Today was a very trying day to say the least. I was in a car accident yesterday that left me in bad shape....I had to go to the hospital via ambulance so I never got to get any of my belongings out of the car. The car was towed at the order of the CHP by HP Tow to their towyard in Walnut Park near downtown LA. I called HP Tow this morning so I could make arrangements for my wife to pick up my belongings and they told me we weren't allowed to do so. Being that I bought the car 2.5 weeks ago the registration process wasn't completed by the dealer, even though the temporary registration on the windshield showed the car was registered to me! I actually had to call the CHP and speak with Sergeant Hawkins and tell him about my situation. He told me I had every right to get my belongings and had to personally call HP Tow to instruct them to do so.
My wife wasn't with me when I bought the car so she wasn't on the registration...so I was forced to go down there which was important considering my laptop, GPS, tripod, images, and luggage were still in my car.....with most of it in my trunk which was sprung open! Kara loaded me up on painkillers and we went down there...and believe me my neck, back, and right leg/hip and left knee were throbbing so I wasn't happy about having to go down there but I also wasn't comfortable about my belongings being out there for public consumption.
We went down there and the first thing I asked about was my laptop. They acknowledged that the paperwork filled out by the CHP noted that a laptop was in the car. As my items were being removed from my car and my laptop was nowhere to be found I kept asking, "Where is my laptop?" They started getting nervous. When my car was emptied completely I asked again, "Where is my laptop?!" They responded, "It must be in the office." Well, they looked in the office for over an hour and surprisingly couldn't find the laptop! I asked the dispatcher what the next step was and she said to fill out a claim form. I thought that was insufficient so I again called the CHP. Luckily the CHP cared a lot more about the situation and I got through to a Sergeant Helms who helped me tremendously. I now have to go down to the CHP office to on Monday to file charges against the towyard. He even called the officer who was on the scene yesterday and he verified that my laptop was in the trunk as noted on the report. By the end of it all it was a miserable day because my laptop was stolen by a CHP authorized towyard and I had to deal with all this with a very sore body....the guy at the towyard even asked me why I was limping so bad and I told him the accident just happened yesterday.....worst of all now I'm without a laptop....I have to say that I really hate thieves.....
In regards to the condition of the car it looks totaled. The whole back is smashed, the side rear doors won't close straight, the seat I was sitting in is busted and I'm sure the insurance will just total it which really sucks considering I just bought it a little over two weeks ago.....
Key lessons learned:
