According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, auto theft is a very profitable business, generating nearly $8 billion a year. Despite declining auto theft rates, business continues to grow in the United States due to the ever increasing value of cars.
It's an awful feeling to be a victim of auto theft. According to the FBI, auto theft occurs about every 30 seconds in the United States, so if you are a victim, don't feel alone. Stolen Lost & Found Online is here to help. Stolen Lost & Found Online is the worlds largest online auto theft database, it's both free and easy to search auto theft reportings and free to report auto theft online.
The following advice and tips on how file an auto theft police report are dependent on your country of origin. These tips on how file a police report regarding theft are however common in most countries, which follow the basic tenants of Western law:
(Step 1) How to file an auto theft police report? If you are a victim of auto theft, you should begin the process to file a police report by contacting the police station in the city where your vehicle was stolen.
(Step 2) Go to the police station. Be prepared to file police report paperwork which will include detailed information about yourself, the stolen car, and any information you may have regarding the criminal(s). Give the police the best way to contact you, any time day or night.
(Step 3) Once you have filled in all the paperwork to file an auto theft police report, you will be given a police report file case number. You can use this case number to follow-up.
The insurance company, which provides your renter's insurance or homeowner's insurance, usually will not honor a report of auto theft that was done solely online. You will need to file an official police report. The insurance company usually needs the case number in order to honor a claim. Many insurance companies will not payout if the only step you have taken is to report auto theft online.
Anyone can file an auto theft police report and claim whatever they wish. After a police report is filed for auto theft, the police will investigate the claims. If the evidence associated with the claims is substantial, the criminal(s) are then arrested, and the district attorney then reviews the evidence in order to decide whether or not to file charges.
The victim should have realistic expectations when filing an auto theft police report. The police will most likely be very sympathetic with you, but unethical behavior may not be a criminal act and may fall under civil jurisdiction, meaning you may have to sue the party in civil court in order to recover the stolen car. Clear cases of auto theft are, of course, criminal acts, but that is something the police decide at the time you request to filing an auto theft police report for a stolen car.
The statute of limitations varies according to laws of the township, city, county, municipality, district, state, and/or country where the auto theft police report was filed. If an auto theft police report has been filed for grand theft, the statute of limitations is usually three to five years. However, in the case of stolen art the statute can be decades. If the criminal(s) are discovered selling the stolen car after the statute of limitations has passed, then the statute in most cases does not apply and the criminal(s) will be prosecuted.
If you decide you wish to suspend or cancel an auto theft police report once you've filed, it may not necessarily be done. Only the police and district attorney alone have the power to drop the case after an official auto theft police report has been filed.
It is up to the victim of auto theft, to be as thorough as possible when filing an auto theft police report. Do not count on the police officer asking all the necessary information. Be descriptive and tell the police officer filing the police report everything and anything which may help the police recover your stolen car.
There is nothing preventing a victim from pursuing both criminal and civil charges against perceived auto theft criminal(s). In other words, if you file a police report, you may also sue the suspect(s) in a civil court of law.
