Ohio Man Gets His Stolen Classic Car Back After 10 Years
Lisa Steuer McArdle
· 3 min read
Ohio
resident Tom Laskowski was recently reunited with his classic car
almost 10 years after it was stolen. He last saw the 1968 Pontiac Tempest in 2012, and it’s more than just a car to Laskowski—it holds a lot of memories, according to
Fox 8
.The Ohio resident received the vehicle from his father in 1975. Laskowski worked on the car together with his father and celebrated graduation by driving it across the country. He drove the car through college, took his wife on their first date in it, and it was even part of his wedding party when they got married.
So of course, Laskowski was thrilled—and probably a little surprised—to finally get his beloved car back after a decade.
A classic car goes missing
Laskowski loved the car so much, he spent close to $100,000 fixing it up—to honor his late father and also preserve the memories the family had with the car, according to
Cleveland.com
. He had put in a 650-horsepower motor, as well as a Turbo 400 transmission with a trans-brake that he used when racing the car, and hundreds of accessories.
So of course, Laskowski was devastated when the car was stolen from an indoor East Side Cleveland storage facility, where he was keeping the car after a fire damaged his home in February 2011.
In full view of surveillance cameras, the thief attached the Pontiac Tempest to a tow truck and simply drove off. Even though the cameras captured the man’s face and the tow truck’s license plate number, it still took nearly 10 years for the car to be found.
Finally, Laskowski’s friend saw the Pontiac in a driveway in November, and Laskowski knew it was his car, because of the hundreds of modifications he had made to the car.
He took all the information as well as pictures to the Ohio State Highway Patrol Vehicle Theft Unit, and it didn’t take long for investigators to confirm that it was indeed Laskowski’s car.
A case is now pending against William Woods, of Maple Heights, who was indicted on a receiving stolen property charge.
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Even though Laskowski’s car had sentimental value and the memories associated with the car meant more to him than money, he at least protected himself with insurance coverage, as the car had been insured for $50,000 before it was stolen.
If you have a classic car, it’s a good idea to look into
classic car insurance
. It’s different from other types of insurance because you can insure your classic car for its appraised value. If vehicle theft is a concern for you, you may also want to look into
comprehensive coverage
. Most lenders require you to have this type of coverage, but even if you’ve paid your loan off, you might want to consider keeping it.In addition to theft, comprehensive coverage pays for other damage to your vehicle caused by natural disasters, contact with animals, fire, vandalism, and fallen objects.
