Examination Of Stolen Cars

some cars are stolen for joyriding some cars are stolen for transportation or get away from a crime scene and some cars like this one stolen for profit by men will make a business of it these men are professionals equipped with the knowledge and the tools needed for running a successful operation they use a variety of different techniques a particular car may be stripped and the more valuable components sold off to a parts dealer or it may be given only a minor reworking but this one is earmarked for the gangs most thorough treatment by the time they're through with it the car will be almost impossible to identify as stolen the method of performing this piece of trickery is known as the Salvage racket it all began with a wrecked car which the gang located in an auto scrap yard they bought it and salvaged all the marked or traceable parts still in good condition that done they located and stole a car that matched the description of the wreck now they'll strip up everything that could provide identification and substitute the salvaged parts when they bought the wreck they also acquired the title legal procedure in some states this made it possible for them to obtain valid registration and tags so when they're through with their work this automobile will have taken on the identity of the salvaged vehicle in every way but not every hot car gets such full-scale treatment when a wreck is not available the techniques are cruder and more obvious professional thieves know that a car is most readily traced by its identifying numbers their main effort always is to change or obliterate them most important is the vehicle identification number the VI n tag can be altered or a new one can be made from scratch a very authentic looking tag can be fashioned out of an ordinary oil can but just a mallet the set of dies but whatever the process its apt to leave behind some telltale clues the way it's attached can be a giveaway factories weld them or use rivets of distinctive appearances and it's nearly impossible to replace a tag in the exact position of the old one also there will usually be some Nicks and scratches left by the chisel when the old tag was removed of course the title and registration have to show the new VI n some gangs doctor up the papers others print their own blanks or even steal official forms but the quickie job on a car like this is always much more easily detected than the more thorough technique of the salvage racket which creates the appearance of legality ten days and a new coat of paint later the job is done the car is ready for delivery the driver has made good his escape but he's left behind a couple of tons of evidence the officers on the scene make a preliminary check to see if they can determine the reason for his hasty departure as at any crime scene valuable clues may be destroyed unless the officers are careful and professional in their work the best rule is don't touch anything unless you have to they record the tag number and look for anything irregular like alteration of the numbers a tag hastily wired on or fastened over another plate or an old tag fastened with new bolts they also look for the obvious burglar tools or loot from a robbery a smashed vent window or stripped ignition wires they record and examine the VI n does it show any signs of alteration or tampering and they don't forget the possibility of a body or a kidnap victim in the trunk a call to headquarters starts a query of the FBI's National Crime Information Center this computer system contains in part reports of stolen motor vehicles as furnished by law enforcement agencies throughout the country it makes checking on an out-of-state car like this a question of moments instead of days but this round is won by the criminals there's no stolen report on the car nothing more to do here but put a citation on the car is abandoned and have it towed to the impound lot the problem is now in the hands of two stolen car experts one from the local auto theft squad one from the FBI let's listen to their story when you start on a vehicle like this you don't know what you've got but it's pretty certain that some kind of crime was involved the first thing is to see what fingerprints you can get likeliest places on the outside or around the doors beside the license plate and on the trunk lid especially near the lock when we find a good set we mark it for photo the tag has descriptive data the item number and initials we both initial everything so either of us can introduce the material in court when you've got the photo you can go ahead and lift the prints the description with each piece of evidence has to be complete with all the usual where and when facts on the inside you can often get prints from the door handles steering wheel Sun visors - glove compartment and anything left around next thing to go after is that bi n tag this one doesn't show any sign of tampering if it's been pulled off another car and stuck on here it'll probably come right loose no here's to be an original the VI n is coated to show things like to make model and year sometimes a crook doesn't know any better or he gets careless and uses a number that doesn't go with the type of car it pays to check it against a book looks like this one's okay Doe so far we got some good fingerprints but nothing that points to this car as stolen there's one other possibility if you feel around inside the doorpost yeah there's a weld in there where no weld ought to be looks like we've got something to go on now a section of the doorpost has been taken out of another car and put in here that way they got a good VI n tag without leaving any obvious traces of a switch so the car has been worked over by professionals and pretty careful ones at that now there are two things were after identify the rightful owner and get any clues that might help lead to the criminals they'll need a complete description of the car complete means you're right down here make model body and color type of transmission and engine all accessories noting whether they're factory installed power steering and brakes odometer reading information from any stickers that may have been left on lubrication inspection and so forth a description of the tires and details from under the hood like whether any components have been replaced the plate on the firewall gives the body style and paint numbers it's probably been pulled off the salvage car you should also make a note of every dent and scratch no matter how small and everything else that makes this car unique next is the search for physical evidence under the rugs behind the seats around the spare maps match books scraps of paper old letters anything that might show a name a city or a number that could point to the owner or the criminals but this car's been dry-cleaned seems like every possible identifying mark has been removed or obliterated still if you're persistent and thorough you'll find something of value almost every time this tag was way up behind a - on the back of the radio it ought to lead us to the owner this like every other piece of evidence must be carefully preserved where and when found is written on the package and initialed this protects the chain of evidence but we're not through here yet we've got to give the technicians in the crime lab all we can to work with they may be able to lift old or smudged fingerprints from the rearview mirror same for the tags they'll be minutely examined by the lab for alterations we also take paint samples from several places on the car especially that replaced doorpost for a good sample you've got to scrape all the way down to the metal the identification of each paint sample should indicate specifically from which part of the vehicle it was taken you also want to be sure to get some dirt from under the fender well that about does it one final look to be sure we haven't missed anything they say you can get so involved in the details that you overlook something big and obvious seems like we picked this from clean though now comes the work of writing reports shipping material to the lab and sending out leads to trace the owner through the tag on behind the dash in a matter of days the owner is located and brought to the impounding lot at first he doesn't recognize the car because of its new paint job but he does when he finds some of those small marks that could only be identified by the true owner a dent on the trim a tear in the upholstery and a stain on the floor in the back where a jug of coffee spilled on a way to a picnic his identification of the car is crucial it'll be essential if the case goes to court without a rightful owner conviction is impossible the officers have done their job professionally and successfully they've established ownership they've collected all significant evidence and turned it over to the lab at FBI headquarters in Washington a team of laboratory workers each specialist in a particular area begins a methodical analysis of each item taken from the car their findings may later provide valuable corroboration of a suspect identification and crucial court evidence a study of the paint samples might help tie this car to others handled by the same ring using equipment and procedures not practical in the field experts may be able to recover latent fingerprints that would not yield to ordinary methods one such procedure is iodine fuming careful examination of the dirt sample may corroborate the location of the gangs garage each car the criminals handle brings them one step closer to arrest if the officers involved recognize the car is stolen if they examine it carefully thoroughly methodically if they know more about automobiles than the criminals to beat the stolen car racket you must be more professional at your work than they aren't there you

Channel: US Auto Industry

Views: 328,149

Keywords: Boeing, ford, airplane, general, buick, Airbus, Stolen, Of, bowl, chevy, Chevrolet, #airboydtv, aviation, prop, super, jet, Cars, pontiac, flying, motors, airline, Automobile (Industry), Examination, yt:quality=high, history, airboyd, luftfahrt, airboyd.tv

Id: MqhmM1TIymg

Length: 20min 38sec (1238 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 29 2011