The Police? Really???

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Another +1 for NOT letting a cop in without a warrant. Never a good idea, some of those guys have an agenda like getting promoted, recognized, or even payed under the table. Kindly show Joe Gumshoe your receipts and kegs, on your doorstep or driveway, and go back inside. And to cover your arse in case the distributor does have some pull with the local pd, inform your lawyer of the situation.
As far as suing or bashing the guy in the local papers.... I think it's safe to say you'd be counter sued in a flash, and considering who the distributor is, probably wouldn't work out well for ya.
What this a$$clown did totally blows, but I doubt there's much you can do to him in return.
 
KevinM said:
Why make it more of a pain for you and the police by preventing them from checking things out (which will likely be fine when they get the receipt and talk to you and you explain the whole from a scrapyard from the main brewers vs stealing.
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This is Why
 
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also even if you bought the kegs from a scrap yard, if they were stolen and sold to the scrap yard, you can still get in trouble for having possession of stolen property
 
While I understand what everyone is saying, I'm not sure what the distributor could really do differently. I suppose a call would be nice, but frankly not sure what good that would do for the distributor. You're obviously an honest person and got your kegs legally. But if they were actually stolen, would you admit that when the distributor called? He is going to get the same answer regardless of if they are stolen or not.

If I see something of mine that I think was stolen, I'm likely to call the police to check it out. That's what they do... If it turns out I'm wrong, I'll feel like a jerk, but calling people I don't know to ask if they stole from me doesn't sound that great either...
 
I have spent the last 19 years as a Military Police Officer with 1 to go. This is what we always tell new MP's; No Polygraph, No Waiver, and No Statement. If you do any of those three things, then you are just doing the cops job for them.
 
If having the cops publicly sicked on you over items you legally own is not a valid reason to sue, what is?

Tell you what, I'll claim I own your car, and send the cops over to arrest you.

Would you be OK with that?

As to "the judge would throw it out", if the case had no basis, it would never get that far. Unless a lawyer thought he could make a buck, he would not take the case.

As to newspapers, they WILL report on a lawsuit, where they might just ignore the situation, unless you get shot by the cops. Which also happens from time to time.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
If having the cops publicly sicked on you over items you legally own is not a valid reason to sue, what is?

Tell you what, I'll claim I own your car, and send the cops over to arrest you.

Would you be OK with that?

As to "the judge would throw it out", if the case had no basis, it would never get that far. Unless a lawyer thought he could make a buck, he would not take the case.

As to newspapers, they WILL report on a lawsuit, where they might just ignore the situation, unless you get shot by the cops. Which also happens from time to time.
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But if the judge doesn't throw it out, then he is locked into an extremely expensive legal battle with a very powerful man who most likely has great resources to dispose of in the legal department.

All over a few empty, scrap kegs?

Plus the fact that the OP got the kegs from a scrap yard is suspect. (Correct me if I am wrong... I thought I read that in this thread). Even if he thinks he legitimately owns them, he may not if they were originally stolen property. Why do you think scrap yards have stop accepting kegs, street signs, etc? Because the "owners" usually are not legitimate owners.
 
TheMan said:
Why are people so lawsuit happy? This is why our world blows.
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+1 to this. Karma will sort things out as it always does. This person sounds like a high stress kind of guy. If he's that pissy about this he'll probably die of a stress induced heart attack when something mildly stressful comes his way.

What crime is it to have an already-cut keggle? If you bought a keg(s) already cut did you commit a crime? I guess if you went to the store, never returned the keg and then cut it is one thing but what if you bought used keggles off of ebay, craigslist or garage sale postings what's the big deal? (the keg is already "scrap metal" at this point).

Unless there is some contract you signed when purchasing the keg contents this seems to be an ethical/civil thing and not a criminal thing. Help me out if I'm wrong with actual legal black / white documentation.
 
I would add that it wouldn't hurt to video document the visit by the detectives. While it may make them a little more nervous I think you can assure them that it is for your protection AND theirs. They videotape their arrests regularly and you can make a copy available to them within a reasonable time period.

That said, I imagine this will all just blow over with no court case, newspaper article or video. Just some sweet sweet homebrew. Congrats on winning!
 
Getting a slimeball lawyer and suing for defamation of character, emotional distress, and whatever else the lowlifes can think up is just proof of the injustice in our country and the shameless greed of people. The guy is a jerk, co-operate with the police, you obviously did nothing wrong, and let it die. At most, contact AB's public relations and tell them what happened, and they will probably force him to make a public apology to the press--then drop it and move on. Don't continue the problem in this country to seek out freebee's and handouts because of legal loopholes and the lowest form of lawyers.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
If having the cops publicly sicked on you over items you legally own is not a valid reason to sue, what is?

Tell you what, I'll claim I own your car, and send the cops over to arrest you.

Would you be OK with that?

As to "the judge would throw it out", if the case had no basis, it would never get that far. Unless a lawyer thought he could make a buck, he would not take the case.
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There's a lot of factors to consider. Do you have a good faith basis to believe my car is yours? Could you have been mistaken? Did the police check vehicle registrations to verify your story? (Obviously not applicable to the kegs...) Is your intent to harass me because you have a personal vendetta against me? So on and so on.

If the police blatantly failed to do any reasonable work, lied to a judge to get a warrant and arrested me, etc. then there might be some claims against the police. However, if after your complaint the police went over to my car, looked at the VIN and ran the plates to see who the car was registered to and saw it was mine, then there is no harm and I would probably not have a valid claim against the police.

Furthermore, if you file a suit for the purposes of harassing another party and not because you have a good faith basis for your claim or you know the claim to lack a legal basis, the defendant can file counterclaims (such as a SLAPP suit) and even after your case is tossed the defendant can continue to go after you for costs and attorney fees. AB is definitely hiring a big firm and may easily run $20,000 per month to defend against you. Probably not worth a little harassment or press.

IF the AB feller did not believe the kegs to be stolen but intended to defame this guy by telling the police they were stolen, sure there might be a valid defamation claim. However, what damages can be claimed? Not much, if anything. It's unlikely any attorney is going to take a case with little available recovery on a contingency basis. It would be financially unsound to pay an attorney thousands to litigate a case where at best you might only win one dollar.
 
bottlebomber said:
You've got to understand though, some peoples live are so empty and meaningless that they will jump on something like this just to get a little drama fix. Instead of feeling angry and giving them justification, feel sorry for them. It really is pathetic.
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this.
 
Put your kegs in the drive. When the Police show up, go out to the drive with your receipt, play show and tell. No need for them to go into your house or tour your property. Don't waste time on the miserable plick of a distributor. If you want to, contact the paper to at least get yourself some positive press. Don't name the distributor by name, and move on. - Dwain
 
Be the bigger man. Invite the detective in, heck offer him coffee and doughnuts if you think he'd appreciate it. There's no reason to create unneeded tension or suspicions with the local PD. Talk home brew or w/e with the guy, and bid him farewell when he's feeling like his job is done there. Shouldn't take you more than 15-20 min and you'll never have to worry about it again. Even better you'll have someone on the force who recognizes your face in a good way, and you never know when that will come in handy.
 
So, here is what is happening so far.... I am going to be completely cooperative with the police. I actually have many friends on the force. I just talked on the phone to one officer who asked me a few questions. A detective is coming over in about an hour to look at the kegs. I told him he can look at them, take pictures, or do whatever he needs to do. I am sure they think this is a comlete waste of time and tax payer dollars. They have way more important things to do. I am sure this will all blow over soon. After I get back from vacation, I am going to call AB. They have a brewery about 45 minutes from my house. I am going to let them know that I am against stealing and that I tell people to get their kegs legally, like I do. I want to know how a distributor can file a flase police report against me, slandering me. The brewery owns their kegs. The distributor doesn't own them at all and never has. There is no reason for him to be involved. I am going to file a complaint against the distributor with AB. Once again, I do understand the frustration of AB and the distributors. People do steal their kegs. If this guy wants to go after thieves, he should start on craigslist. Their are all kinds of them there. Thank you for the support. You guys are helping to make this a lot easier.
 
And send that distributor photos of yourself accepting all your future awards! With the keggles in the photos, of course.
 
HexKrak said:
Be the bigger man. Invite the detective in, heck offer him coffee and doughnuts if you think he'd appreciate it.
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Better yet invite them in to enjoy some of your homebrew :mug:
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
If having the cops publicly sicked on you over items you legally own is not a valid reason to sue, what is?

Tell you what, I'll claim I own your car, and send the cops over to arrest you.

Would you be OK with that?

As to "the judge would throw it out", if the case had no basis, it would never get that far. Unless a lawyer thought he could make a buck, he would not take the case.

As to newspapers, they WILL report on a lawsuit, where they might just ignore the situation, unless you get shot by the cops. Which also happens from time to time.
Click to expand...

Publicly sicked on you? They are coming to your house where maybe 3 of your neighbors will see. And even at that they will be there 15 mins and then leave. If someone wants to make false claims and the police need to talk with me to corroborate my story of innocence then I have no problems with that.

Sure if the same person continually makes these false claims I would then get annoyed with it, but just once? It's not a reason to sue. Anyone that thinks so is just greedy IMO.

I am going to file a complaint against the distributor with AB. Once again, I do understand the frustration of AB and the distributors. People do steal their kegs. If this guy wants to go after thieves, he should start on craigslist. Their are all kinds of them there. Thank you for the support. You guys are helping to make this a lot easier.
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OP has a solid idea here, just contacting AB and letting them know you don't appreciate their distributor hassling you over legally owned kegs seems very appropriate. Informing them that it doesn't reflect well on their company will get him an apology and he can go on his merry way as it sounds like he would prefer. Nice job taking the high road Sacdan. :mug:
 
Detective took pictures of my kegs and thinks this is ridiculous! Hopefully there won't be any more updates other than "it's over".
 
Get the Distributors email address and we all can send him pictures of AB kegs being used with the caption

"Finally, a decent craft beer in a AB keg"
 
EdWort said:
Get the Distributors email address and we all can send him pictures of AB kegs being used with the caption

"Finally, a decent craft beer in a AB keg"
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Awesome!!!
 
Just another reason not to drink anything AB.

So I'm always paranoid about something like this happening to me and all 4 of my kegs are from different breweries and I didn't keep any receipts. Besides, the receipts that come from my LHBS are just the generic kind with no detail. I've always wondered if it's possible to hammer out the embossed logos. Has anyone ever tried this?

Also, in college, the beverage place we got our kegs from refused to accept a returned keg and refund the deposit after a week. I always thought this was lame and we missed the time a few times. We ended up with a few swappable shells. In this situation, what should be done? Call Henry Weinhards and ask if they want their keg back? We eventually passed them on to lower classmen to use. I wish I knew if they were still in service.

I also have some previously viewed DVDs that I purchased the have the Blockbuster logo on them. Better hide them in case the AB distributor has a career change.
 
FYI, a defamation of character is a huge stretch. It was reasonable to assume it could be stolen. We all know that is widespread. Second, to prove defamation you need to prove damage was done. Did he tell all of your neighbours that you are a crook while knowing it was false? I wouldn't go down this road. Send a letter to the schmuck, copy th distributor's owner, AB and the article author. If anything.
 
This is about as slanderous as my farts. Seriously, it is BS, but it isn't slander or libel. Find me a lawyer that will take this case. Find his name somewhere other than a bathroom wall, please.
 
Too late now, but would have been convenient to have the newspaper there at the time the detective was.

Headlines:
AB's R&D department researching for better beer.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
This.

DO NOT let the cops in without a warrant. EVER.

If they have to do the paperwork, they usually give up on silly s**t like this.

After they drop it (and frankly, they must have a LOT of time on their hands to even look into something this trivial), lawyer up and sue the distributor for defamation of character, emotional distress and whatever else the lawyer can come up with.

Make the tool suffer!

:mad:

ETA: Then, grind the AB off the kegs. No use giving free advertisement to a******s.
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This. Or if you don't want to sue go to the paper and pitch it as a story about a big bad AB distributor trying to hurt homebrewers and going after the little guy to boost his own product. If the paper runs it AB might take the distributorship for causing such a public relations headache for them. If you want to go the legal route do not let the cop in. If you want to go the public relations route by all means be as accomadating as possible and talk some homebrew with the cop. Good luck, hope you stick it up this guys ass.
 
davefleck said:
FYI, a defamation of character is a huge stretch. It was reasonable to assume it could be stolen. We all know that is widespread. Second, to prove defamation you need to prove damage was done. Did he tell all of your neighbours that you are a crook while knowing it was false? I wouldn't go down this road. Send a letter to the schmuck, copy th distributor's owner, AB and the article author. If anything.
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Good advice on the legal end. Definitely don't let this go unpunished though. There has to be a way to have some fun with this guy. Email address stuff would be hilarious, the newspaper route would be a real jab in the pocketbook for him if done right. Provide the journalist with some brews and get the story printed. Then mail the story to him and AB.
 
My goodness, you guys are harsh!

Here's what I think happened: The distributor sees the paper and says, "Aha! That's why I don't get all the kegs back!" and he just mentions it to the police as a possibility.

I bet he's more concerned that others will read the article and want to homebrew also, and just think it's ok to keep some kegs instead of returning them. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, as people DO steal kegs and we hear about it everyday. Legal kegs are a different story, but the people reading the article don't know that some kegs are illegally obtained. Once the cops tell the distributor that those are legal kegs, I bet it all blows over.
 
maltoftheearth said:
I would add that it wouldn't hurt to video document the visit by the detectives. While it may make them a little more nervous I think you can assure them that it is for your protection AND theirs. They videotape their arrests regularly and you can make a copy available to them within a reasonable time period.

That said, I imagine this will all just blow over with no court case, newspaper article or video. Just some sweet sweet homebrew. Congrats on winning!
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In IL it's illegal to videotape the police. Don't know if this is true in other states.
 
Ask him if he has ever stolen shelf space from another brewery. AB distributors always do. Beer Wars wasn't kidding about this (I have other issues with that film tho). I've witnessed them putting their Bud Lime in every single open space when they have designated spots for it, and there were shelf tags for other beers right where they stuck the BL. They went as far as sticking multiple stacks of Bud 55 right in the middle of a bunch of stacks of Miller Lite. We were like "dude, you can't do that, move your **** back." They also took a pallet of craft beer from the cooler (Bells, Great Lakes, etc), stuck it upstairs, and put their damn Bud 15 packs there. Beer department and craft distro were both pissed.

I'm an honest guy, and hate thieves, but have nothing against "stealing" their kegs. Besides, that's what the deposit is for, right?
 
All the above post saying SUE!! are ridiculous. This is why we have fat people suing hamburger joints because they ate there 8 times a day. Don't we have better things to do with our time other than clogging up the courts with ridiculousness? The distributor was an ass we can safely say but showing the receipts, thinking to your self "what an ass" and having a good laugh should be enough. One guy going to a police station claiming you may have a stolen keg is not defamation of character anyway.
 
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