Pay Your Bills or Patrol on Foot
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" titles to all of them. Copies of the titles 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."
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" titles to all of them. Copies of the titles 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."
posted by Dave at 11:13 AM
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