Manning the Detective Desk while volunteering at LAPD's Harbor Division Station every Friday afternoon for the past couple of years I get a story this week from a young man and his father that just begs to be told. And no, I am not making this up.

It seems that the young good-looking fellow wanted to buy a car. Without the benefit of any wisdom from his parents (he tells me that he wouldn't listen to his mother) he proceeds to enter into a verbal agreement with a young lady, whose husband happens to be in jail, to purchase a late-model Dodge for approximately $11,000. It seems that the young lady could not afford the $500 monthly payments with her husband in jail and was trying to sell the car. Problem is, the car was repossessed by the finance company and had liens totaling some $4,000. Our young man proceeded to pay off the liens and take possession of the car some six months ago while the actual owner continued to go further and further in the hole on her payments. Was there a "Bill of Sale" involved you ask; no. Was the owner registration transferred to the new owner at the DMV you ask; no. It's all verbal.

All is good for a while until our young car buyer decides to get a loan from Wells Fargo to pay off the $7,000 balance on the car to obtain title to the vehicle. The young man arranges a loan from the bank and Wells Fargo proceeds to pay off the finance company which then forwards the title on the car to the original owner (you remember, the lady with the husband in jail). Stick with me here.

Things go down hill from there. The legal owner of the vehicle, now in possession of a clear title, along with a set of keys she swore she didn't have, steals her car (remember, she is now the legal owner) from the street in front of the young man's home one evening.

Our young man is now out approximately $11,000 and the car he thought he purchased. With $4,000 out-of-pocket and a $7,000 car loan from Wells Fargo Bank.

Life's lessons can sometimes be tough. We all have to fall down or fail once in a while to learn them but I certainly hope that my sons don't have to fall this far. It takes a long time for most of us to earn $11,000.

How would you recommend our young man and his father proceed? Is this a matter for the police? Or a civil matter for a lawyer to get involved with? What would you do?