Former Storage Tenant Broke In and Removed Abandoned Vehicles

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

What is the procedure and consequence with regards to the following:
The tenant rented a storage unit.
They didn't pay for over a year.
I text and called for over a year.
I posted abandonment notice.
Notified them.
I went through a lien company and the lien went thru all proper procedures and the DMV released the interest to me to sell.
I was contacted by the old owner 2 months later to see if I sold the vehicles.
I had not sold them yet.
They tried to have an attorney work with me to negotiate a price to settle.
They put a 60 day courtesy stop in at the DMV.
Then they broke into the garage by breaking all locks and stole the vehicles among other things.

You report the break-in to the police. They will investigate and, if they determine that a crime occurred, they will forward their report to a prosecutor for review.

Thank you.
They actually called the police to do a civil standby and the officer came and sat on the street for them and while not paying attention, did not realize they were committing a crime. The people used an old pink slip and their attorneys gift of gab. No court order and no lease to rights to rent were provided. They couldn't even see if the vehicles were in the garage. Then they towed them away!
The locksmith broke in, the attorney committed fraud, the tenants committed the same crimes, the tow trucks did too!

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Quoting tbanks

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Thank you.
They actually called the police to do a civil standby and the officer came and sat on the street for them and while not paying attention, did not realize they were committing a crime. The people used an old pink slip and their attorneys gift of gab. No court order and no lease to rights to rent were provided. They couldn't even see if the vehicles were in the garage. Then they towed them away!
The locksmith broke in, the attorney committed fraud, the tenants committed the same crimes, the tow trucks did too!

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gee, what better witness to the crime than the cop that was sitting there watching them. The bad thing for the criminal is that brings other crimes into play as well.

Exactly! The problem is when we went to the police department, they tried to say things like "oh well, we got scammed". They wouldn't do anything!

You can also file a civil lawsuit to recover they money that they owe.

Thanks for the input. We will take it to the next level with documents etc.

Agree with Mr K. All you've got left is a civil suit for the money they owe you.

It's almost a certainty that there won't be an criminal prosecution.

Thing is, it's pretty much your own fault for not jumping on this the first month that they were in default and/or selling the cars as soon as you had the right to. A craigslist ad or auction would have had them gone in a heartbeat.

Now you can probably get a money judgment but that doesn't guarantee that you'll ever see a nickel.

The cars are in my name.
They broke into the property to get them
stole them

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Quoting tbanks

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The cars are in my name.
They broke into the property to get them
stole them

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When you say they are in your name, what do you mean? Is the TITLE in your name? The registration? Paperwork of some other kind?

If you have the legal title and registration, bring this to the local police department. If the officer at the counter will not take a report, ask to speak to a supervisor. Ultimately, you cannot force the police to take a report, and even if they do, you cannot force the DA to pursue charges if the DA chooses not to do so.

The problem is that this may be seen as a civil matter since the other parties appeared to have some old title to the cars as well. If they were not notified of any lien sale, they may have taken the vehicles in good faith (or, at least they might argue that was so).

But, in any civil suit YOU will have the ability to pursue the matter on your own in small claims court or, if more than $10,000 but less than $25,0000, you might file a limited civil case. More than that, hire a lawyer.