road-runner Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 Californian authorities destroyed a supped up 1995 Honda Civic that belonged to 18-year-old Lakewood resident, Clifford Sung, a few weeks after the latter was arrested in Long Beach for having a vehicle with an illegal engine. This is the first time in Long Beach's history that an illegally modified car has been crushed. Sung was stopped on Oct. 15, 2007 after Long Beach officers noticed his Honda's illegally modified exhaust system. Long Beach officer Brian Nystedt stated that police saw other signs of illegal street racing, including a fiberglass hood and a sway bar on the back of the car that led to an inspection under the hood revealing that the VIN had been chipped off the transmission. City Prosecutor, Tom Reeves, justified the destruction of the car by saying that a high number of deaths in and around Long Beach in the past few years attributed to street racing have made the city aggressively pursue racers who break the law. Ironically, while Sung -who had no prior convictions- managed get away with a misdemeanour charge (he was sentenced to probation and the judge ordered his car to be destroyed), the 18-year-old Lakewood resident was arrested again one week after he settled his case in court. However, this time, things aren Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingdingeling Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 it may be illegal, but poor dude I'd hate to loose my car like that Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
suchuwato Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 Anyone else notice the crusher operator looked a bit out of place in a scrapyard... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamikaze_Badger Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 Does this mean that the fiberglass hood on the Windstar I did some work on last night means that the owner was a street racer? What if he put a glasspack on? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 The retarded car laws are one of the main reasons I'll never even consider living in Cali. You are guilty just for having modifications. Hell, my car is illegal according to Cali rules and if I were to be pulled over there they'd probably crush it too. Next will be if you own a gun they'll automatically assume you kill people with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrewr05 Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Fiberglass hood and a sway bar is enough probable cause to search your car? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 police saw other signs of illegal street racing, including a fiberglass hood and a sway bar on the back of the car that led to an inspection under the hood revealing that the VIN had been chipped off the transmission. Wow they seem very educated I am sensing a little rule breaking going on here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamikaze_Badger Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 If the moron hadn't tried to steal a car soon afterwards, he would have probably been able to appeal the ruling. But then again, basing laws off of the Fast and the Furious... how brilliant our law system is . How is a fiberglass hood and a sway bar reaonsable cause for a search for other modifications? Why would the VIN on the tranny require it to be crushed? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrewr05 Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 (edited) Next will be if you own a gun they'll automatically assume you kill people with it. Shut up, you god damn know that anyone with access to a firearm is a murderer...Stupid people... /sarcasm Edited November 25, 2007 by Andrewr05 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_cow Posted November 25, 2007 Posted November 25, 2007 missing vin number shouldnt mean its stolen, maybe he wanted to look cool and have the numbers off when people look at the engine. i'm gonna laugh when this guys sues them for the cost of his car Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamikaze_Badger Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 It was the VIN on the transmission... I don't think that's a very common thing to look at. "Hey man, I just rebuilt my slushbox and threw in a new valve body!" "DUDE, COOL! Let's jack up the car, remove the bell housing, and take a look at that totally awesome job on your TQ!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kash Posted November 26, 2007 Posted November 26, 2007 Only in California.... Were some modifications probable cause for a search? Not really. Then again, cops take advantage of our ignorance of search laws, and I'm sure an 18-year old kid didn't know that you can refuse a search of your vehicle if they don't have probably cause. He probably went along with it since as is the case with most people, he was naive enough to believe that cops have the right to do so. Though you can't blame the cops for being over-zealous. California has a serious problem with street racing and it does result in injury and death because no matter how good of a driver you are, all it takes is one scared motorist to cause a ten car pileup when the racers slam into either another car or some structure at high speed. In all honesty, crushing the car seemed to be rather extreme. I'm wondering whether this would fall under cruel and unusual punishment, especially in light of the fact that this was the first time it happened in that county. Then again, the kid was stupid enough to break the law soon after, so I guess he deserves whatever is coming to him Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now