Bryan Smith Speaks of unconscionable but do the same rules apply when the shoe is on his foot? Below the commentary is a letter from Howard Karsh who is pissed off and rightfully so. Remember, next time it might be one of your people.
The fees accruing by the minute are the mechanism that places so many vehicles on the auction block, any one familiar with the Impound Policies can easily notice a vehicle sinking in quicksand. It is wrong to blame an insider for taking the opportunity when the city policies are the reason people lose their vehicles. In a nutshell the fee to get the vehicle was already out of reach for the owner to pay, the problem is somebody else had their eyes already focused on the vehicle and didnt get it. In other words the owner had already lost the vehicle and the officer at least gave them more than they would have ever received from the city. The same methodology applies with the property tax seizures, an one familiar with the Nueces County Policies can interdict a property before it becomes the property of the County. The outrageous and unconscionable price gouging will make even the fortunate ones who pay the ransom say OUCH!
Will everyone Acquiesce until it is their Automobile being held for ransom?
I sent the following message to all of the city council members, the mayor and the city manager.My son was carjacked and attacked with tire irons last Sunday night November 23, 2007 at 5pm in the parking lot of Wings and More on Staples and Wooldridge. He was pulled form his car while parked with the engine running. One of his attackers threatened that he was going to kill my son when my son fought back and defended himself. He received several injuries including a tire iron to the face which required stitches and left my son with a cheek broken in three places. He was also hit in the back of the head with a tire iron by a second attacker and had his finger broken while defending himself from the tire iron attack. A female Tammy Bond had arranged for my son to meet her at this location. My son ran to Wings and More to get away from his attackers when he heard a the third Hispanic male threatening to kill him while reaching into a vehicle for what my son thought might be another weapon, possibly a gun. The woman Tammy Bond proceeded to drive off in my sons car.
The car was found the next morning completely cleaned out. The carjackers got my sons laptop, calculator, text books, schoolwork projects and notes. they also stole his work clothes and bartending supplies. My son has suffered physical and emotional damage. He is a Deans list student at TAMU and has had to take an incomplete in one class and may lose one of his part time jobs because he has to makeup time for losing his school materials before finals The car itself has sustained several thousand dollars in damage.
To add insult to injury the Corpus Christi Police Department Impound lot charged my son $193.30 for towing and impounding his car for one day. A city police office has informed me that the city only pays $25 for towing. There was only one "clerk" to handle the crowd of people trying to get their vehicles released. Fortunately we did have the resources to get my sons car out of the impound lot before the interest accrued to the point where the city would have been the second carjacker in less than a week. Fortunately he was able to get his car started without my help because only one of us was allowed to inspect the car and remove it from the impound lot. Another unnecessary obstacle to retrieving the vehicle. It is incredible to me the hurdles the city has placed to prevent people form getting their cars out of impound. No wonder several police officers were able to scam the public at the impound lot. Unfortunately it is the very policy of the city that appears to have made their scam work. I believe I am entitled to and want an accounting from you and the City of Corpus Christi to explain to me how a $25 towing fee can be inflated to $193.30 and why the City of Corpus Christi has further victimized my son.
We picked up my sons car last week. Attached is the receipt showing the charges we had to pay to get his car released. I erased his name and address on this receipt. We will have to have the auto cleaned as it was covered inside and outside with fingerprint dust (I'm not complaining about the cleaning.) Just one more expense. Brought the car into the shop where they found brake damage all around. Tie rod damage. A cracked radiator and windshield. All of which my mechanic assures me was most probably caused by the carjackers. My mechanics records do not show any of these problems and he has been maintaining the car since we purchased it from its original owner two or three years ago. The insurance company, State Farm is only willing to pay for the brake and windshield damage. We have also requested that the insurance company kicks in for changing the locks as the thieves still have his car keys. The insurance company is refusing to pay to re-key the car. Not like these carjackers live in New York or Detroit. My son met this woman where he was working as a bartender. What's to stop her or her friends from finding his car where they know he works and stealing it again with the keys? We are still negotiating. Anyhow, all his school books, papers, calculator and lap top are gone and not covered by our home insurance or car insurance. His work clothes, shoes, and bartending supplies were also stolen. Even the car manual was stolen. His car was completely emptied. the only thing they left was the doughnut spare. My son has had to take an incomplete in one course and may lose a part time day job because he had to ask for the time off to catch up on studying for his finals without his notes, calculator, memory sticks and laptop. Then there is the inconvenience to the family as we are now down one car and have to share our vehicles so everyone can get where they need to go. I'll have to re-key all the house locks because they got his house keys. I won't recount here the physical and emotional injuries my son is suffering from or the emotional toll it has taken on myself and his mother and sisters. We are all looking over our shoulders and double locking the doors. Anyhow, with all this c*#! it really burns me to have to pay the city $193 for towing and storing his car. One police officer I have heard from has informed me that towing costs the city $25. If the city impound lot belongs to the citizens, why I am paying them rent for the property that belongs to me. Truth is I have resources so all though it hurts I can pay to get my car released.The night of the crime the police went to this womans house, her name is Tammy Bond. There were three males with her. One had outstanding warrants so they arrested him. My son picked out two of the three from a photo lineup as his attackers. The last we heard there are warrants out for the carjackers my son identified.
Howard Karsh
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Kenedeno & Associates
