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New York, NY – When the NYPD gets its grip on a car, it’s as good as gone. Of the 3,062 vehicles confiscated in 2008 – for crimes such as drunken driving, drug buys, transporting weapons and prostitution – just 20 were returned to their owners.
But it’s not for lack of trying by motorists. Even the most obviously guilty have argued to get their car back – none more so than Milton Zapata.
Zapata, 29, challenged the department’s right to keep his 1997 Mazda after his Oct. 4, 2008 bust for drunken driving and resisting arrest – after a boozy night celebrating his acquittal on a prior DWI. He was tossed from a Chelsea nightclub at 3:30 a.m., stumbled to his car and was about to drive away when cops told him he “needed to find another way home,” according to testimony at his administrative hearing.
Zapata gave up his keys, but drove off using a spare set, cursing the cops. He ran four red lights and headed the wrong way on West 23rd Street. Zapata pleaded guilty but never got the car back.
The NYPD has always had overwhelming success in such cases. Last year, just 52 of 3,488 confiscated vehicles were returned.
I hope they are selling the cars to make up for the budget gap.
Perhaps the police realize that it is true danger to be driving a car anyways so any excuse to remove cars off the road the better. As I once heard that if the chazal knew about the dangers of driving they would have probably been Oiser it. Or maybe the Police just need a lot of money so they need to auction off the cars they receive which is much easier then having to give 40 tickets for the same price.
What are they doing with the cars?. Sale it use it?
so what do they do with the cars? Do they sell them or turn the cars into cop cars?
Why would anyone be against such a great law!!
Why should they give back the car? What are the rules for getting back the car.
FL has been seizing cars for years…
This guy should be locked up for a long time… I never understood drinking and driving. Then again, I really don’t understand getting hammered. Don’t get me wrong, I like my wine, scotch and beer. Just one is fine… after a few you can’t taste it.
Maybe NYC can raise revenues with this, instead of hitting the taxpayers who do the right thing.
This has been done for a while in other states. I dont recall where now, but not so long ago, a police sniffer dog found 1000’s pounds of drugs – stashed in a secret compartment in an undercover cop car – it turned out, that they had seized the car from criminals wanted for drug dealing, but the cops never found the drugs!
There are certain countries that take away the car for good if caught being drunk behind the wheel. There are also some countries that take away your license forvever and you lose your privilage for driving. There is another place called Saudia arabia and supposedly they whip you 40 times amongst other things if you are ever caught with DWI.
The countries that have these tough laws almost never hear of anyone driving after drinking because people think three times before getting behind the wheel.
Only in America do we find the laws are a joke and many times people are caught 5 times and even then they get a slap on the wrist.
Anyone caught driving drunk should lose their car AND license forver.