'd still have called the police, and the makers of America's Dumbest Criminals. 8)
posted
Canada. As a resident of the city in question, I can tell you that many of us had a good laugh over it - and we were more than a little amazed taht the police would whip out the guns and take people down over a "stolen" car. Dunno how you do stuff in the States concerning this sort of crime, but around here that sort of police behaviour is not very common.
And that is so fucking typical, shift the blame to the customers.
I know what I'd due in that situation... Lawyers. Lots of them. In the end, I'd make it so that dealership would be unable to sell shit to a toilet.
-------------------- Like A Bat Out Of Hell...
Registered: Aug 2001
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
quote:Originally posted by Mark Nguyen: Canada. As a resident of the city in question, I can tell you that many of us had a good laugh over it - and we were more than a little amazed taht the police would whip out the guns and take people down over a "stolen" car. Dunno how you do stuff in the States concerning this sort of crime, but around here that sort of police behaviour is not very common.
Mark
Unless you live in Saskatoon! I swear, Saskatoon cops must be the worst I've ever seen.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
quote:Originally posted by Styrofoaman: That's uncalled for.
And that is so fucking typical, shift the blame to the customers.
I know what I'd due in that situation... Lawyers. Lots of them. In the end, I'd make it so that dealership would be unable to sell shit to a toilet.
You have anger issues.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The last part is almost right... But if they can't sell shit to a toilet how can they pay those lovely payments to you for the rest of your unborn child's kids natural lives???
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
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quote:I can tell you that many of us had a good laugh over it - and we were more than a little amazed taht the police would whip out the guns and take people down over a "stolen" car. Dunno how you do stuff in the States concerning this sort of crime, but around here that sort of police behaviour is not very common.
Really? Here in the States, the officers' safety is the paramount concern. I guess cops in Canada are psychic and know when the people they're going to bust are carrying guns or not. And it's important to note that with the information the cops had, they DID believe the car to be stolen.
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: You have anger issues.
Prehaps I'd think it funny if the same thing hadn't happened to me. Twice now. Once with a brand new car they "forgot" to enter into the system and once with a new computer.
Registered: Aug 2001
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
I smell bacon, I smell pork, look out piggies I got a fork!
Cops are so dumb. Maybe if cops were psychic, they could know who's actually speeding, instead of just pulling someone over because that person MIGHT be speeding, while about five other people who ARE speeding whiz by. Radar guns are worthless. Half the time the cops pull the wrong person for speeding. Then they expect YOU to be nice to them, cause they were suffering in thier air conditioned cars eating donuts and coffee all day, while your sitting there in you car getting a ticket for speeding, which you weren't.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
quote:Half the time the cops pull the wrong person for speeding.
And what do you base this on? Oh, right, you're pulling it out of your ass because you got a speeding ticket (surprise, you were speeding) and have decided that all cops are idiots, because one cop caught you speeding and gave you a ticket (because speeding is illegal and endangers lives, and it's his or her duty to enforce the laws that say that speeding is illegal -- gasp, what a concept, that's why police are known as "law enforcement officers", because, see, they enforce the law).
Da_Bang, I realize that you're a complete and total idiot, and I just wonder if you realize that your posts are quite literally screaming "complete and total idiot."
If you don't want to get a speeding ticket, don't fucking speed. Simple concept. I hope if you're ever mugged, and a cop saves your worthless self, that you'll have the balls to tell him, "I smell bacon, I smell pork, look out piggies I got a fork!"
I hope this post hasn't offended anyone, but certain assholes who give police shit for doing their jobs really piss the living daylights out of me. If you break the law, and you get caught, have the balls to blame yourself for the transgression.
Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Umm Actually I didn't get a ticket. My friend who was driving got one and he wasn't speeding, and when he told the cop that, he gave him a warning for arguing with him. I know he wasn't speeding cause I saw that the speedometer was 45 KM/H. And when I mentioned that POLITELY to the nice surly policeman, he didn't even listen.
And secondly, I never said that line about piggies, my friend did. And it's just my opinion if I don't like police, they assume that cause were teenagers, we were the ones speeding. I would never say "I smell bacon I smell pork look out piggies I got a fork" to a cop, cause even though I completely disagree with thier policies, I still respect the police because they do keep the peace. Not only that I'd only get in crap. I know my friend did.(I'm sorry if i didn't clarify that)
And I didn't pull the speeding thing out of my ass, there was a report done in saskatchewan a couple years back, that said that 78% of people pulled over for speeding WEREN'T speeding, the radar gun can't tell them who speeds, just that someone speeds and they choose who THEY think is the most likely to be speeding (again I apologize for not clarifying, I should have worded it better, but I was still angry from the incident. and I said some things that probably did sound stupid)
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
People need to stop and think about a cop's life. They work very VERY hard, sometimes 12-16 hours a day. Their work is dangerous and difficult. On top of that, they live in the proverbial fishbowl;their every act is monitored, scrutinized, and frequently criticized. Their pay is low, and their stress levels are through the roof (police work has one of the highest suicide rates on the books, along with high rates of stress-linked illnesses [such as heart attacks]).
Think about THAT, before you smart off to the next cop you encounter. They deserve to be treated with respect.
Registered: Mar 2002
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