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this looks all on the dealership to me.
I dont; see where the city is gloing wrong at all.
CRYSTAL CITY — This time, it was the police who needed the restraining order.
This South Texas city went to court last week seeking a judge's help to keep a Dallas car dealership from repossessing its fleet of five new patrol cars.
Dallas Dodge Chrysler Jeep told city officials it wants the cars back because Crystal City failed to fill out a lease financing agreement before a Dec. 4 deadline.
The dealer already has made one attempt to seize the cars.
A group of men representing Dallas Dodge showed up at the Police Department last Wednesday seeking to take the cars. The vehicles, however, weren't in the parking lot and the men were instead directed to the city manager's office.
City officials said they weren't sure where the cars were, other than they were out on patrol.
City Manager Diana Palacios said the dealership's internal troubles, including paperwork that wasn't tracked properly, are the real problem. Dallas Dodge is the one that hasn't paid for all of the emergency police equipment that came with the cars and it did not deliver some of the window bars and protective cages, she said.
According to Palacios and the court file, a third party, Cop Stuff, has threatened to file a lawsuit against Crystal City because Dallas Dodge refuses to pay for the equipment that was installed in the patrol cars.
"This really blows my mind," said Donnie Norman, managing partner of Cop Stuff, a Howe-based emergency vehicle outfitter. "This really amazes me. I've been in this business a little over 10 years and I never had someone refuse to pay for something."
Repeated phone calls to the dealership's general manager, Steve Beasley, weren't returned Monday.
A court hearing on the city's lawsuit has been set for 11 a.m. Friday.
Crystal City agreed to buy five 2006 Dodge Chargers from Dallas Dodge in May for five annual payments of $28,673.15 totaling $114,693.10. The dealership delivered the cars Sept. 14.
Norman said problems with the Dallas dealership began recently. He said Dallas Dodge wouldn't give him a reason why it's not paying its bill of more than $11,000 for the Crystal City car work.
Norman said he wants the dealership to pay the debt so his business doesn't have to go after Crystal City's patrol cars. He said Cop Stuff could place mechanic's liens on the vehicles until the bill is paid.
Palacios said on Monday the city can prove the vehicles belong to it because the dealership already has sent it "full and clear" les to all of them. Copies of the les were included in the city's lawsuit.
Crystal City officials also filed the first of the five payments the city agreed to give to Dallas Dodge with the lawsuit.
In its lawsuit, the city argues the dealership imposed an unfair application deadline because it waited until the end of November to notify Crystal City that an application needed to be submitted, even though the cars were delivered in September.
Police Chief Luis Contreras said officers wouldn't have been left on foot if the dealership succeeded in repossessing the cars last week.
"We would've gone back to our older ones," Contreras said, referring to a fleet of six 2003 Ford Crown Victorias. "It wouldn't have been the same, but we would have had police vehicles."
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I'm not letting my uncle live this one down anytime soon.
this looks all on the dealership to me.
I dont; see where the city is gloing wrong at all.
The cops should just eats dey spinach and threaten the repo men with their biceps that look like thighs.
Yeah right.
Got to admit it, those are nice cars . i should have taken a pic last month when i was over there making my uncles life .
Nice cars indeed. I want one!
Word is that SAPD will soon go to those.
their cars are all black and unmarked. really nice, i'll be over there for Christmas and i'll get a pic, if they still have them...........
this is the only pic i could get for now.
Last edited by spurs=bling; 12-15-2006 at 09:24 PM.
Crystal City strikes deal, will get to keep police cruisers
Web Posted: 12/16/2006 12:01 AM CST
Mariano Castillo
Express-News Border Bureau
CRYSTAL CITY — A fiasco brewing here appeared to be averted Friday, as city officials succeeded in keeping the repo man away from their police squad cars.
A week after filing a temporary restraining order to prevent a Dallas car dealership from taking away five Dodge Chargers for non-payment, the city reached an agreement with the dealership and another company to avoid litigation, officials said.
"It was never the intent of the city of Crystal City not to pay for the vehicles. It was just a misunderstanding that has been resolved," City Attorney Daniel Gonzalez said.
Dallas Dodge Chrysler Jeep told city officials it wanted the cars back because the city failed to fill out a lease financing agreement before a Dec. 4 deadline.
The city said they had already reached an agreement to pay for the vehicles in installments, and that the problem began when the dealership apparently sent the city on accident the les for all the cars and then demanded immediate full payment, City Manager Diana Palacios said.
During a telephone conference, Crystal City agreed to send the les back to Dallas Dodge in exchange for the original agreement to be followed, Gonzalez said.
The city dropped its request for a temporary restraining order, and a pending lawsuit against the dealership would be dropped once everything is finalized, Gonzalez said.
"We could've paid for the vehicles at once, but that was not the agreement," Palacios said.
Officials at Dallas Dodge declined to comment on the matter.
The dealer had already made one attempt to seize the squad cars last week, but was thwarted because they were all out on patrol.
"We did everything we were supposed to do. We were working with them in good faith," Palacios said.
Adding a twist to the spat, a third company, emergency vehicle outfitter Cop Stuff, threatened to sue Crystal City because Dallas Dodge refused to pay them for specialty equipment they installed on the cars in question.
Gonzalez said the city had sent a check to Dallas Dodge for the equipment. As part of Friday's deal, the check will be returned and Crystal City will cut a new check directly to Cop Stuff to cover the amount owed.
Well it looks like they will keep their cars after all.
The life of a Repo Man is always intense.
I make a lot of money from Crystal City, but I still wouldn't live in that hole!
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