Accusing me of committing hit and run (when I didn’t)

Question

I got a call from an investigator from Arlington Texas informing me that a couple has accused me of hitting their car in in December in their apartment complex parking lot.

The husband stepped out of the car to stop the car from driving away. Apparently the person drove forward and he had to step out of the way. They followed that car and stopped at a kroger. They lost the car but later found it in the kroger parking lot.

They took photos of the car and the plate and said it was me. I work in that Kroger that’s 30 min away from where I live due to an emergency. I don’t know anyone that lives in that city that I’d visit. I’ve never been to any apartment complexes there and definitely don’t remember having the confrontation with a guy in front of the car. My car has a Florida plate on it and they were sure it was me because the plate stood out a lot as they followed.

The officer called again today and said there was a male passenger in the car that hit them. I never had any male passengers because when I go to that city, it’s only because I have to work there. The officer took my insurance info and said if the investigation swings their way they’d get my insurance info.

I also sent her photos of my car all the way around like she asked so she can match it with the description of the accusers. The bad thing is that I already had scratches on that car before it was given to me by my mom. It does not look good for me.

Should I get a lawyer? I tried to contact a lawyer but none of them called me back :(. The officer said something about she could have a warrant for my arrest when I tried to explain to her that it might be insurance fraud since they only have photos of my scratched up car which is frequently parked in that kroger because... well I work there and that none of the other events matched what I have.

Answer 1

There's a critical reference in your description. At some point in the incident, you write, "They lost the car."

This means that there is a considerable possibility of error on the part of the claimant. Anyone can take photos of your car in a parking lot. It is meaningless in itself.

If the claimant also suggests that a male was driving the car, it confirms that there's a disconnect between the incident and your vehicle in the parking lot. (This segment is incorrect, a misread on my part)

If you have photos of your vehicle prior to this incident with the scratches apparent and you can prove that it is earlier than this incident, you have yet another disconnect.

The above items provide you with a reasonable defense, but one can also hope that the investigator will not push the claim to the point of going to court.

Consider also to require confirmation of official identification, to ensure that this is not an overblown scam. You want to be certain that someone saying he is with law enforcement is truly a law officer. If not, you'll want to call the local PD after getting as much identification (license tag number, name, even a photograph) to provide to the police.

Answer 2

You don't have to give any answers to anyone. You certainly shouldn't give them any information that could possibly be used against you. You certainly shouldn't give any information to them if they don't clearly tell you what you are accused of, because they are just fishing for information. The most important things would be to tell you where and when the crash happened.

Since you were not told these basic things, the only thing that you tell is that you were not involved in any crash, and that since they refuse to state where and when you supposedly were involved in a crash, you cannot tell them where you have been at the time of the crash.

A police officer wouldn't tell you they can get an arrest warrant, they either would get an arrest warrant or they wouldn't. And they would ask directly "where were you between 14:00 and 14:15 last Wednesday, and where was your car at that time". So this was most likely not a police officer, and you should tell them nothing.

And a good question to ask is "are you a police officer, and what is your name". A police officer is allowed to lie about it and say "no", but anyone who is not a police officer can get into an awful lot of trouble by lying and saying "yes". (In this situation, a police officer obviously has no reason to lie and they will truthfully state their name).