Let down by cops on Christmas

CHRISTMAS DAY 2015 wasn't merry for Alexander Gill.

The University of Pennsylvania graduate student awakened to a clatter at 8 a.m. It wasn't Santa.

His 2004 Chevy Cavalier, parked in front of his Point Breeze home, was totaled by a hit-and-run driver. A neighbor's car was lightly damaged when Gill's Chevy was banged into it.

Gill did what he was supposed to do, he says: He went that day to a police station - where he got hit again.

"I am a law-abiding, taxpaying, car-insurance-carrying citizen of Philadelphia that has tried to navigate the system and do what is right with seemingly little to no help from anyone," says Gill, "and I have felt revictimized every step of the way, particularly by the Philadelphia police."

The 28-year-old Gill, who is one year away from his Ph.D. in neuroscience and his M.D., gets assigned to various hospitals for as many as 80 hours a week. He wrote out what happened to him at my request. It came to five single-spaced pages.

I will break it down to about five paragraphs in a moment.

Because the story concerns the 17th Police District, I shared Gill's information with police Public Affairs, requesting interviews at the 17th to find out what went wrong, if it went wrong, and why. What I got instead was word that Internal Affairs is looking into it and that the police would not comment until that was done.

Not what I wanted, but, okaaaaaaay.

Here's Gill's story:

After his car was totaled, Gill reported the accident at the 17th, where the duty officer told him to keep the car until police could determine if the owner of the at-fault car had insurance. That car, a 1993 Subaru Legacy, was abandoned at the scene. Gill saw two females and a male fleeing. The neighbor, David Sanchez, tells me he also saw the trio fleeing and dialed 911, but police response was slow.

An officer at the 17th had a tow truck remove the Subaru and positioned Gill's wreck in front of his home. So far, so good. Gill was told to place notes on his car windows explaining the situation. Gill did not have uninsured-motorist insurance, because it was mandatory when he lived in Massachusetts and he thought the same was true in Pennsylvania. It is not. It should be.

He returned to the 17th the next day to get a report of the incident. He was told the Accident Investigation Division was investigating and he should contact AID to help find the Subaru's owner. He returned the next day to the 17th, where a civilian employee told him there was no AID report and AID was not investigating. Gill says the civilian chastised him for not having the right insurance, and was impolite and snarky. He was also wrong about AID. "That is the last time I went to the 17th District" in person, Gill says.

Gill called a few days later and a helpful officer said AID was indeed investigating. Gill sought the owner information from police, who could not provide it, so he called the DMV and got it from the state, for a fee. Long story short, the Subaru had been involved in several prior accidents and was not insured at the time of those accidents. The idea that there were earlier victims infuriated him, Gill says: "Where is the justice for the victims of these uninsured drivers?"

But the system wasn't quite done with Gill.

Because his Cavalier - his car since entering college - was totaled, Gill took his insurance company's advice to cancel the remaining five months on his policy. He did that and turned in his license plates, as required.

He planned on calling a junkyard to haul it away, but on Feb. 10, the wreck was gone and the 17th District said it had no record of its being moved. He then learned that the Neighborhood Service Unit had towed the car to a junkyard, ignoring the notes plastered on the car. Gill was informed that he'd be getting a bill of $312 for the towing and that unless he claimed the car within seven days, it would be crushed.

Gill was OK with its being crushed because he planned to have it junked himself - which would have cost him nothing.

Gill adds it all up: His car is gone, as are the many hours he spent chasing info the cops could have provided, and the $312 bill that has yet to arrive, along with a call from Internal Affairs. Because the Subaru was uninsured, Gill's only hope for restitution is small claims court.

The situation was made worse, he says, "by the disrespectful conduct and impudence" of most, but not all, police staff he encountered.

When Internal Affairs issues its findings, I'll let you know. But even without an investigation, I know this: Too many cops get hard of hearing and hard of heart.

The PPD motto is: Honor, Integrity, Service.

Service means courtesy. That means to everyone.

stubyko@phillynews.com

215-854-5977 @StuBykofsky

Blog: ph.ly/Byko

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