car seized in arrest

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Question

Country: United States of America
State: District of Columbia

I purchased a vehicle for my daughter and one of her friends was arrested with weapons and gun in the vehicle. She was not present nor was I and the District is now holding it for civil forfeiture. They've already had the vehicle for over two months and I keep trying to turn if over to them and recover my property but, they will not allow me to have my tags or any personal property out of the vehicle. What I can't understand is that everyone keeps telling me that it could be up to a year before the investigation is settled and that's fine with me. I want to know if legally I can recover my tags and hand the District over the car and walk away from this nightmare.

Answer

You can do that yes--You may want to first file a complaint with the chief of the dept--the heads of the dept's are required to investigate these kinds of problems and normally will do so--file directly with him or her and do so in writing.