First time for everything I guess...My smoker was in a hit and run!!

[Oakgrovebacon]

What a story! I feel for you for the pain in the butt that you have to deal with in the aftermath of this. Hopefully all works out soon.

[shush]

The good news is that everyone involved is okay. The bad is obviously the damage inflicted to all the machinery. I would make sure you let your adjuster know, and contact his insurance directly, to make a bit of a stink about the amount of _time_ you will be without the _tools_ you use for things like community service, meal preparation, etc. There is no 'pain and suffering' claim you can make, but you are without your UTV and Smoker because of someone else's bad decision(s). It isn't that you "would" be cooking today, but that you "could" if your smoker wasn't damaged. It isn't that you "could" be ice fishing today, but that you "would" be. These things should also be compensated. Your time "without" your things has an impact, and therefore needs to be calculated. Just my $0.02.

[Frozen Smoke]

I'll keep updating this if for no other reason it makes me feel better! Took the smoker to the fabricator today and it seemed to tow fine. No dog walking so no bent frame. Anyhow the fabricator will have it for a couple weeks I'm sure with the holidays and he does this sort of stuff in his spare time.

The police called me today with a update. The kid reported his car was stolen from a local bar about 6 blocks from my house. The police reviewed the video from inside and outside the bar. The got him on video inside the bar. They got him on video outside the bar trying to pick a fight outside and then getting in his car and driving away and I'm guessing about 3 minutes later wound up behind my garage in the woods where he staggered away. So he's firmly busted. Fleeing the scene and filing a false police report.

I told the cop I talked to to tell the kid how lucky he got. Had he hit that smoker a little further back towards the wheels he may be seriously injured or even dead. The cop felt it would be wasted words on the kid. Sounds like he finds trouble and just doesn't learn from it. Hopefully he doesn't wind up killing someone some day.

[Frozen Smoke]

Well here we are January 14th one month to the day of the incident. Do I have my smoker back yet? No. The fabricator injured his back when about half way done with it. He did get me a estimate of around $750 for the repairs before he injured himself so I could submit it to the kid who hit it insurance company. He is still laid up I guess. He's a one man shop and also a friend so I certainly can't be mad or push him. One of those things.

The MCS is swelling to buy another rig the longer this goes on though.

Do I have my UTV back? No. This actually irritates me more than not having my smoker. My UTV is used for snow plowing and more importantly was my ice fishing machine so I'm missing out on a lot of prime time ice fishing! Problem here is the floor needs replacing as it got rolled up and pushed in from the smoker slamming into it along with a lot of other parts needing to be replaced. The dealer got all the parts with the exception of the floor being back ordered until the 18th being this coming Friday. The dealer already hinted they have seen these back order dates being pushed out two sometimes 3 times before the part actually ships. Again it's just one of those things and is nobody's fault. And of course it's the last part off and the first part on so they won't even start the work until they get confirmation of shipping.

I got a letter from the city prosecutor notifying me of the charges filed against the kid and his first court date which is the 30th. Also got a form to fill out if I have any out of pocket expenses not covered by insurance I wish to claim against the kid. Right now I do not unless we get some snow and I have to pay someone to plow my driveway. But my chances of actually getting anything out of him are probably nill.

So I will just wait it out I guess.

[Frozen Smoke]

Troutman I hear what you're saying and everyone is telling me the same thing. I'm getting people telling me they know this kid and him and his brother are always in some kind of trouble or another. I started out with a little sympathy for him. you know the "we all did stupid things when we were young and glad he didn't get hurt and hope he learns from it". But time has changed that and I'm pretty pissed off not having my stuff for this long because of absolutely no fault of my own. And as you say things even repaired will never be the same.

In the letter i got from the prosecuting attorney he asked I contact his office with any questions. I plan to call him before the kids court appointment to tell him I think the aggravation of going without my equipment for this extended period of time while has not cost me out of my pocket yet the aggravation has to be worth something!

[shush]

Maybe you could ask the prosecutor to have the kid get sentenced to help the laid up repair guy? That way, he is doing community service, learning a bit (hopefully), and fixing what he broke. If he fails to comply, then off to the brig/out of pocket expenses. It may be the thing the kid needs to learn to do something proactive and learn that although the replacement of items by paying for it can be done in other ways than just money... and even an investment in his own self, to see that constant *cough* mistakes are often brought on by him. Might be a turning point. Might be he's just destined to be a ne'er-do-well. *shrug*

[Donw]

After discussing your circumstances with my wife who is a lawyer and just happens to have graduated from U of Minn.:

Don’t expect much from the criminal justice system as your inconvenience and aggravation are civil matters. Do consider yourself lucky that the damage was caused by a motor vehicle which hopefully was insured, and if not, is probably covered by the uninsured motorist fund. They will reimburse for the actual damages. Imagine if the kid was just drunk and did all the damage with a baseball bat. No insurance other than your own covering that, and good luck recovering anything from the bad actor.

Make sure your friend doing the repairs updates the estimate for anything he has further found needing repairs, and the same for the dealer. Submit those so that his reimbursement order from the court at least covers those expenses.

We are sorry you have to deal with all this, but we are pulling for you.

[Frozen Smoke]

Thank you very kindly Donw for your advice and consulting with your attorney on my behalf! I realize I'm not due anything for my inconveinence or aggravation that's just for me to deal with. I do plan on telling the prosecutor that I don't know yet if I may incur any out of pocket expenses going forward. If we get any amount of snow I may have to pay someone to plow. I don't know yet if I'm going to get my deductible back from my insurance company. His insurance company has to accept full liability before I get that back.

I've already received payment of over $7000 for damages to my UTV so it's just the annoyance of waiting on back ordered parts so I can get it back in action. My first ice fishing season since being retired and I had some big plans but without my UTV I'm pretty much grounded. It will all work out in the end and there's always next year.

I'm grateful the kid didn't get seriously hurt or even killed which could have happened had he plowed into that smoker 3 feet more towards the tires. The legal muck would be much deeper then I'm sure.