Why the delay?

Early in the morning around 4 a.m., someone drove into Quiet Harbor off of Glen Cove and smashed into my vehicle, which was parked in front of my garage. The vehicle that hit me struck my car with such an impact that it moved my vehicle 90 degrees and blocked my neighbor’s garage. I received a phone call from my neighbor at 9 a.m., telling me that my vehicle had been severely damaged. The vehicle struck my car between the driver’s door and back passenger door. There were no skid marks, but plenty of debris from the car that struck me.

I called the Vallejo Police Department and asked them to come out and exam the crime scene. In response, I was told to submit an online report. I posted photos of my vehicle on Facebook and NextDoor, asking if anyone had seen a vehicle with severe front end damage who might have damaged my car. Fortunately, a lady contacted me telling me she had seen such a vehicle that was parked in her apartment complex and she was suspicious, as she had never seen the vehicle before.

I drove there and took photos. I also took the parts from the vehicle that struck me. They matched the vehicle parked in her apartment complex.

I called Vallejo PD in the afternoon and told them I had photos of the vehicle that I believe damaged my car, and that I had evidence that it matched the debris left at the scene. Once again, they referred me to the online report.

I called Vallejo PD again and asked that an officer be sent out to interview me, view my vehicle and look at the vehicle that I believe did the damage. They said they would send an officer out. I waited until 11 p.m. on Sunday, and no one showed up from VPD.

Monday morning I had my vehicle towed to an auto body collision repair shop. The lady who had originally helped me find the vehicle that I believed hit me, called me to tell me that someone was cleaning out that vehicle and it was being towed. Again, I called the Vallejo PD and asked them to come out ASAP before the other car was towed. Three hours later, I received a phone call from a Vallejo PD officer who asked why I wasn’t home. Unfortunately, he had gone to the apartment complex where the vehicle that hit me was, and it was already gone. I asked the officer to meet me at the body shop where my car was, which he did. He looked at my vehicle, the photos of the vehicle that I believed hit me, and I showed him the debris from the crash site.

He told me they could do nothing without an eyewitness or a video of the actual crash. The only thing they could do was to send a letter to the person with the license plate on the vehicle that hit me.

So, there was $13,000 damage to my vehicle, and the person who hit me will get away with it.

The Vallejo PD took over 28 hours to finally respond to my numerous calls, and they are unwilling to even look at the evidence I had or interview the person who owns the car I believe hit me.

I mentioned that catalytic converters were being stolen in my neighborhood. He said that was a felony because the converters cost $2,000. Well, my vehicle sustained $13,000 worth of damage. I can’t help but think that if someone went into a store and robbed them of $13,000, the Vallejo PD would be all over that case.

Something is severely wrong with both the willingness of Vallejo PD to act on a serious crime. There is also something wrong with the criminal justice system in this city.

Thanks for letting me vent.

— Jim O’Connor/Vallejo