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Repo man relies on timing, skills

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  • Repo man relies on timing, skills

    http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps...10310376/0/BIZ

    Repo man relies on timing, skills

    MISHAWAKA — Ron Brunkel has seen the great lengths people will go to avoid having their cars repossessed.

    He's seen guns on the front seat as a warning to stay away ... dogs chained to the bumpers ... vehicles parked in the neighbor's garage.

    Not to mention verbal — sometimes even physical — confrontations.

    "We get threatened all the time," said Brunkel, vice president of Mishawaka-based SS Recovery. "But when we get that threat, we either leave the car or talk the person out of it. We get training on what to say, and on what not to say."

    Brunkel said some of his employees have had guns pulled on them, while others have been assaulted.

    A 23-year-old Mishawaka man was taken to Memorial Hospital Oct. 24 after he was assaulted while attempting to repossess a car in the 1800 block of East Randolph Street in South Bend.


    While the man and a co-worker were preparing to remove the vehicle, a man at the address jumped in the car and started driving away.

    The man drove the vehicle into the repo worker, who flew across the hood and struck his head on the windshield, cracking the glass, the co-worker told police. The worker clung to the vehicle for two blocks before he slipped off near the intersection of Randolph and Sampson streets.

    A Niles man was arrested. As of Thursday afternoon, charges were being prepared in the case but had not been filed, said Catherine Wilson, a spokeswoman for the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office.

    The 23-year-old, who has since been released from the hospital, did not return several phone calls this week seeking comment.

    But in March 2002, a repossession turned deadly when 43-year-old Gary McCracken was shot to death in the 1300 block of North College Street while repossessing a vehicle for Affordable Auto. No arrests were ever made in the case.

    Police say assaults against repo workers like that are rare — "very few compared to how many they do," said Capt. Phil Trent, South Bend police spokesman. "This was definitely the exception."

    Most repossession companies call their local police agencies to alert them before they initiate a repossession in case they are called to the scene either because of an altercation or the owner later reports the car stolen.

    In South Bend, police take about two repossession calls per day, Trent said.

    "Sporadically we'll have a few incidents where the owner of the vehicle maybe gives them an earful," said Sgt. Bill Redman, St. Joseph County police spokesman. "But I don't recall too many physical altercations."

    A repossession usually comes when a person has failed to make repeated car payments, forcing banks to call the companies to take the vehicle back.

    A spokeswoman for 1st Source Bank declined to give many details about its repossession policy but said 1st Source generally has about five repossessions a month in the area.

    Meanwhile, Brunkel said the key to avoiding confrontations is to outsmart the other person. Companies like SS Recovery hold weekly meetings to discuss safety techniques.

    Brunkel said his company does about 40 repossessions per day.

    "We try and keep our average up to 95 percent when it comes to avoiding any altercations," Brunkel said. "We do that based upon good timing and actual training.

    "We do a little bit of background work to see if this person has been in trouble before. So basically we profile the person we're going to get the car from."

    Workers often will confiscate the car in the middle of the night to avoid disputes; they do not knock on doors to alert the person they are taking a car.

    "We try and outsmart them," Brunkel said.
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