I strongly believe that in cases like this the government’s immunity should be waived. Something like this would never have happened in J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI.
FBI NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WRECKED FERRARI
By Jerry Reynolds
The Car Pro Weekly
October 13, 2011
You might recall the story a few months ago here in the Car Pro Weekly of the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice being sued for wrecking a Ferrari F50. The F50 was stolen from its owner in 2003, after which the insurance company, Motors Insurance, reimbursed the owner for the loss.
The feds then recovered the stolen scarlet screamer during a sting operation and held it in FBI custody in Kentucky. At some point, it needed to be moved out of its impound garage, but instead of making it safely to another garage, it got wrapped around a tree, with an FBI agent at the wheel.
Motors Insurance sued the two government agencies, alleging that the car was being taken for a joyride. According to one of the few bits of evidence the insurance company was able to coerce out of the defendants, "Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson said he was invited for a 'short ride'," said ride being much shorter and crash-ier than anticipated.
Not that it mattered - the Chicago Tribune reports that the judge has ruled against Motors Insurance, saying that law enforcement has immunity when it comes to property in its possession, and that even though "the object was to control and preserve relevant evidence," it apparently doesn't matter what happens to that evidence nor for what reason.
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