A Stolen Fire Truck
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118827)
Gainesville, Florida
November 4, 2016 8:18am CST
Months ago, our fire department had one of its fire trucks stolen as the firefighters were in the middle of an emergency call. They had arrived at the scene of an accident, and while they were performing CPR on a victim who went into cardiac arrest, another injured man (not part of the incident the firefighters were responding to) decided he needed to go to the hospital RIGHT NOW, so he hopped into the fire truck and took off.
Well, apparently he couldn't drive such a big truck very well, because on the way to the hospital he crashed the fire truck. Of course, police were in hot pursuit, and arrested him and hauled him off to jail. He was charged with grand theft, resisting arrest, and probably a few other charges, and at his trial part of his sentence was he had to pay the city back for the cost of repairing the fire truck after the accident.
The man is now suing the city, saying they are charging him too much for the repairs to the fire truck! The city has provided an itemized list of everything that had to be repaired on the truck, and he is contesting that they made up a bunch of fake repairs that didn't have to be done! The funny thing is, the fire truck was brand-new, and so therefore there wasn't anything else wrong with the truck, meaning it would be very difficult for the city to "make up" things that needed to be repaired. And the truck was repaired by an independent third party, so it wasn't like the city told its mechanics to falsely create "fake" things on the truck that needed to be repaired!
Why is it that anytime people commit an act of crime, that they want to blame someone else for their idiot actions? Hey buddy, if you wouldn't have stolen the fire truck and crashed it in the first place, you wouldn't be responsible for fixing it! Wake up and get a clue!
13 people like this
15 responses
@AbbyGreenhill (45496)
• United States
4 Nov 16
People just don't have common sense or decency any more.
3 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45496)
• United States
4 Nov 16
@moffittjc As long as there are TV's, attorneys and idiots, there will be lawsuits.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
@AbbyGreenhill Well, there's no shortage of idiots in the world! And I'm referring to the lawyers when I say that! LOL
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
That is true, common sense is no longer common. However, our legal system shouldn't even allow lawsuits like this to make it to the courts. Sadly, judges are allowing things like this to go to trial. I think less people would sue if they made it more difficult to do so.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (460568)
• Switzerland
5 Nov 16
@moffittjc This is why we have professional jurors now. The popular jurors are too easy to convince, a good lawyer is like a magician.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Nov 16
@LadyDuck I've heard lawyers called bottom-feeders and ambulance chaser before, but I've never heard them called magicians! haha
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
I would like to say that there is no possible way this man can win this lawsuit, since it was a brand-new fire truck, but I'm not so sure. I've seen people get away with murder, even thought there was overwhelming evidence to convict. All it takes is a slick, fancy lawyer and they'll somehow convince a jury that the big, bad local government is trying to stick it to the poor, defenseless working man.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
4 Nov 16
@moffittjc That last sentence sounds like the most likely one.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
@Asylum I tend to agree with you there. It's all for a self-serving purpose, to help the rich get richer!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
Because we have liberal judges who think cases like this have merit. I blame our legal system for allowing such cases just as much as I blame individuals for filing these types of lawsuits! Or maybe it's one big scam by our legal system to keep all the lawyers and judges employed and making big bucks!
1 person likes this
@infatuatedbby (94921)
• United States
4 Nov 16
Wow!
He stole the truck knowing he couldn't operate it well, crashed and doesn't want to pay!
Hello fire trucks aren't cheap why else are they special?
He's a dummy
1 person likes this
@infatuatedbby (94921)
• United States
4 Nov 16
@moffittjc
He's a complete idiot!
He even delayed himself even more!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
I echo your sentiments completely! I hope the guys loses his lawsuit, because then he'll not only be responsible for the costs to repair the fire truck, but he'll also be responsible for the legal and court costs!
Idiots!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
@infatuatedbby And he's also going to owe much more money! If he can't even pay for the repairs to the fire truck, wait until he gets his legal bills!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
Of course he will lose the suit. But the problem is, taxpayers dollars are now being spent to pay for the lawyers to defend this frivolous suit. So, in the end, the citizens suffer for this man's stupidity.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Nov 16
@just4him I deal with things like this every day...people wasting the taxpayers money. Everybody wants to place blame on government workers for wasting taxpayer dollars, but us civil servants are hard-working people. It's the freeloaders out there that waste our tax dollars!
1 person likes this
@just4him (308839)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
5 Nov 16
@moffittjc That in itself is a crime.
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15490)
• United Kingdom
4 Nov 16
I remember a case when a kids family tried to sue a school after their kid fell through the roof trying to break in...will see if I can find the link.
Also, one time when I lived in cheltenham someone stole a police car and crashed it right outside my flat and I saw it happen
Some people are idiots and do stupid things but the real idiots then try to blame other people
Some people are idiots and do stupid things but the real idiots then try to blame other people
Thomas Buckett's relatives now face a legal bill which could reach £260,000 after a judge ruled that the council was not liable for the accident which took place at a school in Stoke-on-Trent.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
I read about a case once where a teenager stole a car, and the police gave chase. The kid crashed the car, started fleeing on foot, but when the police officers ordered him to haul, he instead turned and charged at one of the officers. The officer then shot the teenager in the chest. The teen survived, and then sued the police department and WON! His logic was that he was a teenager, and not a real threat to the police officer he charged at. And since he had no weapon when he charged the officer, the jury sided with the teenager and awarded him millions of dollars in compensation. Pretty sad, in my opinion. There's no way in a split-second decision can an officer make a determination if someone is a true threat or not. The teen was charging at the officer, the officer had every right to shoot the kid. Too bad the jury didn't have any common sense!
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15490)
• United Kingdom
4 Nov 16
@moffittjc he had no visible weapon?
Don't the police with you have tasers or batons and such?
A teen charges an officer and gets shot????
Over here a teen charging an officer is a fairly regular occurrence but nobody gets shot.
I respect your opinion but here that'd just not happen.
1 person likes this
@Blondie2222 (28611)
• United States
5 Nov 16
People do what they can to get out of paying for what they did. I'm sure he will lose and will end up having to pay anyways. You do the crime you pay the time.
1 person likes this
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
4 Nov 16
What in the world was he thinking?!? Some people really need to use the brain God gave them!
I guess it's easier to blame someone else instead of looking in the mirror and realizing they are the fool.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Nov 16
I know! I kind of admire the guts that guy had, to blatantly take the fire truck right in front of everyone!
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3341)
• Bournemouth, England
4 Nov 16
An outrageous, thoughtless crime.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
And unfortunately, we can't just shoot these idiots and remove them from the face of the earth! LOL
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Nov 16
It's the American way! hahaha
1 person likes this
and like he have to. lol
@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
4 Nov 16
Reminds me of a case we had here where a kid had a really bad accident as a result of 'train surfing' (basically jumping on the back of a moving train!) and tried to sue the railway companies for not having adequate warnings up. I kid you not! We live in a world where it's always somebody else's fault.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118827)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Nov 16
That is true! Nobody wants to be accountable for their actions anymore. Sadly, I blame our legal system as well, because these judges are allowing these types of lawsuits to go through. They should be throwing them out and telling these idiots to use some common sense!
@IvySaysHi (4467)
• United States
4 Nov 16
Some people just don't think. that is insane
1 person likes this
