Hey Guys....Kind of a trip what happened last nite but I needed some advice on what I should do....Basically me and my wife were on are way to snowboard in Tahoe....We made a pit stop at a Casino on a Indian reservation called Cache Creek on the way there to kill some time as we were going to meet some friend in Eldorado Hills.....We took my wife's 2009 Audi S6 as it's all wheel drive and has ski racks....Pulled up to the Valet handed them the keys and they gave me my ticket....Went in made 1500 in 2 hrs....Handed the Valet counter the ticket and they said this is an old ticket.....My reply was I brought the car in a few hours ago....The Valet that gave us the tag was right there so she recognized me and said she had given us the ticket....They checked the whole parking lot and after pulling up an Audi A6 that was the same color they realized something was up....Looked everywhere couldn't find the car....My wife called the CHP and Sheriff....The Casino and Valet staff treated us like ****...Making us stand around not being helpful at all....The CHP showed up and a few minutes later told us the car was recovered in SONOMA which is 70 miles from the Casino....The car had been in a wreck...T-BONED and they caught the person trying to flee the seen with our luggage....The person was arrested and the car taken to the tow yard.....The security reviewed the CCTV and saw the person enter are car where we left it to the Valet within 15 minutes of our arrival...I think it was an inside job...

Long story short....Were missing are laptop bags and some other articles....But I wanted to know if you guys think I have any recourse with the CASINO as they're way at fault...As far as the damage on the car...Front and Side drivers side airbags were deployed...I'm going to insist the insurance company total it...Gonna miss that 5.2L V-10....

 

Most parking tickets will state that they will not be responsible for your car. I have not seen one otherwise. Check out the ticket. I bet that you don't have any recourse. I hope I am wrong.

Botttom line is that this is a bad marketing for the casino.

 

I'm familiar with the area and casino above. I definitely think there was negligence on the casino's behalf and you definitely have a case here as everything was caught on camera. Being a casino, everything I mean everything is on camera..so the ball is in your court, just a matter of how you want to play it.

Just my 2 cents, good luck with the outcome and replacement on the car. Glad you guys are safe, that's something that cannot be replaceable..

 

That's what they want you to believe. However, the court of law doesn't think in the same line. They are responsible for your car while it is in their possession, no matter what is stated on the ticket.

 

Welcome to America, or not. You were on sovereign land and subject to the laws of the tribe. I don't think your American law has any jurisdiction in the matter. I wish I was wrong, but this is part of what's wrong with this country today. My guess is they acted like they didn't give a **** because they knew there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it.

Good luck. Maybe they will do the honorable thing, even though I don't think they have any legal incentive to do so.

sorry.

 

Here is the problem as I see it. We have many of these Indian casinos on the east coast and incidents occur all the time. You may have a difficult time in the state courts as they can declare they are a sovereign nation and as such not bound by the laws of the state. They do however have their own police/security but good luck with that. My advice, get some guidance from an attorney familiar with tribal law in your state. Good luck man.

 

Exactly, but you should engage an attorney. I would source an attorney in the area and review the incident in detail and learn your legal options.

Regardless, you should anticipate recovering for your actual loss only.

Good luck,

Dave

 

Any lawyers out there?

 

There are many things that happen in these casinos to the people that patronize them and if it were Vegas at an American owned casino there would be some recourse in American courts. Not so on tribal land. I know of one person that found out the hard way and will never step foot in an Indian casino again.

The U.S. Supreme Court has opined that Indian tribal sovereign immunity is an accident of legal precedent, not unlike organized baseball's antitrust exemption, but it will be up to Congress to overturn it. Of course, the vast amount of money that the tribes contribute to political campaigns ensures this will never happen.

 

This is why you have insurance (and they have lawyers). File a claim with them and they will take it from there and battle it out with the casino (pending on the special circumstances it having happened on tribal land).

This will be a very interesting thread though - please keep us posted throught the process!!!

2011 911 4S
1999 Boxster
2002 BMW Z8
2011 Mercedes GLK 350

 

Please do what you have to do to secure a copy of the casino security video before it is recorded over and unavailable. The rest you can deal with as it comes.

 

Good luck... Most businesses will not hand this over (to the police yes, and possibly only with a subpoena).

 

Dude, you have some serious car drama!
This is another reason to boycott valet parking. Seems to me your insurance company should fight this battle. It's in their best interest to recover from the casino. Best of luck and wishing you some "good" car karma.

 

+1. However, what if the insurance company decides its too much risk/cost to fight and just puts the claim against his policy? There was a bailment made, at least for the mutual benefit, if not the sole benefit of the casino. The casino did not use due care and were negligent. Wouldn't leaving the keys in the car be considered gross negligence as they are specifically entrusted with the care of the car?

 

azqureshi's insurance company will subrogate to the casinos insurance company. I would think this will be worth their while as it is a little more than loosing a coat from coatcheck. His insurance record should also stay clean and this should not have any impact on future rates.