LOS SANTOS — A police auction briefly reunited this reporter with her impounded news van Thursday, before officers seized it again for an outstanding towing charge incurred while they were selling it.
The van, confiscated during the electric-supercar fiasco, appeared in the catalogue as a “mobile media opportunity, owner unknown.” My name remained painted on both doors. Auction staff said ownership markings were decorative and could not be considered evidence.
Captain Denny Rusk welcomed bidders to what he called a community recovery event. The community was invited to recover its possessions at market rates, plus a contribution to police morale.
Items included three stolen motorcycles, a counterfeit luxury handbag authenticated by the officer’s wife, and a bag of white powder withdrawn when the catering contractor asked where the icing sugar had gone.
Bidding on my van opened at $500. I raised my hand. So did environmental promoter Blaise Coppet, who wanted to turn it into an immersive exhibit about the damage caused by journalists attending his fundraiser.
A third bidder, introduced only as Uncle Len, offered cash and asked whether the lot included the glove compartment. The auctioneer described that as an exciting opportunity for due diligence.
The price reached $4,200 before I demonstrated that the horn sounded continuously whenever the passenger door opened. Coppet withdrew on accessibility grounds. Uncle Len asked to buy only the glove compartment. I won the van for the opening bid after the auctioneer announced that the previous eight minutes had been a rehearsal.
My editor wired the money. She wants twelve stories and has deducted the transfer fee.
I had driven six feet when a tow truck blocked the gate. Its operator demanded the storage charges. The auction terms described the van as free of liens; the driver explained that he had a chain.
Uncle Len then stole the tow truck, taking my van and me with it. Police pursued us along the freeway while Rusk used the auction’s public-address system to remind departing bidders that all sales were final.
The pursuit ended at a Burger Shot drive-through when the combined vehicles failed the height clearance. Len escaped on foot carrying the glove compartment. Officers returned me to the auction room to complete a customer-satisfaction form.
Rusk says the operation recovered two vehicles in a single afternoon, a departmental record for that particular van.
The next auction is Monday. I have been invited to bid remotely because I no longer have transport.
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