A Vietnam Vet’s Car Got Stolen And They Are Making Him Pay A Sickening Amount To Get It Back…

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Let me tell you a tale of an elderly Vietnam veteran who not only survived a traumatizing carjacking incident but was subsequently subjected to an outrageous demand of paying fines he didn’t owe.

Doug Nelson, a 73-year-old war veteran, fell prey to a ruthless carjacking after a late shift at the U.S. Postal Service. Moments after stepping out of his vehicle, he was cornered by armed thugs who threatened his life in exchange for his car keys.

Doug narrates, “As I was exiting the vehicle, this guy came up with the pistol and said, ‘Give me the car. You know, what’s happening. Give me a car,’”. As a grandfather to 11 and a man who values life over possessions, Doug handed over the keys to the car he and his wife heavily relied on, in the hopes that he would not lose more than his car that night, according to WJLA.

Doug Nelson

After recovering the stolen car, Doug and his wife Nancy thought their tribulations had ended. Little did they know, their woes had just started. A series of notices for traffic violations committed by the carjackers began to appear in their mailbox.

“Over $2,000 worth of fines. Yes. Over $2,000 worth of fines, Nancy recounted while sitting amidst a pile of speeding tickets and paperwork. She also mentioned how the carjackers had indulged in reckless joyrides, often violating speed limits, leading to a barrage of tickets.

Frustration set in when they received the first notice of the infraction. Nancy explains, “It was a notice of infraction and I looked at it and I said, ‘Oh, this is the time when they stole the car,’”

One might expect that explaining the circumstances would clear the matter, however, the Nelsons found themselves at the mercy of the Washington, DC officials who demanded that they pay the fines, according to The Blaze.

Thinking that the officials would understand their predicament, the Nelsons notified the District of Columbia about the car theft. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Nancy said, “It came back saying, ‘You owe,’” She even sent the police report showing that the car had been stolen more than an hour before the first ticket was issued but to no avail. “I sent it back and it got rejected again,” Nancy added.

Despite their numerous attempts to clear their name, involving personal visits to government offices, and even a face-to-face meeting with a hearings officer, their efforts seemed futile. Nancy, recalling her meeting with the hearings officer, said he didn’t even look at the information. He simply told her, “Your tag number is not on the report.”

Doug Nelson

Desperate for help, Nancy approached the police station, where she was met with further disappointment. “He [the police officer] said, ‘I can’t put the tag number on your report, but it’s in the system,’” Nancy remembers him saying.

Dejected, she expressed her distress saying, “This is not helping me at all. I’m in tears about all of this stuff because we owe over $2,000 for tickets that are not even our fault,”.

The bureaucratic nightmare didn’t end there. The Nelsons were unable to renew their car tags due to the outstanding tickets, effectively grounding them from using their vehicle. For six agonizing months, the couple was unable to drive their vehicle, with the fines only increasing with time.

Doug Nelson

The only remaining option was to approach a special appeals board. However, that required them to first pay all the fines upfront, which had by now, ballooned to over $5,000, according to WJLA.

Finally, after the 7News I-Team took up their case, the DC Department of Motor Vehicles dismissed the tickets, stating that a more complete incident report related to the carjacking incident had been received. However, the Nelsons refuted this, claiming they had not been notified about the dismissal of the tickets and fines.

The Nelsons’ story serves as a sobering reminder of the indifferent bureaucratic machinery that could turn a blind eye to the plight of citizens. As Doug’s son-in-law Richard Bennett rightly said, “It shouldn’t have to be this difficult.”

This egregious incident highlights the dire need for improved empathetic governance that protects and supports its law-abiding citizens, especially those who have already been victimized, rather than further burdening them with unwarranted demands.

Sources: Taphaps,  WJLA, The Blaze

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