Hi everyone,
I recently moved to Belgium after getting married here. Every penny matters for us right now, as I bought a car specifically to commute to my new job. Yesterday, a very disheartening and frustrating incident happened, and I really need some advice on how to handle the situation and the police
I bought a car from a Moroccan gentleman. He kindly allowed me to park the car in front of his garage until my official license plates arrived. Yesterday, my front plate was ready, so I went there, put it on, and left the car for about an hour.
When I returned to meet the seller and sign the final paperwork, I found that all 4 of my tires had their valves slashed. I could literally still hear the air leaking from the tires.
The seller told me that a nearby garage owner in the neighborhood is notoriously racist. This neighbor has a trailer and allegedly got angry, thinking my car was blocking him (even though my car was parked perfectly and there was plenty of room for any vehicle to pass). The seller actually saw this racist neighbor near my car just 10 minutes before I arrived.
I immediately called the police and gave them the address. After waiting for 1.5 hours and seeing no one, I called again. They said a team would call me back. 15 minutes later, they called and straight up told me they wouldn’t come. Instead, they told me to book an appointment on their website. The earliest available appointment is July 27th.
I obviously cannot leave my car there until July 27th because this person will likely vandalize it again. I need to fix the tires and move the car immediately to a safe spot.
Since I have to move the car and repair the tires now, will repairing them ruin my chances of filing a proper police report on July 27th? I took videos and photos of the slashed valves and the air leaking. Is it normal for Belgian police to completely ignore a crime scene like this? Can I press charges against the neighbor based on the seller’s witness testimony? I am incredibly sad and stressed out by this warm "welcome" to the country. Any advice on the legal steps, dealing with Belgian police, or how to handle the tire repairs cheaply would be deeply appreciated. Thank you
https://i.redd.it/mfh1cbx666eh1.jpeg
Posted by TheAssgardian
28 Comments
Facebook might be your friend. In Hoboken for example we’ve got some… Let’s call em watchful eyes that just keep everything in sight. Recently someone got caught vandalizing some bikes because people like them filmed the entire ordeal. So check your facebook group of your city if they have seen something and advise.
Unfortunately, yes. If it’s not an ongoing emegency they don’t bother to show up. If there are no witnesses they don’t bother. You can onlu go in in person and file a report. But to be honest, nothing will happen with thay either…
Unless you have a video of the tires being slashed with the face of the perpetrator clearly visible, all you can do is buy new tires. Police are not going to start an investigation for so little.
Depending on where you are, thats a super low priority call thats going to k
eep getting bumped as more calls come in that are more urgent.
You can document everything with photos, get quotes for the replacement tires and the tow, get the information of the witness, and make the report in person if there’s no chance of a patrol responding to this.
As for crime scene, no one is investigating anything about the car. There will be no lab work, no finger print or tool mark examinations. You can safely have it towed without ruining evidence.
The only thing you could have done was not sign the final paperwork and tell the seller to fix the car first. His toxic situation is not your problem, except now it is.
The police won’t do anything since it’s your word vs his and there is no real proof.
Maybe you can take pictures and ask if they can be added to the report. You can hardly be expected to leave your car on slashed tires for the next 7 days…
When i fart the neigbours calls the police and each time they come to hear the complaint
The problem here is that you have no proof so i think your legal options are limited. It’s not a big consolation but most people are not like that.
Police refuse to come because there is nothing for them to do. There is nothing in progress and noone is in danger. What you can do is go to the police station and file a formal complaint against ‘parties unknown’ and mention there is a witness
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Sounds more like a scam to me.
The fact that you just bought the car is quite an important element.
The police should help you though.
Slice tires as revenge
Sounds fishy, I assume you paid already? I would pay extra to have it towed asap to a safe area/tire dealer.
The seller could be scamming you
Can you put some camera’s in the car or from your house?
Had you asked anyone before moving here, your shock would not have been this big. They don’t come out for anything for the locals, let alone for someone ‘new’. Even when you file the report, it’s not going to lead to anything except being handy for your insurance. The man doing it could be on camera narrating his actions and it won’t lead to shit.
Buy new tires. Then leave for your own safety.
Congratz on getting married. The Police won’t do shit. Don’t try to get frustrated over it. This is not a priority call for them.
Side question if every penny matters right now, why did you buy a Mercedes-Benz?
Make an appointment at the police station and report the crime. You will get a paper proof and you can use this paper to file request for reimbursement with your insurance if you have one. They will reimburse (part of) your damages.
The police will not investigate (and the perpetrator will not be punished).
What you should have done, is refused to sign the contract of the sale. You agreed to buy a car in a certain condition, and the car was no longer in that condition. You had valid ground. The seller would have had to fix the damages before the sale could be completed. Since you signed, you agreed with the condition of the car and you’re now stuck with it.
Listen, somebody burned my house and there was no investigation. The report said « criminal origin fire ». Thankfully, nobody was hurt. It cost me a lot of money because not everything was approved by insurance . I developed some high blood pressure from the stress. And now every body moved on.
You will learn not to rely on the police , especially as a foreigner.
Try to save some money to help yourself in crisis. I am sorry for you
You have experienced the unfortunate reality of what our police has become, increasing bureaucracy and stagnating budgets have reduced the usefulness of the police by an unfortunate degree.
There is little hope for you ever to be compensated(unless you have insurance that covers it), certainly not in a reasonable time-frame. Filing a report will in all likelyhood do nothing more than sit idle until or if the guy gets in enough trouble to be in front of a judge.
Take off the wheels and have the valves replaced at a tyre place, should not be that expensive. I remember paying €20 for one a couple of years ago.
Belgian police … hehehehe
Sorry for your car man !!
As soon as you will pass the speed limit by 1 km\h… for sure they will come …
Thank you for answers 💖
Thell the police you’re jewish, they will send the army…
Cops and racists.
Classic Belgian police unavailability. I was on a bike and a guy hit me and ran away (vluchtmisdrijf). I broke 3 of my ribs in the accident point and some cyclists made him stop on the next cross section from running away and called the police.
Apparently police didn’t come to the crime scene for 1,5h with an alibi “we don’t have anybody to send” and told the cyclists to bring the criminal themselves to the police station. Criminal told cyclists that they will drive to the police station (they never came).
This is happening in city center of Gent. We made a complaint to police court and our complaint was found unclassified.
What I am trying to say is that whether you have Belgian roots or not, I wouldn’t count on help from police since it is never easy in this country. I know you pay taxes and you should get some help. But get your expectations straight so you won’t get disappointed in such situations.
Sad sad sad. I left belgium particularly Antwerp which is a big city because I was fed up with micro agressions. The point is, I am high skilled, 2 masters and even educated partly there. They achieve nothing with this behavior except losing the good ones and create hate among those who stay. It backfires and seems like they want it that way. Sad to see how fast things turned this way and how fast some Low IQ racist dummies try to ruin a country that once was an amazing beautiful place.
you talk shit about belgian police now, but just wait until a guy breaks into your house and you need to call someone who will show up eight hours late and shoot your dog
I think you got scammed by the seller