if someone gets rid of your truck without permission is it small claims or criminal?

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my friend got rid of my truck that i was overthere working on hte cops wont do anything about it they say its a small claims matter i think its criminal and they just didnt want to do their job i would like to know if this is a small claims matter or is it in fact criminal
 
If you left it there for a really long time, and he gave you notice to get it, and you didn't - He can legally get rid of it if the proper channels were used.

When you say you left your truck there that you were "working on", I just picture a truck sitting in my driveway for months on end.

If this is the premise of the dispute, you will need to go to small claims court and have a judge rule whether or not "this friend" used the legal channels to implicate abandonment. Usually this means they have to send you a certified letter giving you X amount of days to pick it up. Anything short of this letter, probably will be deemed illegal.

To answer your question: On it's face, your friend's actions are criminal. The part I believe you're leaving out, is that your friend has a defense whereby he told you to get the truck on numerous occasions and you didn't, thus he sold it. If that's the case, it's a civil matter and will need to go to small claims to determine whether or not it was lawfully abandoned.
 
Depends. Why did he get rid of it? If, for example, it was because you owed him for storage of the truck, or work on the truck, or he was holding it as collateral, and he followed proper procedure for your jurisdiction, then it's a civil case.

If he just up and took the truck, getting rid of it for his own gain, then it should be classified as auto theft.
 
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