Plumber sues dealership for $1 million after truck ends up with terrorists

So, their solution to plumbing problems is to shoot at it? Sounds good.

 

This came up in conversation today so I looked it up. Looks like they settled in 2017. Pretty hilarious story.

Plumber Whose Decaled Truck Went to Syria Settles Lawsuit



The vehicle was fodder for comedians but allegedly caused outraged people to hassle a Texas business.

Although the Mark-1 Plumbing truck became fodder for comedians, the situation didn't amuse former owner Mark Oberholtzer, who was visited by the FBI and received angry calls when news outlets and social media users circulated images of bearded militants using the vehicle to shoot into passenger cars, among other exploits.

The truck was covered by Comedy Central’s "The Colbert Report" on the show’s final (and most viewed) episode in December 2014, which drew 2.5 million viewers, and the clip was re-aired during the Emmy Awards ceremony in late 2015.

More than two years after selling the truck, Oberholtzer sued in December 2015, alleging the AutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway dealership in Houston was liable for negligence, fraud, libel per se, invasion of privacy by appropriation of name and violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

“He was tired of being called an ISIS supporter and a terrorist supporter,” his attorney, Craig Eiland, told U.S. News when the lawsuit was filed, using an acronym to refer to the Islamic State group. “One person called his secretary an 'ISIS w****' – that was today."



The plumber said a salesman told him to stop removing the decal when he sold the 2005 Ford F-250 in October 2013, as the company would do it. The truck was resold and according to the lawsuit was shipped to Mersin, Turkey, in December 2013 before arriving in Syria, where rebels backed by the U.S. and Turkey intermingle with more radical groups.

The jihadis seen with the truck reportedly were associated with the Ansar al-Deen Front, not the more well-known Islamic State group. It’s unclear if rebels still use the truck. One recent video purporting to show the group in Aleppo province features fighters using pickup trucks, but not one bearing the Mark-1 Plumbing logo.



The settlement was filed quietly and approved by a judge in October, as the U.S. presidential election reached a dramatic end.

“There was no news coverage on the settlement. Seems like there was something else going on at the time,” Eiland says, adding that he cannot comment on the specifics of the resolution.

A spokesman for AutoNation and an attorney for the dealership did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Company spokesman Marc Cannon previously said “a lawsuit [filed] way after the fact and [for] that type of money sounds a little extreme.”

Remarkably, Mark-1 Plumbing never changed its phone number. The line was answered by a voicemail message Monday.

 

I forgot about this. I hope he stuck it to AutoNation.

After Trump's win, AutoNation stops fixing recalled cars
In the wake of headline-dominating recalls from General Motors and Takata, and more than a little public pressure, America's largest car retailer vowed to fix every recalled used car on its lots. Now, AutoNation has reneged on its promise.

https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/...p-s-win-AutoNation-stops-fixing-recalled-cars

 

Isn't a dealership's (overpriced) shop a big part of their revenue stream?

 

@tinman

 

That's hilarious... and sad because we've all met that guy.

 

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