TEXAS CAR THIEVES

The next time you see a tow truck hauling a late model sports car, there is a good chance you are actually watching a car theft in progress.

One of my past consumer investigations dealt with car thieves who would cruise the suburbs of Houston, Texas in tow trucks looking for late model cars and trucks to steal. Houston Police Detectives tipped me on the vehicle theft ring.

I went with the cops and we watched from undercover as these bold thieves could hook up cars on their tow trucks and tow them to their storage yard. If they were stopped by police and asked about the car they were towing, the driver would show a work order for a tow job in that area. If the cops already knew it was a stolen car, the driver would simply say he made a mistake and picked up the wrong car. The thieves would then take the car back. But most of the time they were never stopped. Since they picked up the cars in the early morning hours, it was not until hours later that the owner reported the car stolen. By then the car was already in the thieves storage yard and covered.

After the detectives had followed the tow truck with the stolen car to the storage yard, they were ready to get their search warrant and raid the facility.

The raid went down at 6 a.m. on a warm Saturday morning south of Houston.

When the cops and I and my photographer walked up with the warrants, the faces of the crooks dropped below chin level. The search warrant said we were there to look for stolen vehicles. The crooks immediately told us there were no stolen cars or trucks in their salvage yard.

As the detectives spread out looking at vehicle license plates and VIN numbers, and checking the numbers against their stolen vehicle hot sheet, the crooks starting changing their tune. Now they started singing, "Perhaps if there are some stolen cars and trucks here it's because they were picked up by mistake by those dumb tow truck drivers." The cops, yelling out numbers as they identified the stolen cars, wiped out their song of innocence.

The detectives now handcuffed the three crooks so they could not call the business owner and warn him. The owner was apparently having a late breakfast and didn't arrive for about an hour or so. The cops had identified at least 12 stolen cars in the yard and some others that were missing the vehicle identification numbers. When the owner arrived he was outraged that the police were there and that I was there with a photographer. He said we had no right to take pictures and report on the stolen cars found on his private property. He said he was going to sue me and the TV station for violating his rights. (Are those his rights as a citizen, or as a citizen car thief?) I told him I didn't realize there were rights to steal other people's cars. I continued to try and interview him about the stolen vehicles and how they got in his salvage yard. The owner and his workers were arrested and put into a police car. But as the owner was being escorted to the patrol unit he took a swing at me and hit me a good one. The cops pulled him away and pushed him into a police unit. He was protesting violations of his rights all the way into the backseat of the unit.

That night I had a lead story on the 6 O'clock Evening News about the theft ring and the finding of about 12 stolen cars and trucks at the local business. The story showed pictures of how some of the vehicle identification numbers had been removed.

It was a big consumer story in Houston and the other media quickly followed up with their own stories.

Just like the owner had promised, he and his partner in crime sued the TV station and me. He charged us with damaging their car theft ring by exposing them on the evening TV news. You heard it right!  They said they could no longer receive stolen cars because all the thieves now knew they had been caught by the cops. So since they could not stay in the stolen car business they wanted us to pay them $3 million in damages for reporting that they had been caught.

It was really legally dumb to sue me in civil court while they were being prosecuted in criminal court. The reason is under the law I have "the right of discovery", That means they have to turn over all their books and records to me. So, we gathered all the information that the District Attorney couldn't legally get his hands on and we turned it over to the D.A. In fact, the District Attorney says it really helped them produce a good case against the crooks.<

They were found guilty and given one year in jail and they were still suing me and the TV station.

That's right, the crooks were found guilty of stealing the cars and now they wanted me and my employer to pay damages because we exposed and destroyed their car theft business.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT the case went before a jury in Harris County District Court.

Their attorney, who wore western boots, a large gray Stetson hat, and a rumpled light gray double vested suit, told the jury he would prove that I and the TV station had caused these honest businessmen $3 million in damages. He called a tow truck driver to the stand. The attorney, with his Stetson sitting squarely atop his head, asked the rather large tow truck driver what he called a hypothetical question. He said, "Let's say, if your were towing a stolen car would you take it to my clients storage yard?"  The driver answered, "No sir, because I saw on the TV News that they got caught by the cops, so I wouldn't take a stolen car there." The attorney said, "See, they can't do business anymore.  No one will take them stolen cars."  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

What worried me was that the judge seemed to be sleeping during much of the testimony, and one of the jurors was sleeping almost all the time. It was July in Houston, which means it's HOT AND HUMID. It seemed like the crooks legal presentation went on for days.

Finally, when it came to be our turn to present our defense, the judge seemed to wake up. The normal thing to do at this point in a civil trial is ask the judge to dismiss the matter for lack of evidence. That's what the station's attorneys did. Now the judge, who had seemed extremely non-interested in the case, said, "I agree, case dismissed."  The jury was dismissed and one of the strangest cases I had ever seen came to a rest. That's what I thought. That will teach me to think.

The two crooks filed an appeal with the Texas Court of Appeals.

To everyone's shock the Appeals Court overturned the judge's ruling and reinstated the case to be tried again before a different jury. Why did they do it? The Appeals Court said there was a jury in the box and the jury should have made a verdict, not the judge.

So, back to court we went. By this time the crooks had served their one year in jail and were out on 6 years probation.

We had a new judge and a new jury. The crooks had the same old, Stetson wearing attorney and the same unusual claim that we owed them $3 million in damages because we exposed them on TV as crooks, and the other crooks would no longer do business with them.

The trial lasted about a week. They brought back the same witnesses. This time we presented our defense. It was basically that my news story was true and factual and that the men had been convicted of stealing the cars.

The case went to the jury. The 12-member jury took hours to come up with a verdict. The jury, on an 11 to one vote, found that the crooks did not have a case and we did not owe them $3 million. This verdict came after two years of court action and lots of money out of my employer's pocket. Thank goodness the TV station paid for the attorneys.

I wondered why one woman on the jury voted for the crooks to get damages. So on the elevator down to the main floor of the courthouse, I asked her why she thought we should pay them $3 million. Here was her answer. "These men (the crooks) paid their debt to society in jail, and now they should get the money to help them set up another car storage lot business."

I was dumbfounded by this simplistic answer. This was a woman sitting in judgment of me. She was supposed to be my peer.  That's a shocker!

I thanked her for her answer, and reminded her these men stole cars for a living, and the cops think they are still doing it. Then I asked her if she parked in the jury parking lot near the courthouse. She said she did. I said, "Well, I hope your car is still there because the courthouse parking lot is a favorite spot for car thieves.  They know the jury members will be gone all day."  She looked at me and said, "They can't steal my car.  That's against the law." I said, "Well, they knew you would be up here all day on jury duty.  Why not steal your car? Remember, they are convicted car thieves."  She had a strange look on her face, and I said, "I think you just got it." The elevator doors opened and she dashed off to find her car. My peer? God Help Me.

Consumer Note: As far as I know, these crooks may well be in the same old business.