Parking Lot Hit n' Run Karma

Wangrande · 11-03-2008, 05:28 PM

Saturday my wife and I stop at the local Trader Joe's to pick up some groceries and while she is in the store and I am waiting in the car I witness a woman swing wide into a spot at speed and sideswipe a 4 door Camry. Gets both the rear passenger and drivers door.

I am directly across the isle from the woman. She gets out and goes around to survey the damage. Actually rubs her hand on the Camry damage as to confirm it is real. Heads back around her vehicle and gets back into her suv, stays a moment and comes back out with a pen and paper. My cynical heart jumps for joy at the sight and I start kicking myself for the run-on sentence of hyphenated names I had running through my head at this point. She walks to the front of her suv, stands still for about 30 seconds, looks left/right then bolts for her door. She is backing out as I am getting out of the car, sees me and is GONE.

About 3 minutes later the owner of the car arrives and I explain the accident. She is of course furious and I give her a complete detailed description and plate number. I explain that this has happened to me 2 times in my life and that I will completely back her up with whatever legal action she chooses. Well, about 45 minutes after I left, my cel rings and she is describing to me how the police have the woman back at the scene and she is now going to jail for hit and run, claiming the whole time she did not realize she had hit the Camry.

NOT THIS TIME, BUFFY!

stomachmonkey · 11-03-2008, 05:47 PM

Well done.

URY914 · URY914's Garage

You realize there is now a price on your head....

Rot 911 · 11-03-2008, 05:49 PM

Finally Karma comes back around!

Hawktel · 11-03-2008, 05:50 PM

Damned straight. Good work.

mack6820 · 11-03-2008, 05:55 PM

I was amazed at this story untill I saw your from San Diego. Now it makes sense! hehe

HardDrive · 11-03-2008, 05:57 PM

NICE. Damn good work man.

I had a construction sign fall over on my Porsche, and the only reason my insurance believed me was that a woman who worked at ian nsurance company saw the whole thing, and stopped and gave me her number. Later, the insurance company called her and took a deposition.

You did a good thing man, your a mench.

crustychief · crustychief's Garage

Great!!! Which Trader Joes? That is awesome!

Wangrande · 11-03-2008, 06:02 PM

Yes, San Diego. Like I said, I was tricked into thinking she was going to do good when I saw the paper and pen. Turns out thankfully it was only a momentary lack of reason on her part and she snapped out of her stupor and did the right thing and ran. Nature is now back in order.

Wangrande · 11-03-2008, 06:02 PM

Which One? La Mesa.

KaptKaos · 11-03-2008, 06:11 PM

Atta Boy! Well done.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Good on ya, shame this seems more rare recently, people doing the right thing

I remember seeing a drunk hit a parked car at night in Berkeley, got his plate number, went back, gave them the info, along with my name and number. The called the cops and they had him pulled over less than 30 minutes after he hit them, or that is what they told me when they called to thank me the next day.

Drunken illegal alien without insurance, true story

slakjaw · 11-03-2008, 06:33 PM

Was she hot?

Wangrande · 11-03-2008, 06:36 PM

Was she hot? Damn, knew that was coming and therein the problem.

Yes, but closer to cute so the decision was made easier.

Jeff Higgins · 11-03-2008, 07:20 PM

I just love stories like this. Good work. Damn good work.

Super_Dave_D · Super_Dave_D's Garage

Good job - my wife had the rear bumper of her Infiniti "torn off" in the daycare parking lot. I was amazed at the damage! I find it hard to believe no one saw it.

rammstein · 11-03-2008, 07:31 PM

Congratulations on making the world a little bit better. Wish you had been there the time someone did this to my wife's car.

Paul K · Paul K's Garage

Excellent work- great job!

speeder · 11-03-2008, 09:37 PM

Great story! It's unbelievable how often this happens, (the hit/run part anyways), were they really going to take her to jail? That rocks if true.

I had a guy in a Rolls hit my old PU truck about 16 years ago outside my house, (on a curvy canyon road), he also stopped momentarily and then thought better of it and ran. My neighbor saw the whole thing and got his plate, it was a personal plate w/ 3 letters, (the douche's initials), so it wasn't real hard to memorise.

The LAPD got involved when we reported it, they actually assign detectives to these cases. It takes a little while for your # to come up, but when it does, they follow through. After their investigation was complete, they forwarded me the guy's name and info so that I could go after him for the damage. I think that they were still pursuing a criminal case against the guy as well at this point, but my memory is foggy. Maybe they were going to drop it if he paid-up(?) Can't remember...

At any rate, I wound up dealing with the douche's attorney, who was also a 6-hole. I remember that I got in an argument w/ him and he hung-up on me when I told him that his client was a POS. This enraged me. I don't like being hung-up on. I drove down to his office in Century City and parked in the ramp, then got on the elevator with the express intention of throwing this guy out the ****ing window unless he paid-up immediately. To make a long story long, he tried to play tough guy but quickly reconsidered and wrote out a check on the spot after a short negotiation. I grew-up under the toughest ass hole of a trial lawyer on earth for a father, so this guy was a little girl in comparison. The whole episode made me pretty homicidal, I mean come on- guy with a late-model Rolls, fully insured, expensive lawyer, etc., hits/runs me and then tries to give me schit when he gets caught and it's time to pay??

Your story brought it back, these people deserve serious slapping. Like *slap her to sleep and then slap her for sleeping*.

911pcars · 11-03-2008, 09:47 PM

On top of dishonest, the perp was arrogant too. She didn't think anyone would notice the incident. She could have attempted the ole "leave driver info note on the windshield" trick (which contains only the word, "sorry" or false info) and thrown off witnesses like yourself. Instead, she bolts for the street like the guilty dog she is.

Let's see. Maybe she receives a suspended sentence with parole and community service, but she has to pay her lawyer, maybe court costs, repair bill for the victim (other vehicle) and higher insurance premiums + plus points. All in a good days work by karma.

Sherwood