AFTER
I had been shopping around for a really cheap pedicab or bike trailer for over a month. This guy that rents pedicabs downtown (he's also a lawyer) happened to have the trailer pictured here and was looking to get rid of it. One of the pay-by-the-day parking lots downtown found this on their lot: no wheels, half the upholstery gone, all the electrical stuff gone. They took it to this guy to get it off their lot. He tried to find the owner by calling the city and tracing the permit number. He called the guy on the records, but that guy said it wasn't his. I got this all second hand through pedicab drivers and mechanics that work for this lawyer guy, because he never returned my calls and was never there when I drove by to see it. I called today and he happened to be there. I explained to him that I was looking for something like this to take "my wife in a wheelchair" on bike rides with me. He tells me he doesn't really own it, but if I give him $100 for storage fees, I can have it.
I hit the ATM after work and drive downtown. It was in the back of my truck, the money was in his pocket and I was writing down the name of an uphostery shop he uses when this guy in leather cargo pants and an Army jacket comes running up shouting "Oh no you don't! That's mine!" He starts arguing with the lawyer and tells us he was riding on the bus when he saw the trailer in the back of my truck and he's going to call the police and on and on. The lawyer whips out his cell phone and calls them. Tells the dispatcher he needs a "black and white" because of a public disturbance. Leatherpants says something about "why's it always got to be about black and white". They keep arguing. Lawyerboy decides to call off the deal, he doesn't want any hassles. Gives me back my money. We carry the trailer back to his lot (as in the attached photo, taken a few weeks ago). The police show up, listen to both sides of the story. The ask Leatherpants if he's got any proof that he owns the trailer. He says he's got all the paperwork and the canopy at his apartment.
I had been trying to be impartial this whole time. I just wanted the trailer, I didn't care which one of these guys got the money. I'd built a rapport with Leatherpants while Lawyerboy was talking to the police and offered him the money if the police let him have the trailer. I offered him a ride to his apartment to get the proof, including the missing roof. I don't know if Leatherpants was on drugs, or he was overly excited about finding his trailer, or if he was always this way - but afterwards Lawyerboy thought I was crazy for driving off with him.
So we get the proof. Leatherpants shows me the parking lot that he was keeping his trailer in. Apartment dweller, using his bike and the trialer to make money while going to school. Makes perfect sense to me. We go back to Lawyerboy's place. Call the police back. They look at the paperwork. The city registration numbers don't match. L, L & the police are peeling the permit stickers off to see if the numbers underneath match (they don't). While this is going on, I'm sitting on my tailgate, in a flight suit. While telling Meredith over the cell phone that I'll be late for dinner, one of the police officers walks up and asks for my military ID. I get off the phone and hand it to her. She asks for my birthdate and writes it and my name on a ticket. I ask if I did anything wrong. She says "What's a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy doing associating with a known felon?" I explain the whole deal about how I'd never met either one of these guys before today and that I didn't know Leatherpants was a felon.
Anyway, Lawyerboy didn't want a hassle with Leatherpants, so he let him have it. Police were more concerned about the permit being destroyed than anything else. I gave Leatherpants the money. He helped me load it up - and I got the trailer and canopy for $100. Now all I need are some wheels...