§ 14-197 — Report of stolen, recovered, unclaimed or abandoned vehicle.

(a) A police officer or constable who learns of the theft of a vehicle not since recovered, or of the recovery of a vehicle the theft or conversion of which such officer or constable knows or has reason to believe has been reported to the commissioner, shall forthwith report the theft or recovery to the commissioner. (b) An owner or a lienholder may report the theft of a vehicle, or its conversion if a crime, to the commissioner, but the commissioner may disregard the report of a conversion unless a warrant has been issued for the arrest of a person charged with the conversion. A person who has so reported the theft or conversion of a vehicle shall, forthwith after learning of its recovery, report the recovery to the commissioner. (c) An operator of a place of business for garaging, repairing, parking or storing vehicles for the public, in which there is stored an abandoned or unclaimed vehicle for a period of thirty days, shall, within five days after the expiration of that period, report the vehicle as unclaimed or abandoned to the commissioner. A vehicle left by its owner whose name and address are known to the operator or his employee is not considered unclaimed. A person who fails to report a vehicle as unclaimed or abandoned in accordance with this subsection forfeits all claims and liens for its garaging, parking, towing or storing. The commissioner may, after notice and hearing, impose a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five dollars for each day the failure to report continues. (d) The commissioner shall maintain and appropriately index weekly and cumulative public records of stolen, converted, recovered, abandoned and unclaimed vehicles reported to him pursuant to this section. The commissioner may make and distribute copies of the weekly records so maintained to police officers upon request without fee and to others for the fee, if any, the commissioner prescribes. (e) The commissioner may suspend the registration of a vehicle the theft or conversion of which is reported to the commissioner pursuant to this section. Until the commissioner learns of its recovery or that the report of its theft or conversion was erroneous, the commissioner shall not issue a certificate of title for the vehicle. See Sec. 14-150 re abandoned or unregistered motor vehicles and re vehicles which pose a menace to traffic.

Legislative History

(1957, P.A. 607, S. 33; P.A. 75-394; P.A. 81-206, S. 3; P.A. 00-99, S. 50, 154; P.A. 02-70, S. 54; P.A. 06-196, S. 283.) History: P.A. 75-394 included abandoned vehicles in provisions of Subsecs. (c) and (d); P.A. 81-206 converted the criminal fines provided for in Subsec. (c) to civil penalties imposed by the commissioner; P.A. 00-99 deleted reference to sheriff in Subsec. (a), effective December 1, 2000; P.A. 02-70 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2002; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsec. (e), effective June 7, 2006.