Automobile Forum

So coming home from work today, I get pulled over. The reason: My left taillight has been busted out, and there's damage to the rear bumper. Apparently, I'd been hit, as if somebody backed into me or something of that nature. There is a scuff on the bumper, and the paint is cracked, but no noticeable paint trade. The officer let me go about it since I had no idea it had happened and offered to file a police report for me, which I took him up on.
Here's the thing though, I have no way of knowing how it happened right now, or who did it. It had to have happened after I had parked it for the night last night, because I had seen the rear of the car then (I was getting groceries out of the trunk). When I approached my car this morning to go to work, I approached it from the front. When I parked at work, I parked facing the building, so as I left to go in, and returned from work, all I saw was the front of the car.
The officer said that I should check out other vehicles in the apartment complex and the parking lot at work for damage that corresponds to mine, but even then, I'd have a hard time proving anything. Meanwhile, I have red stoplight tape covering the taillight, which of course looks ridiculous, but it should prevent me from getting a ticket.
Now I have to find out about getting a replacement. It isn't a hard job since you have to take the tail lamp out to replace the bulb anyway, and it's only held in by three screws. The scuff is probably gonna buff out, so I'm not terribly worried about that. It just pisses me off that someone would hit my car like that and not even leave a note.

Sorry to hear that, man. People are dicks.

Found him. Some young dude, probably around 20, in my apartment complex that doesn't even live there; he was visiting his girlfriend or something. He was here again today, it was a white pickup and there were little shards of red glass near where the bumper meets the hinge of the tailgate, and a black paint scuff on his chrome/metal/whatever bumper. I confronted him about it, bluffing that the apartment complex caught the accident on camera, and he sang like a canary. We worked out a deal, we have each others' contact info. He's buying me a new taillight, and I agreed not to call my insurance or the cops.

Haha nice...glad you're getting that fixed!

Great result! The ol' everything caught on camera bluff is a lifesaver in this innocent until proven guilty world.

Good to hear you got the little bugger. Hopefully he pays up.

That sucks. Fuck him.

What a piece of shit.