Falsely accused of hitting a car while backing from driveway

We are falsely accused of hitting a car while backing from our driveway two days ago. They came to my house with police officer and pressurized her and get the Insurance information from my wife while I was away. I am trying to talk with the Police officer who came to my house but she is not calling me back. I am at lost and no idea what to do. I really appreciate if someone can give me some direction. Thanks.

Who hit the car across the street?

No idea. The guy came with the Police and accused us that we hit the car 2 days ago while he was in my neighbour's house since he had a black paint on his car which is the colour of our car as well. The neighbour's house is just across the street. We know we din't hit any car. The Police took the insurance number from my wife even though she told them we didn't.

No worries, call the police officer, offer them to take a paint sample from your vehicle. Tell them flatly that your vehicle was not responsible. Contact your insurance tell them the same. Find why they suspect you. Is there a witness?

Thanks. I have already told the Police officer that my vehicle is not responsible. There is no paint on my vehicle. They are suspecting my vehicle since there is a black paint on the other car and that car was parked just across the street. I was able to get a hold of officer after calling for last 2 days and she refused to listen to me. I have already contacted my insurance and I am going to take the car to the insurance agent tomorrow morning.

Hmmm...black...waitaminute!! I have a black Jetta!!! Hope they don't suspect it was me...

Unless they have an eye witness they have nothing...

Fight this.

Where you charged?

What I can do about the Police? The Police officer doesn't want to listen to us and also told us that if we don't stop than she is going to charge us with hit and run. She also took the insurance number.

Well it sounds like you haven't been charged. In which case you have nothing to worry about.

Contact your insurance. Advise them of the entire situation. Tell them they are welcome to send an adjustor out to inspect your vehicle.

If you weren't charged, then the police aren't causing you any grief.

I'm guessing there must be an eyewitness here, cause police don't go by the colour of nearby vehicles...

The Police officer is guessing based on their story and the location of our driveway. I have informed my insurance already and now waiting for a call back from them. We are dealing for something we have not done it. Very frustrating…….

Again, I'm not sure why.

You haven't been charged, and not exactly sure what the officer told you, they may have attended your residence to find out more about you and your car, but you haven't indicated anytihng so far where you've been accused.

The Officer did come to my house to take the insurance number. The officer told my wife that these kind of accidents are very common when there is no damage to the car like youre (Nissan Pathfinder) and you might have not noticed it when backing up your car from driveway. There is not even a single scratch on the left side of my car. They mentioned the accident happened at 3:00 p.m. but my wife goes at 3:30 p.m.

What the officer said is true and without actually being there at the time of the collision I can't say...

I think you're issue here is that you haven't been charged so there's no allegation you did anything wrong, no driver or vehicle identified. I'd just wait and deal with this with the insurance.

Thanks FyreStorm. I really hope we won't be a victim of something we didn't done.

This is the first time I have to deal with this kind of situation. What is going to happened now? We had a clean driving history, Is it ruined now? Is my insurance is going to go higher now?

aasif_kamal wrote:

They came to my house with police officer and pressurized her and get the Insurance information from my wife while I was away.

Question: What are you required to do in this situation?

Can you tell the officer, "I know nothing about this. please leave", then shut the door?

Or are you required to provide them with DL, insurance etc?

If you told them to go away, I'd expect to be pulled over then next time I was out for a drive. But could the LEO complete the accident report and provide your insurance info to your neighbour when it was obtained at an unrelated traffic stop?

I had a neighbor deny nailin' my car once. The tire tracks in the snow made him shut up real fast, LOL. He paid me $1,000.

I would suggest you be firm with the officer and say "I can appreciate the other parties concerns, but my car was not involved" and politely close the door after providing them with the name of an attorney you use.

Is this cop a friend of the neibour?

even if they charge you with the accident. you have the right to go to court to fight the charges. And there is little evedence for them. TAKE PICTURES IMMEDIATELY of everything. including driveway, their house compared to yours ect, your car, their car. Maybe take pic and measure how high off the ground the damage on their car is then where damage should have been on yours.

Do it now before some goof at the supermarket pushes a cart into your ride and it looks bad on you.

remember this: In court you are innocent until proven guilty. So They have to prove your guilty, more than you have to prove your innocence.

Is this cop a friend of the neibour?

That would have to be disclosed in court. But this fella wasn't even charged...

Look, we have to provide insurance, ownership, and license upon demand when driving, not when our car is sitting parked in the driveway and we're in our homes minding our own business.

If there were no charges because of lack of evidence, I'd refuse to cooperate.

Quote:

Is this cop a friend of the neighbor?

I don't know. All I know is when I finally able to get a hold of the officer after leaving many voice message for 2 consecutive days, she refuse to discuss anything with me and suggested me not to call again otherwise she is going to charge me for hit and run

Really? And what evidence does she have to charge you with that? Aasif, I hope you are being 100% up front here and that there isn't even a slight chance that your wife or your child, or someone else with access to the keys to your car, hit the car parked on the road by accident when you weren't there.

If you are 110% positive, then call her staff sargeant and speak to him/her regarding your legitimate request for information, and subsequent bovine excrement of a response from this officer. I find it really inappropriate of her to threaten you with a charge if what you are saying here is the the whole story. If I knew that I did not hit the car, fine, I would've promptly gone over her head to her boss, especially after a response like THAT. That is just unacceptable, provided this story leaves nothing material out that would explain the officer's actions a bit better.

Who in the world is she going to charge with the hit and run, or leaving the scene of an accident? Who can prove which driver was behind the wheel? This smells bad.

I am 100% up front here. There is no one live in my house other than us and I have a small kid. The Officer is pretty confident that we hit the car even though there is no damage to our car. She thinks that the car like ours (Nissan Pathfinder) is strong, thats why there is no damage to our car and sometime the driver might not even notice it when hit something.

There is no way we can hit the car while backing. We live on court, the road ends on the right (north). We only goes to left (south). The house is on the west side. If we backup the car we have to backup to right (north) so we can go to left (south). When we backup car to right we ends up in front of their driveway not to sidewalk.

I am looking for answers and waiting for the insurance agent to send their team to take the pictures of my car and driveway and the copy of Police report before I do anything else. I have heard some bad stories about talking to someones senior especially in this department.

I'd follow Marquisse's advice. You said you're 100% up-front so there should be nothing to worry about. The one officer won't give you answers, so call a Sergeant or Staff Sergeant. If you have nothing to hide, that will tell you more. And it will probably put your mind at ease, as well.

Here's the other thing: If you get charged, the Crown Prosecutor would probably take a look at it, go "are you kidding me?!" and drop the charge.

BTW, how much damage was done to the other car? Just a paint scrape?

Bad stories? Like what?

Look, this is Canada, not Mexico. Our officers, for the overwhelming majority, want to do the right thing. We do not live in a corrupt society where our policing is bought and our officers abusive of the power they are entrusted with. We have a safe country and a good system that is just. When it isn't, like the case of an OPP officer working the Mississauga corridors, they are found out and disgraced.

They are under tremendous scrutiny to be above-board and if there are ANY stories of retribution, you can be sure that their staff sargeant, internal investigation department, their CHIEF of police, the media, and the civilian board would want to know.

Marquisse wrote:

We do not live in a corrupt society where our policing is bought and our officers abusive of the power they are entrusted with. We have a safe country and a good system that is just. When it isn't, like the case of an OPP officer working the Mississauga corridors, they are found out and disgraced.

+1

If the situation is as Aasif describes, that's a pretty good reason for having a chat with a Staff Sergeant, IMO... There's no reason to be afraid of raising the issue. For example...

http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic1585.html

nexxen90, the OP who started that thread, wrote to the Superintendent in charge of 31 Division. He says he had been pulled over repeatedly for no apparent reason, most of the time let go, no explanation given. So the Superintendent called him, they talked, and the traffic stops suddenly stopped.

Thanks Guys.

Another question, Where should I go? Is there a department or agency or I have to go to the same Police station?

Is this wise to wait for Insurance company to take the pictures of my car and the driveway just to prove my point?

I have not seen the car by myself. My wife told me that the car shown to her had a damage to the fender and the door.

If you are 110% positive, then call her staff sargeant and speak to him/her regarding your legitimate request for information, and subsequent bovine excrement of a response from this officer. I find it really inappropriate of her to threaten you with a charge if what you are saying here is the the whole story. If I knew that I did not hit the car, fine, I would've promptly gone over her head to her boss, especially after a response like THAT. That is just unacceptable, provided this story leaves nothing material out that would explain the officer's actions a bit better.

Yeah, if she had the evidence to charge you she should of, period. Saying what she said sounds rather unprofesional.

Call the same station she's at, and ask to speak to her Staff Sergeant, any run around and call the Inspector.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

What happened to your wife sounds like unreasonable search and seizure to me. It is further a flagrant violation of your privacy rights.

Police officers -not all of them- often do that. They show incompetence and negligence and should be liable for it. Later on in court they desperately try to show 'articulable cause' or 'probable grounds'. Some times they get away with it, but most times, with proper legal representation, charges are thrown out and the officer is embarrassed in front of his/her colleagues and the general public.

I would advise you to file a complaint, but you would be wasting your time; you see, the complaint is reviewed by themselves.

Cheers.

Biron wrote:

I would advise you to file a complaint, but you would be wasting your time; you see, the complaint is reviewed by themselves.

No they don't. Complaints are now reviewed by the OIPRD.

Simon Borys wrote:

Biron wrote:

I would advise you to file a complaint, but you would be wasting your time; you see, the complaint is reviewed by themselves.

No they don't. Complaints are now reviewed by the OIPRD.

Thanks Simon, I didn't know this.

I searched the OIPRD website at

https://www.oiprd.on.ca/CMS/Home.aspx

But I haven't been able to find the Independent Police Review Act, 2007 anywhere. It's not listed at the e-laws.gov.on.ca website.

Do you know where it has been published, if at all?

Cheers.