danielspdx said:
Good luck getting the police to take paint samples. I've investigated many (100+) hit & run accidents and I've never taken a paint sample.
The best you can hope for is to document with pictures all the damage on your bike and corresponding damage to the offending SUV. Usually if I have a suspect in mind, I'll give them the line that they probably didn't mean to hit the bike and didn't see the damage, so now is the time to exchange info to avoid a hit & run charge. It usually works, but sometimes not.
If you take pictures, use a tape measure and show how high up the damage is and use a reference item to show scale, such as a quarter or other common item.
I would suggest taking pictures with actual 35mm film instead of digital pictures because we've been seeing court issues with the admissiblity of digital pictures due to the ease of altering them. Good 'ole 35mm negatives make great evidence if it comes down to it.
I can't add anything more to the above except my dept had a strict policy (years ago) on taking paint samples in all hit and run cases. Obviously, it was mostly for PR purposes. I worked traffic for 5 years and as a hit and run liaison to the courts. Sometimes my samples of paint from suspect vehicles was a little aggressive, "Your honor, I have a sample, 2 lbs of paint, the whole left side of the suspect vehicle" lol.
It may have gotten by me, but I recall testifying and hearing an expert testify only once whether paint matched or not. Scientifically, we know it can be done, but in misdemeanor cases... To that extent, your neighbors fingerprints are probably all over your bike. Again, will the police go the extra mile on this? It depends on your police departments traffic policy, some are very aggressive while some are not. Mostly depended on the size of the city. Most hit and runs go unsolved, late night bumper cars from the drunks going home. Without witnesses, that sort of thing, the case goes in the round file.
As Daniel alluded to, a little scheme at the right moment may make your suspect throw his/her hands up. If you have your paint samples, photos, witnesses statements and the below fingerprint copies, then I would approach them first without the cops and see what happens. However, I wouldn't want you to put yourself in a situation that could go sideways, you never know. I believe if there is a shred of doubt in regards to this, I would try to get the police involved from the getgo. If you decide to go on your own, the trump card would be the police. Again, I would bring up witnesses, measurements and even photoshop a certificate of authenticity indicating that the samples matched. You can do all this stuff. You can even get some photo paper, cut to about 2"x2" in size, put some inked smudged fingerprints on them with clear tape over the top and photocopy them. (You can't have the real prints, but you have the next best thing) Your "case file" can be leaked to the suspect if you put it in a file envelope with big words, HITand RUN Case #3988774 and some other official words on the front. If you make contact with your neighbor, you will be amazed how distracted they will be in regards to the envelope. Watch their eyes, they can't keep from glancing at your file.
Good luck and let us know how it turned out. Actually, I like the other suggestions on this post to remedy the problem better.
