I'm envious of suburbanites who can get away with slapping and punching cars. When a car almost hits me, about all I can do is yell "Watch out!". Where I live, a significant portion of the population would step out of the car with a gun if I hit their car.
troll or not, everyone has run ins with D-bags driving a car.
$912.08. I'm gonna see what I can do to get a second quote
vig wrote:
$912.08. I'm gonna see what I can do to get a second quote
...to get the driver to get a...***
Next time, have the common sense to know you're being followed and cut through people's yards and try to lose the donk! I would've offered to use a plunger to try to get the dent out and save some money.
you told the wrong story wrote:
The driver almost killed you, you were trying to get out of the way of the car, and you told the cop it was your fault for attacking the car??????
Not that I don't sympathize with our runner/denter friend, but the above logic doesn't work. The dent isn't due to the driver's poor skill, it's due to the runner's reaction which was not necessary under the circumstances. The driver made an error. But if someone damanged your property every time you made a mistake, would you be OK with that?
Had the dent been caused because the runner ran into the car due to its turn, then that would be OK. But that's not what happened. This is the legal equivalent of "two wrongs don't make a right." And worse, only the second wrong was deliberate.
I say pay up and consider it an expensive lesson.
lawyer wrote:
Free advice: Keep your mouth shut next time.
______________________
Ditto. Sounds like the driver was ignorant to your rights, and now you admit to doing something you should not have?
Dumb.
Fwiw, since many have posted, I'll continue to provide info since it could be useful to some in the future.
On Friday 3/16 I spoke to the driver and the driver refused to get a second quote for the damage and hung up on me when I tried to have a reasonable conversation about it with them.
Monday 3/19/12 a warrant was issued for my arrest in the PM. The police officer at the scene of the incident last week called me to tell me about the warrant. I arranged to turn myself in, was processed and released, and have a court date next week.
What are the charges?
Criminal Mischief, Section 145.05 Subsection 2 Penal Law of NYS
I am not a lawyer but I do watch a lot of Judge Judy...
What you have not mentioned in any of your posts is how scary it is to almost get hit by a car, and I think that is what you need to stress to the judge. It is not like you just ran up to a random car and punched it. Why was this car so close to you that you could reach out and punch it? This is not normal, and a reasonable person would fear for their safety in this situation. It is clear that the driver shares at least some of the blame here. It is fine to be angry, but make sure you also talk about how terrifying almost getting hit by a car can be.
It's pretty difficult to dent a car with a punch unless you hit it in the exact right spot. How hard did you punch it? And where? Sorry if this was already covered earlier in the thread but I'm lazy.
So it turns out that I'm being charged with a class E felony... what the different classes signify I don't really know but I do know this is worse than I expected in terms of the type of charge.
The lawyer I now have is pretty confident I won't come close to a conviction for felony but as with anything there is a possibility - and I would lose my job if convicted of a felony. Well I wouldn't lose my job - but I would not be able to do one major aspect of my job and not being able to do that aspect would likely end up in me getting terminated. So now I'm just going through the process.
The damage was to the panel between the rear passenger side window and the rear windshield - it's a thin strip of metal that is basically the corner between two windows. There was a fist sized dent there when I saw it the night of the incident.
About the fear and the circumstances that led to me hitting the car: I agree completely that the driver is at fault and contributed to the situation. But I don't have a strong, or even mediocre, grasp of the law and how the law interprets the situation. From what I gather based on some posts here and my lawyers thoughts there is a chance that some of the monetary responsibility could get placed on the driver - but it is an unlikely scenario unless I work to take the case to trial. And if I take the case the trial I in turn increase the risk of a guilty verdict (of a felony), whereas by settling the matter before trial I can reduce the risk of being convicted.
Now I sit tight until Wednesday for the court date.
Good luck, man. I hope it can be settled without a criminal conviction. Is it too late to say you almost ran into the side of the car and the dent was a direct result? There's a difference between an near-accident (which this was) and "criminal mischief". Had you been there a second earlier, this whole case would be about a vehicle collision with a pedestrian, and not a pedestrian's "criminal mischief". A good lawyer can definitely get you off. Stay the course and fight this sucker.
vig wrote:
So it turns out that I'm being charged with a class E felony... what the different classes signify I don't really know but I do know this is worse than I expected in terms of the type of charge.
The lawyer I now have is pretty confident I won't come close to a conviction for felony but as with anything there is a possibility - and I would lose my job if convicted of a felony. Well I wouldn't lose my job - but I would not be able to do one major aspect of my job and not being able to do that aspect would likely end up in me getting terminated. So now I'm just going through the process.
The damage was to the panel between the rear passenger side window and the rear windshield - it's a thin strip of metal that is basically the corner between two windows. There was a fist sized dent there when I saw it the night of the incident.
About the fear and the circumstances that led to me hitting the car: I agree completely that the driver is at fault and contributed to the situation. But I don't have a strong, or even mediocre, grasp of the law and how the law interprets the situation. From what I gather based on some posts here and my lawyers thoughts there is a chance that some of the monetary responsibility could get placed on the driver - but it is an unlikely scenario unless I work to take the case to trial. And if I take the case the trial I in turn increase the risk of a guilty verdict (of a felony), whereas by settling the matter before trial I can reduce the risk of being convicted.
Now I sit tight until Wednesday for the court date.
Sometimes I wonder what this country is coming to when people will charge for just about anything. Hoping and praying that this turns out well for you.
Arraignment was yesterday morning, next court date is Tuesday 4/3 in the afternoon. Nothing new to update otherwise
Thank you for your concerns and encouragement
To all the people writing to the sentiment that this guy's reaction and subsequent attempts to avoid legal/financial repercussion are indicative of "what's wrong with our society"...
I think what's wrong with our society is that it is so easily capable of valuing property over human life. And that the woman in this story is able to exploit this backwards perspective to have this dude charged with a felony because he put cosmetic damage into the deadly weapon she brandished at him by way of negligent, reckless driving.
As ashamed as I am to be involved in a debate about "what is wrong with our society" on the Letsrun message boards, it felt good to write that.
I'm not form New York and have no idea how courts will handle your case...but.....
#1- this will never go as a felony. I'm guessing it is an automatic 'turn-down' by the Cnty Atty and it will be charged in a City Court as a misdemeanor....
#2- from my understanding, you two have a civil agreement that you will pay for damage. Once something goes 'civil,' the courts frown on prosecuting. They don't like people using the CRIMINAL courts for their personal debt collection. CIVIL court (small claims court in your terminology) is different. That is where she would sue you.
#3- The CRIMINAL side of this case is different than the CIVIL (where she sues you for damage) side.
#4- Get a copy of the police report. Read it.
#5- This will never go to trial. Never.
I'm glad I live far away or else I might be tempted to punch the other side of her car.
Why this cost 900+ bucks? That's all we do in my shop, I bet you know her local right? I'd go do this to the car and then be like what dent?