Where to file a report of car theft, sample, how to report

When you go out into the street in the morning and see that the car is missing, you don’t need to try to solve the problem yourself - you will have to file a report about the theft of the car, having first contacted law enforcement officials. Next, you need to go to the department for help and transfer it to specialized investigators. The speed of getting your hands on the car largely depends on the speed of your actions.

Making a statement

As a rule, stolen vehicles are immediately sent for dismantling. In such a situation, you need to quickly navigate your actions, maintain your common sense and promptly call the police. To start the search procedure, you must submit a written application. Only this is considered the main basis for opening a criminal case or refusing to initiate one. Investigators cannot act without a submitted application for consideration. It must indicate the requirements and will of the victim and explain the basic facts. The owner has two days from the moment the vehicle is lost to draw up and submit a report of theft.

How to file a police report

Immediately after discovering a missing car, you should call the police with a verbal complaint about the theft, and you should also contact the insurance company with the same question. During this call you will be asked for the following information:

state registration number of the vehicle;
color features: it is better to indicate the actual color of your vehicle (white, black), and not the one indicated in the PTS (wet asphalt, starry sky, etc.);
external features: indicate whether your car has airbrushing, stickers, dents, chips - anything that can make a stolen car stand out from the crowd;
whether location tracking systems are installed on the vehicle.

Upon your oral statement, according to the adopted algorithm, the “Interception” plan is announced, since theft is one of three activation reasons, the first two are a serious or especially serious crime has been committed, and the vehicle is used to commit a crime or attempt to escape. At the same time, an officer must arrive at the crime scene to conduct an inspection and interview victims and witnesses.

What is the Interception plan?

After a call from an eyewitness to a crime or a victim, the employee who receives it transmits the information to the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, then, taking into account the time and place of the crime, the territorial boundaries of the interception zone are determined. Based on this, employees located in these areas install barrier posts in accordance with the internal established plan. For the “Interception-1” plan, it is customary to allocate a time frame within 15 minutes after the commission of a crime, then the validity period is determined by the person in charge. Next, usually after an hour has passed after the crime, the “Interception-2” plan is introduced. In this plan, posts are not used; the participating employees carry out a zone search (in squares) for the stolen vehicle. Yards, parking lots, car services, etc. are checked. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of these procedures is less than 50%, despite all the “coolness” characteristic of cinema.

How to do it

In order to seek help from the nearest duty station and report a stolen car, the owner must prove ownership of the stolen car.
The evidence may be a power of attorney, agreement or other document confirming ownership. Naturally, you will have to take these papers with you. However, situations can often arise when the car was stolen along with the documents. In such situations, there is also a solution. To do this, you will have to write an additional explanation, in which you should indicate the fact that there are no papers confirming ownership. In addition, a citizen has access to drawing up an official appeal. When conducting a dialogue with a representative of law enforcement agencies, it is necessary to explain to him how the owner learned about the fact of illegal seizure of the car.

Filing a theft report

As a rule, a statement about the theft of a vehicle is submitted by filling out the appropriate form, which is available at the police duty station. The form of this document contains the following fields:

Name of address and applicant.
The text of the statement itself.
Signature line confirming familiarization with the article of the Criminal Code on false denunciation.
Date of application.
Applicant's signature.

Rules for drawing up an application and giving evidence

The owner of the vehicle must independently report the circumstances of the incident. When giving explanations, the car owner must set himself the following tasks:

Convince the police that a criminal act actually took place (otherwise, the owner will be refused to initiate a case due to the absence of a crime).
Confirm ownership of the stolen vehicle (to prove that the applicant is the injured party in this incident).
Describe the signs of a stolen car, based on which the search will be carried out.

In order to make it clear that the car was actually stolen and not given to third parties with the consent of the owner (for example, for a ride to a friend or relative), the car owner must emphasize that he did not give such permission to anyone, and also never told where exactly the documents and car keys are located.
When describing the signs of a stolen vehicle, you can list the following:

Registration data of the car, its external description.
The approximate amount of gasoline in the tank at the time the car owner was last driving a vehicle.
The presence of any anti-theft systems on the car.
Vehicle mileage.
Secret marks that were applied by the owner of the car, additional units and the places where they are installed.
Special features (description of the vehicle interior, personal items that were in it or in the trunk).

As a rule, all vehicle documents provided as evidence of ownership are confiscated. Therefore, the owner must make sure that the police officer has given him a receipt confirming the receipt of these documents.

Sample

Before you begin to draw up a statement, you must obtain a special form from the police officer on duty. The salient features of this document include the following:

there are fields for filling in information about the addressee and applicant;
several blank lines to describe the situation (circumstances are indicated, explanations are given, and so on);
a line where you need to confirm the fact of familiarization with the legal norms regarding false reporting;
space to write the date of application and signature.

In the space provided to describe the situation, state in a dry, concise manner the circumstances under which the crime was committed.
In the process of writing a statement, there is no need to qualify the crime and refer to a specific law in the Criminal Code. This issue must be dealt with by the employee who receives a written appeal from the injured party. You can see a sample of such a document on the Internet. The original example should be modified to suit you, leaving all the necessary information. According to generally accepted requirements, a police report about theft must include the following information.

Full name of the citizen who is the owner of the vehicle (indicating contact information).
Car make and all information from the title.
Characteristic features of the car known exclusively to the injured party (the presence of defects on certain parts of the car (chips/cracks/dents on the body, fenders, bumpers, etc., their shape), secret marks, information about changes in the color of the car, the presence of stickers or drawings on the body ). Other features also include the amount of fuel remaining in the car, mileage, individual features of the interior or items that were inside.
Availability of installed anti-theft devices (electronic or mechanical devices).
A complete list of persons who have received the right to use the vehicle. In this case, the details of the previous owner, relatives and trusted persons must be indicated.
The presence of the fact that the vehicle is pledged (subject to its purchase under a car loan agreement).
Availability of insurance (CASCO or OSAGO).
Approximate time the car was taken by the thief.
Previous location of the car before it went missing.
List of witnesses who witnessed the admission.
Other elements of the evidence base. For example, perhaps the victim is aware that there are certain witnesses who accidentally saw the car, there is a recording from a CCTV camera, if the party is confident in its operation.

Independent search

In parallel with the police, you can organize an independent search for the car. Here are just a few ways:

Posting information about a stolen car on social networks (on your page and in thematic groups), do not be afraid to ask friends and acquaintances to repost. On forums with rewards listed (but beware of scammers!).
Posting advertisements on stands, boards, poles (prohibited by law), and information boards. When composing advertisements, you should especially focus on the individual features that make your car stand out from the crowd.
Independently walk around nearby courtyards, auto repair shops, and parking lots.

What should the owner do before drawing up

Initially, try to check if a car is being quickly sold online. In some cases, you come across not very smart car thieves who try to get rid of the car right away by offering a clearly low price. It is important to reassure the police representative that an atrocity is indeed taking place. In other words, the car was not leased, by proxy, is not in use by relatives, was not sent to the impound lot for violating traffic rules, and so on.

Note! If possible, show the documents for the car before submitting your application. In legal practice, this is direct evidence that you are the injured party. Additionally, outline all the individual features of the machine that can speed up the search process. The police officer must also receive an additional key with the alarm fob.

Possible reasons for car theft

There may be plenty of reasons for stealing a car, but they all ultimately lead to a single goal - material gain, usually through the subsequent resale of the stolen property.

Let's look at the most obvious ones:

Further resale abroad. Very often, citizens of the Republic of Belarus, having purchased a car without registration, find themselves in an awkward situation when they try to register it in their country. As a rule, these cars are distilled unchanged. The advantage for the buyer is that the price of the car is very low, but it is impossible to register it in your own country.
For sale for spare parts. This is the most common reason for vehicle theft, since later the car is thoroughly disassembled into parts, and it is already very difficult to find evidence of its existence. The only confirmation can be only the number on several parts of the case. As a rule, on the shoulder of the doorway on the driver's seat, under the windshield on the front of the body under the hood and on the rear of the body under the luggage compartment mats.
To order for subsequent rework, as a rule, a piece of the body is cut out and welded in its place from another machine.

We wrote in more detail about why a car is stolen earlier, in this same article we want to describe further actions after the fact of theft.

What documents will be issued in return?

Having managed to successfully report the theft, the driver will receive in return a form-coupon certifying that the application has been submitted for consideration. Then a resolution to open criminal proceedings will be submitted. Along with it, employees will issue documentation confirming the fact of the theft. Using a special form, an act of acceptance of a spare set of keys and documents is issued. All papers will be required for further transfer to the tax service, insurance company, and so on.

Algorithm of actions: what to do and where to call?

First of all, you need to understand what exactly is theft. Theft (Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is often confused with theft of a car: theft (Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), robbery (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or even robbery (Article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The key feature that allows you to differentiate the theft of a vehicle from theft is the absence of a purpose for the theft. This means that when committing a theft, the person does not plan and does not intend to appropriate the car.

Why then commit a crime? Goals can be different: the desire to demonstrate driving skills, just to ride and enjoy the trip.

So, intoxicated with alcohol, P. P. A. wanted to ride around the city. He approached someone else's car, near which he saw a metal crowbar. With this device, P. P. A. broke the rear left window of the car, and, having removed the lock from the car doors, sat in the driver’s seat.

Fortunately for the attacker and unfortunately for the owner of the car, the engine was running and the key was in the ignition. Therefore, the thief only had to press the brake pedal, shift the gearbox and, pressing the gas pedal, start moving.

Of course, at the first stage, when you did not find your car in the place where you left it, you still cannot know whether the car was stolen or stolen.

Therefore, the following algorithm of actions will be relevant for both situations.

Make sure the car is really missing.
A situation is possible in which one of your loved ones, a member of your family, took the car for a short trip without warning you about it. Even if none of your loved ones has a driver's license, it's still worth checking with them first. As practice shows, often at this stage the problem of “theft” of a car is solved by itself.
It is worth checking whether you have violated the traffic rules and whether your car was parked in accordance with the rules.
You can call 112 and find out if your car has been towed. If you live in Moscow, you can call the number (GKU “Administrator of the Moscow Parking Space”).
If the previous steps did not give the desired result, you need to call the police station.
It is necessary to report the theft: state your last name, first name and patronymic, make, color, license plate number of the car, address of the place where you left it.
While you are waiting for the local police officer to arrive, make a call to the insurance company.
Tell the consultant all the necessary information, clarify what actions you need to take next, what documents (or copies thereof) to provide to the insurance company.
The police officer who arrives at the scene of the incident will hand you a ticket consisting of two parts: a notice (remains with you) and a stub (remains with the police).
You can go to the station and write a statement about the crime committed. Your appeal will be entered into the Book of Statements and Reports of Crimes. Also, in the near future you will need to receive a decision to initiate a criminal case (after the check has been carried out).
It is important to understand that in case of theft, delay can be too costly: attackers can quickly repaint the car, change the license plates, and finally, simply drive it to another region. Each of these actions will significantly complicate (or even make it impossible) the search for a stolen vehicle.
You should take additional independent steps to find your car.
Your task is to attract as much attention as possible to your problem. A random passerby may notice your car in the most unexpected place and thus help you with your search. It is worth looking for thematic communities on social networks dedicated to finding stolen or missing cars.
It is also recommended to advertise with the promise of a reward. In addition, you can contact the public movement of motorists MDA “Avtobrat”. This organization can become a guarantor, that is, guarantee that you will actually pay a reward to the person who found your stolen car.
Remember that after publishing an ad, you become bait for scammers.
Often, criminals, having seen the advertisement, contact the owner of the stolen car and report that they have valuable information, access to which can be opened in exchange for an immediate and relatively high reward.
In order to protect yourself, ask for the most accurate information about the car you found; if the person contacting you sends you photos, ask them to take new ones, but from a different angle or together with certain objects (the simplest thing is a photo with today’s newspaper). You should transfer money only when you are convinced that this information will really be useful to you, and the person writing to you is not deceiving you.
Contact the tax office with a police theft certificate.
This must be done so that transport tax is not charged until the car is found. The accrual of transport tax will resume from the month when your car is found. The second way to avoid excess taxation is to deregister a car or other vehicle with the traffic police.

Recommended reading:

What is theft? Let's look at Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

“How much do they give for car theft (Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)?”

Investigation methods and forensic characteristics of thefts

What to do if they don’t give your car back after it’s stolen

If the culprits and the location of the stolen car are identified, it may not be returned to you immediately. The car will be recognized as material evidence, and its storage will be carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs until a verdict is passed. It is also possible to transfer the car to the owner for safekeeping. In this case, a ban on sales and other registration actions will be established.

If the car is not returned after the completion of the criminal case, you have the legal right to file a complaint with a higher official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the prosecutor's office or the court. Law enforcement must prove the legality of the vehicle's lien or return it to the proper owner.

What to do if documents are stolen

Keeping a PTS in a car is not the smartest solution, because traffic police officers do not require this document for inspection (the only exception is those cars that move without license plates).

If you are unlucky and the car is stolen along with its documents, it may happen that it is sold to an inattentive buyer, with the new owner entered in the empty document column. If the car is found, the process of transferring it to the previous owner will be complicated.

What to do if the title and other documents were stolen along with the car?

First, you need to write about this in the theft report. You fill out a regular form, which does not differ from the standard one (indicating all the information about the car (model, VIN, etc.), the owner, his contact information). The police will tell you what to do next.

If absolutely all the documents were stolen, you will have to restore them, and it is better to deal with this issue in advance. For this procedure, you will need to provide a certificate of theft of the vehicle, which can be obtained from the police.

Why do you need to do this? In case the stolen car is still not found and the criminal case is closed. Documents will be needed in order to:

receive insurance compensation;
deregister the car.

In any case, before doing anything, consult with the investigator. Documents can be restored only after the case is closed, but you can deregister a stolen car on the basis of a document confirming the theft of the car itself and the documents for it, which the police will give you.

Application deadlines

Formally, there is no deadline for submission, but in practice, the first hours of searching are the most effective. If you decide to call your friends and acquaintances in advance or look for a car in the area on your own, you will make a big mistake. During this time, the attackers will have time to drive it away, hide it well, or simply disassemble the car for subsequent sale for spare parts.

If you report to the police only the next day after the loss, there is a very high risk that the paper will simply be put away and no one will seriously search for it. The sooner you contact law enforcement, the greater the chance that the car will be successfully found.

In any case, it is advisable to apply within the first two days after the crime has been committed. Insurance companies usually set a 5-day period for applying for compensation; documents from the police about registration of the crime are submitted to the insurer.

If within 10 days after the start of the search the car is not found, the case of theft will be reclassified as a case of theft, that is, the intent to steal will be recorded. This is important for insurance companies: make sure that the CASCO policy includes the risks of theft without the purpose of theft and theft. Otherwise, there will be problems with receiving compensation.

If the car has been stolen, its owner is exempt from paying transport tax. You must submit an application to the local tax office at your place of registration. Attached to it are documents from the police confirming the fact that a crime has been registered and a criminal case has been initiated.

Theft of a new car without license plates

It’s a completely unpleasant case when a new car without license plates is stolen. It follows that the car is not registered. It is not in the traffic police database. The theft application form can be filled out using a regular passport and a purchase agreement.

They will even take him into production using the usual investigative algorithm. But the hope for a quick discovery of such a loss is extremely insignificant. The numbers will most likely be fake. Finding such a machine would be an extraordinary success.

When purchasing a new car, when there is a fear of not registering the new car quickly, you should immediately install a mechanical lock. Carefully monitoring the location of the car. Especially in wonderful Moscow. And it’s the same in wonderful St. Petersburg.