Driver's License Fiasco

As promised I will now expound on a car accident and subsequent bad luck that occurred a little less than a month ago. Below is a copy of the letter I sent to the Denton Police Department.

On the evening of Thursday, August 20, 2009 I witnessed a car accident at the corner of W. University and N. Ruddell. I fulfilled my civic duty by pulling over, getting out, and assisting in any way I could. The first officer to the scene asked for my driver’s license and told me that they would get my testimony shortly. I waited for about 30 minutes until accident investigator Gary Craig got my contact information and received my witness testimony.

He then looked for my driver’s license and could not find it. He said the officer I gave it to had given it to him and he must have misplaced it. He told me that he may have accidentally sent it with the ambulance but that he would find it and bring it back to me at my apartment that evening and gave me his card. I did not hear from him that night so I called the number on the card multiple times and finally left a voicemail. My call was returned the next day by someone else saying that I had the wrong extension, despite it being the number that was on the card. I then went to the police station that afternoon and asked for Gary Craig. The clerk had me wait for over an hour and then told me that he did not come in until 6:00 that evening.

A little after 6:00 I called the non-emergency police line and was told that Gary Craig was not in yet. I called again later and was told that Gary Craig was not in because he worked the day shift. After contesting that based on what the clerk told me earlier that day, the person who answered the phone said they would give Gary Craig a message and he would call me back. A few hours went by without hearing from him so I called the emergency line again. After explaining my situation again the person on the line stated, "I don’t know what to tell you, I already called him and left a message." I asked that he call again and finally later that night Gary Craig called me back.

He told me that he could not find my license anywhere, that he had lost it, and that he would email his boss, tell him the situation and his boss would contact me to tell me what they would do. I was never contacted again. I went ahead and after waiting in a line for over an hour had a replacement license made at the DPS. The license was $10.00 plus a $2.00 ATM fee since I could only pay for it with cash or check and did not have my checks with me at the time. I then emailed Gary Craig and called multiple times to tell him that I had a replacement license made and inquired on how I could be reimbursed for it. Neither my email nor phone calls were ever returned.

This situation has been an enormous inconvenience as I was in the process of registering for graduate school at UNT at the time and needed my driver’s license on multiple occasions. I was dealt with extremely unprofessionally by a few members of the Denton Police Department. I would like to get this resolved once and for all before I must take further action.

Thank you,

Jacob Tucker

The Denton PD responded to this letter by leaving an envelope with $12 in it at their front desk, which I of course had to go pick up. They also emailed me a justified apology. Justified apology is my term for when someone apologizes but also excuses his or her actions. In this case it was something along the lines of, "We're sorry but....I assure you this was not intentional.....he's a very busy man....the schedules fluctuate....that depends on what the word is is.....it was a wardrobe malfunction....."

That is my story of the great driver's license fiasco. Now it is public domain and I hope the Denton PD is prepared the civilian backlash that will ensure courtesy of my thousands of readers.