Tulsa Theft Victim Can’t Afford $1,000 Bill To Get Car

A Tulsa family said they waited a month before they learned deputies found their stolen car miles away in another county.

But by then it was too late; the wrecker bills were just too much for them to get the car out of the tow yard.

Leigh Miller and her family called News On 6 in September when someone broke through the backdoor of their home, took the keys from the hallway table and drove off with their PT Cruiser. She said it was their only form of transportation.

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Now, almost two months later, her car is found, but she doesn't think she'll be able to get it back.

She's happy they found the car but wonders why it took so long for them to find out it was sitting in the back of a tow company's lot in Wagoner, with a bill she said is close to $1,000.

"Frustration, anger, you know, I never thought they'd find it and I'm very grateful that they did, but then, I mean, what good does it do to just sit in somebody's parking lot, storage, wrecker place," Miller said.

She said it took her a month to find out deputies from Wagoner County recovered her car.

Tulsa Police said the car was entered as stolen into the national reporting system in August. But according to the abandoned car report from the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office, the car didn’t show up as stolen.

"Neither one of them, the decal or the tag, neither one was reported stolen," Sheriff Bob Colbert said.

The report says when a Wagoner officer went to the lot to run the tags a month later it came back stolen.

Did her stolen car report fall through the cracks? Who's accountable? The sheriff is trying to find that out with a records request through the state.

“We should be able to track down what agency, whether it be us, Wagoner PD or Tulsa Police Department, what agency ran this tag, what agency entered this tag, when it was entered, or not entered," Colbert said.

In the meantime, the Millers bought a used car from a family member - but on a fixed income and monthly trips to the doctor, it's a lot of money she said they can't afford.

Miller said, "There needs to be a better plan for the police departments. I mean, if your car is reported stolen it needs to be in the computer immediately so this doesn't happen to somebody else."

The tow yard said she has until the 30th to pay for the car, otherwise it will be sold.