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Viking Motors sics cops on Wayne

Topics: Viking Dodge

Viking Motors sics cops on Wayne

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
June 12, 2009

Viking Motors (formerly, Viking Dodge) is still in business, selling used cars and servicing vehicles. Well, you'll never know it from driving by their lot on 176 at U.S. 14 in Crystal Lake. OK, so maybe they'll be bringing in a lot of used cars today...

Good, ol' buddy Wayne Beto was there yesterday from 10:00AM-2:00PM, legally parked in front of Viking Motors. About 1:35PM a salesman approached him and asked why he was there, telling Wayne they were out of business.

I guess the salesman hadn't bothered to read yesterday morning's Northwest Herald, in which the paper retracted its previous day's article that Viking Dodge was out of business and that it's final day of business had been Tuesday, June 9. That NWH article said, "Others, such as Viking, said they were closing their doors for good Tuesday night."

The NWH pulled Tuesday's online article that had contained this statement. I knew there was a good reason for me to continue forking out my $11.27/month for the print edition, because I've got the original article right here. Now, who at Viking Dodge told reporter Dave Carpenter that they were closing their doors?

Dave knows; will he talk? Where is the waterboard? How long can you hold your breath, Dave?

Shortly after the salesman's visit to Wayne's nice new Kia, the Crystal Lake Police showed up. Someone at Viking Motors had called them and reported that Wayne was breaking the law by blocking their driveway!

The officer was polite and talked to Wayne, whose car was parked legally right where it had been since he arrived. He acknowledged that Wayne was legally parked.

I told Wayne to contact the Crystal Lake P.D. and ask that the officer's report include the name of the salesman who had approached Wayne and the name of the Viking Motors employee who called the police. And the cop ought to find out from that employee who told him to call.

And the cop ought to file false-reporting charges against the employee who called and against any other Viking Motors employee who told that employee to call the police. No employee is going to stick his neck out and call the police on his own. So who sent that employee out to talk to Wayne and who was the employee who called the police yesterday?

Why does the Crystal Lake Police Department tolerate repeated, unfounded complaints against Wayne Beto? The P.D. has been called many times by Viking employees. EVERY time the officers have responded and found no violation.

Well, once they thought they had, and Wayne was ticketed for a City sign code violation. It took Wayne quite a while and many visits to City Hall and the City Council to get them to acknowledge that the First Amendment was alive and well in Crystal Lake; the City dropped the charge. And Wayne went to court to make sure that they did!

Viking Dodge and James Samaras, Jr. owe Wayne $131.00, and he'll be in Judge Caldwell's court on Monday at 9:00AM to collect it. If they had just paid as ordered by Judge Caldwell in January, Wayne wouldn't even be there now.

And if Viking's attorneys (Missimer and Curran) had been polite, respectful and professional to Wayne when he visited their offices earlier this week after Judge Caldwell told him to go and get his money, Wayne wouldn't be parked in front of Viking again.

By the way, most businesses incorporate to gain protection against personal liability and for other business purposes. So far, the Illinois Secretary of State has not posted any recognition of Viking Motors as an Illinois corporation. Maybe they are just operating under a registered trade name in McHenry County?

Does anyone know or care?