In 1988 we purchased a Mercury Gran Marquis. It was a beautiful car because it was black with a light gray vinyl top and dove interior. Most of the cars back then were all black. This car was special.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving that year I had a driver who wanted to take that car home from the office. I told him he had no trips until Friday, to hold onto the stretch limousine that he had and switch cars on Friday before his ride.
On Thanksgiving as I was preparing to go to my in-laws for for dinner, I get a call from the driver, we'll call him Peter, that someone just stole the car from him and he needed the plate number for the police. I gave him the number of the limousine and before he hung up he said he was in New York City at the parade! What the heck are you doing there? He said he was with his daughter. Now back in 1988 all we had were pages. Beep, beep, beep. Frustrating to say the least, when he didn't answer after hanging up.
After about an hour Peter called back, and as I ripped into him about taking my limousine into the city, he informed me that he took the Gran Marquis! Great. He went and did what he wanted to do, not what I told him. Now I had to give him a new plate number to give to the police. They didn't believe him, so they called me and I had to explain this whole thing about the car to them.
Well, late that night, great Thanksgiving, I get a call from the NYPD. They found my car, unfortunately it was in an accident because the guy who stole it was in a high speed chase trying to elude the police and he hit a concrete barrier head on. The car was messed up.
They took the car to the police station on 138th street in the Bronx. Go figure, in front of the station the car was stripped. Tires, radio and seats. Right in front of the police station. Let me say that again, right in front of the police station door. I kid you not.
Well, the reports were filed, the insurance company re-imbursed me for a car that was considered totaled. Besides having to go to press charges against the guy who stole the car, every thing was back to normal. Yes, Peter was also out of a job, because I didn't believe a word of his story, but this is not about him, this is about what happened next.
Now keep in mind, I received my money from insurance so I believed this was a dead issue. About eight to nine months later, on a beautiful sunny day, I get a call from the Sioux County Serriffs Department in Iowa. The woman informed me that they found my stolen car. I told her I didn't have any stolen cars. When she described the car, black with a light grey vinyl roof, I should of asked if it had seats, but she was serious, I stopped her so I could get the file.
She explained how they had a man from Detroit locked up. He said he bought the car but they didn't believe him. When I read the vin number to her they matched. "Houston, we got a problem."
I explained the whole Thanksgiving thing to her and gave her the name of the Detective that handled the case.I also called NYPD and spoke with the desk Sargent. He informed me the Detective was out so I told him they had a problem.
Apparently, the NYPD never took the car off of the police stolen car blotter. The vehicle was shipped back to the Detroit area and was rebuilt. And this poor slob who was locked up bought it. Keep in mind, this was before Car Fax.
I am still amazed, that after seeing that car in front of the police station, that it ever got back on the road again.
