Grand theft auto, operating a chop shop, and busted with the pieces of an 800 mile 2005 Ford GT

a 30 year old and 48 year old guy got arrested Monday, and arraigned in court today. They plead not guilty to 11 counts.

When is the last time you heard of a stolen car getting recovered? When is the last time you heard of a chop shop and car theft ring getting busted?

All the parts of the GT were recovered, except for the steering wheel, carpet, and seats. Two Porches were also recovered.. the thieves were driving them.

Story and images from http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/aug/02/arrests-made-theft-250k-ford-gt/

Street racing near Seattle, now on a National Geographic Channel tv show "Street Heat: High Speed Justice"

from the press release: This one-hour special takes viewers to the streets of Kent, Washington, where nighttime street racing is a way of life-and a zero-tolerance crime.
 Every summer weekend, hundreds of street racers unleash their souped-up rides on Kent's notorious street racing scene, turning the city into a high-octane playground where one false move could result in tragedy. 
And every weekend, an elite task force of law enforcement has just one mission-to stop the racers in their tracks. Using their own high-performance vehicles to even the playing field, it's a battle for the streets as officer’s chases racers down side roads, main thoroughfares, and through warehouse lots trying to keep one step ahead. But with speeds topping 120 miles an hour, the stakes are high-and this cat-and-mouse game can turn deadly.

Street Heat: High Speed Justice

Premieres Fri, 31 Aug at 11:00pm  on National Geographic Channel

Bought at auction, for 3.8 million, displayed at the Techno Classica in Essen, where it was seized by police, and given by the courts to claimants of being the grandkids of the original owner... a 1937 Mercedes 500 K Spezial Roadster

A court in Hamburg ruled that the historic Mercedes, which was seized by German police in April from its display at the Techno Classica car event in Essen, is the rightful property of the grandchildren of the industrialist who owned the car before it was taken by U.S. soldiers in the final days of the war

The rare car was purchased by Dutch collector Frans van Haren for nearly $3.8 million in August from the RM collector-car auction at Monterey, Calif. After shipping the spectacular roadster to Holland, he brought the car to Germany to show at Techno Classica, and was shocked when police took the opportunity to seize the car once it was back in their jurisdiction

The Mercedes disappeared while Prym was serving a prison sentence under the Allies, and his estate in Stolberg was being used as a base for U.S. troops during their march into Germany.

Photos and info from http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/vintage-german-heirs-reclaim-ownership-of-1937-mercedes-benz-500-k
 via the Vintage Racing League newsletter

Can you see what is wrong in this picture?

Poser alert. Wanna be cop with a security guard job bought himself an ex cop motorcycle with Motorola antenna pack, lights, and saddle bags. Sheesh. Get a life

the wide variety of cool car stuff I found on The Kevin Chen . wordpress.com

 the above is incredible timing by the photographer. Astonishing.

 Wow. Has training wheels, cause it weighs so much you ain't gonna be able to pick it up when it falls over

 all righty. This is the most overkill of the flying tigers motif, but I like it, it works.

 Dead on. Nailed it.

 If you wonder why the above is interesting, look at a Veyron

 1962 Indianapolis car of Lesovsky

 Photoshopped, but bitchin

 cause yes, smoking is deadly, but still looks cool

 The reason the engine is displayed, is the photo on the wall behind it, of the racing boat

 this looks like fun actually

 yeah, the bike takes a second to work out... but it's revolutionary.

 Soooo happy days

 Grrrr

 Solex motor scooter coverted to hubless rims... now that is a lot of time on an inventors hands.

 Not photoshopped.... but unreal. I don't have answers, just freaky photos

 Oklahoma state troopers seized this Busa, then said screw it, we need to see how long it takes for a cop to kill himself on it. Seriously you morons, it's a 200 mph suicide machine... you have radios, lots of cops for back up, and probably even telephones, and helicopters. You don't need to chase the bad guys at 200mph. Or even at 100mph. Use your brains while their inside the helmet, not splattered on the back of a semi trailer

 Yup, if the town has a name, that name in front of the word "Police" is going to sound funny to everyone who doesn't live there

 Ride the goat.

 Steve McQueen's Siata interior, and Tag Heuers

ummm, rubbbing is racing even when it's not at a Nascar event?

All from the very enormous diversity and eminently enjoyable http://thekevinchen.wordpress.com/

Coolest pennyfarthing ever! Steam punk to boot, and looks like the first Japanese motorcycle cop

Found on http://cyclemaster.wordpress.com/

What the hell is a train cop doing driving a law enforcement rigged out Explorer on the Las Vegas interstate 15? Making idiots slow down instead of speeding is all. Who let the Union Pacific get a light bar on top of their truck with red & blues? I passed the SOB just to take these photos

Stupid rent a cop. Get off the damn freeway, you're holding up traffic, and scaring the luddites. 

Things I never paid attention to with the California DMV car registration renewal form

It doesn't make sense that California has a registration fee, which is the form, and the reason they send it, and what you expect to pay to keep your car registered... though why cars must be registered is absurd to me. What, does the government need to know that you have a car? Do they need to know what cars, how many, how old, and the serial number of them? No idea what that information can do for the public good.

So anyway, what is the different license fee? Are we being charged to display that license? Why aren't we being paid to advertise the state we live in on a envelope sized aluminum tag on the back of our car?

Avoid New Mexico's Dona Ana County traveling friends... they locked a guy in solitary for two years without a trial. No judge, no sentence, no charges. True story

Slevin was awarded $22 million in damages by a federal jury for his ordeal, which involved being confined to a small cell with no natural light for 23 hours a day.

Meanwhile, his relatives were trying to find out: where's Stephen?

for most of his 22-month detainment, was that he was in "deplorable" conditions of his solitary "pod," court documents state, except for a 14-day period in May 2007, when he was sent to New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, N.M., for a psychiatric review. He had lost a third of his body weight by that point, documents say, and had bed sores and a fungal infection on his skin.

It wouldn't be until months later that Slevin's sister, whose name and location [attorney Matt] Coyte did not give, found out what her brother was going through: Forced to pull out his own tooth because he was denied access to a dentist, he told reporters on Tuesday. Toenails curling around his foot because they were so long. Basically forgotten about in his dark cell for more than 22 months.

“There was no doctor looking after him. There was a nurse, the nurse practitioner.”
But the so-called nurse practitioner only had a bachelor’s degree in psychology and no actual medical qualifications, KOB reported.

Dona Ana County officials were tight-lipped about the case, refusing to answer questions about whether any jail employees were reprimanded or fired over Slevin's treatment.

So, I won't be driving through that county... ever.


News excerpts from http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10243856-letters-from-solitary-confinement-reveal-dwi-mans-despair but you'll find the same info everywhere around the internet... this is appalling. Nothing about being a citizen with constitutional rights was ever applied to this man until his lawyer got the County of Dona Ana of New Mexico sued.

And if you think this is just an isolated incident, and that this Dona Ana County doesn't have problems?

(Mayor Elect) Daniel Salinas, of Sunland Park, was arrested overnight Monday on bribery and conspiracy charges alleging he gave acting Police Chief Luis Monarez his job in exchange for persuading Monarez’s sister not to run against a Salinas ally for City Council, according to Dona Ana County Assistant District Attorney

Salinas had already posted $50,000 cash following his arrest in late February on extortion and other charges related to accusations that he and the city manager tried to force an opponent out of the mayor’s race with a secretly recorded video of him getting a lap dance.

Side note, from the DSC show on 100.7 Jack FM news, the opponent mentioned above was running for Mayor, and while giving a job interview and accompanied by his election campaign manager, the interviewee started up music and stripped off her top. Bingo, caught on film, total set up. Feb 24 podcast #4 of 4 http://www.sandiegojack.com/global/Story.asp?s=12880043

That set off a widespread probe that has resulted in eight arrests of current and former city officials on bribery, extortion, voter fraud and other charges.

From the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/sunland-park-nm-mayor-elect-accused-in-lap-dance-video-arrested-again-for-other-alleged-plot/2012/03/20/gIQA20JfPS_story.html

Why did I post this? We all drive, and occasionally we drive through some scary places. I don't want you to go through there without being warned. Seriously.

stolen cars

what do you think the ratio of stolen cars, to located cars, to convictions for car thefts is... and how many cops are working on stolen car reports....

vs

how many cops are working speed traps / radar speed limit enforcement.

Yeah, I have a low opinion of law enforcement priorities. Based on facts, and the local newpaper reporters doing diligent investigative journalism. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/12/about-40-of-all-tickets-written-in-san.html

Here in San Diego, if your car is stolen, you can forget it. go to your insurance company, and deal with them. 

Zora Duntov and the Chevrolet skunkworks built 40 special 1959 Biscaynes, Police specials... Zora used his as the test mule

348/350 HP law-enforcement pursuit vehicles, featured in Motor Trend (Dec. 58) and Muscle Car Review (Feb 2008)

They were faster than that years best factory Ferrari according to Musclecar Review.. well, Zora's was the test mule and got the special treatment you'd expect the boss and leader of the Chevy racing program to get... it was capable of 135mph

the photos are from this auction listing, that states it's thought to be the last one left, and was originally delivered to the Oregon St Police http://mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=CA0810-96579

I wish I had more of infographics like this to share, this is awesome, and found on SwissStache... "What cop car lights look like"

from http://swissstash.tumblr.com/

I can't find a bigger source of infographics, but I also couldn't find any I found interesting at http://infographics.alltop.com/

About 40% of all tickets written in San Diego are in just 4 locations, and 2 are basically College student areas

11% near SDSU at College Avenue between El Cajon Boulevard and Montezuma Road

5% in Pacific Beach, Garnet Avenue between Ingraham Street and Balboa Avenue

another of the top 5 most ticketed is also in Pacific Beach, coming down Mt Soledad rd to Balboa

So, are cops targetting young speeders? Seems like it. But keep in mind what I posted http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/01/speed-limit-enforcement.html about cops giving speeding tickets, they prefer to ticket in the 2nd or higher price bracket... not in the 5 to 15 mph over, but over 15 mph over the posted speed limit when fines really get expensive... because a million people driving the same way 5 miles over the limit as they do at the limit, versus a few people driving way over the limit who will get fined enormously for driving near or over the limit of their braking and avoidance ability is another way to see the issue, but keep reading to see that it really is all about the money.

So reading on the article, you find that the first one I wrote about, the 11% of all tickets in San Diego, the most of any place in San Diego, are at the bottom of the hills on either side of a speed limit drop zone of 600 feet (for nothing different in the road condition, no schools) because it's a senior citizen residential block where the speed drops from 35 to 25 (again... at the bottom of two hills when you've got gravity speeding you up), and to quote the reporter "Nearly all the tickets were issued in the senior zone when drivers exceeded 40 miles per hour, causing fines to increase by $125 or more."  confirming what I said about the 15 and over ticketing method causing fines to increase by $125 or more.
Using today’s fine amounts, the drivers ticketed on the College Avenue stretch during the year reviewed were fined more than $600,000. If all of the drivers paid those fines — and some do not — the city’s take would be more than $109,000 with the rest going to the county or the state.

Here is where you can see its all about the money... putting in a stop light will cost about a half million, writing tickets will earn about 20% more than that, about $600,000

More than that, the reporter, Matt Clark doesn't hold back.. I like that! He puts the matter in clear perspective when he points out
In the College Avenue zone (the one I've been talking about), 39 accidents occurred and cops handed out 1,678 tickets between July 2005 and June 2010,

Other areas of the city had more accidents — and fewer speeding tickets.

Three people died in 104 accidents on University Avenue between Park Boulevard and Utah Street in North Park. Officers issued five speeding tickets.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/dec/18/11-city-speeding-tickets-written-one-spot/?page=1#article

All fired up? Or would you like to read a really good rant about speed traps and how people got fed up and fought back? http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/01/here-comes-rant-moneymaking-speedtraps.html