RICHMOND, VA. -- A Richmond man never thought life could get any worse after his truck was stolen, until he discovered no one informed him when his truck was found.
Vietnam veteran E.H. Thompson said last March when he stepped away from his truck at this Broad Street Lowe's, he had no clue a fast acting criminal was lurking.
“I was no more than 35 feet away from the truck,” Thompson said. “I was loading materials, when I turned my back the truck was gone.”
Thompson said the thief had actually just gotten out of a white car that was stolen from Lakeside.
E.H. Thompson
Thompson said Richmond Police took the report, but he never knew what happened to it, until a week ago.
“I was just waiting for them to contact me that they recovered the vehicle, but then I found out from DMV.”
DMV notified Thompson that this local towing company planned to sell it, and had been storing the truck for nearly a month.
Thompson was floored and said he never heard from the city after the truck was found in a VCU Medical Center parking deck, where it sat for months until a VCU officer ran the plates and saw it was stolen.
Thompsan said Richmond Police were contacted because the truck had so many tools on it.
“They were going to take inventory of it but Richmond Police never showed up, so they towed the car,” he said.
Thompson called CBS 6 Problem Solvers and we contacted Richmond Police. A spokesperson said they don't notify victims whose stolen cars are recovered, and that's the responsibility of the Dept. of Emergency Communications.
Thompson has since contacted that department.
“They said they dialed my number. I said did you speak with anyone?”
Thompson recalled. “No, she said ‘I called at 7 a.m.’”
According to Thompson, she said they didn’t follow back up with a call.
Now Thompson said he's stuck with a $1,295 bill from the company that hauled and stored his truck – money he doesn’t have and feels like he shouldn’t have to pay.
CBS 6 Problem Solvers also reached out to the Department of Emergency Communications through city spokesperson Tammy Hawley.
She said they will check into how the man's case was handled. When we hear more from them, we will update the story with the resolution.
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