So here's the story, completely unbiased:
It was just this evening, five o'clock, foggily wet, semi-dark and rainy, and
he didn't have his lights on. I was sitting in a school parking lot about to pull out onto a parkway - I had just picked my sister up from school. I sat there a good ten seconds to make sure that there was no traffic anywhere (I like to have both lanes clear, because my Brougham makes such wide turns). So I pull out everything is silent and fine. Then all of a sudden, when I'm halfway angled into the street, a little blue '95 Hayundi swipes into my driver door. No lights, no brakes, not even the blow of his horn. I immediately get over into a dogleg to pull into a nearby McDonald's parking lot. I look in my rear-view mirror to make sure they follow, but they are still sitting still in the middle of the street. The wife gets out and runs down the street, I assume to talk to me. So I put her in park and push the e-flashers and get out to talk to her. She says "Insurance, insurance...give me your insurance." She was about to write it on arm, but I say, "well let's at least pull over, OK?" So she runs back hesitantly, and get in the car to pull it into McDonald's. Once we all get out, I ask, "Is everyone OK? No one's hurt?" The wife says "No. Could I see your insurance. Now at this time I knew it wasn't my fault and the situation seemed a little eerie, so I say "Well just let me call the police." So I do, after all, I just wanted to do the right thing to make sure everything was legal. So the officer arrives, a friendly guy. His first words were "Is anyone hurt" and of course no one was. Then the officer proceeds to ask the husband of his story, but he cannot speak any English, so his wife and daughter help translate. After that, the officer asks to speak with me, so I tell him:
"Well I was pulling out after checking all directions and then they hit me while I was angled in the street, still turning."
"What lane were you entering?" he asks.
"The right one. But I made sure both lanes were clear, since this cars makes such wide turns." I reply, drawing it in the air with fingers.
"OK You think you were over the line?" he questions.
"Possibly; I was still cross-wise in the middle of the street and they kinda t-boned me at an angle. That's why I made sure both lanes were clear." I repond.
Then the officer went to his car for about twenty minutes. I sat there worrying about who's going to pay for the damage, because I have 39 cents in my bank account. After some time, he got out again and continued to speak to the family in the other car. Then after he was done, he came over to me with some papers. This time I was sitting in car. He asked the usual questions, "how old are you?" "What's your full name?" etc. Then I remembered: his lights were not on. So I proceeded to inform the officer of that.
"Also, I forgot to mention it, but their lights were not on." I suggest.
"Well why didn't you tell me this earlier?" he says sternly.
"Well, I just forgot. I'm sorry." I timidly reply
"That's a pretty important piece of information to leave out for the last minute" he angrily replies.
"I'm sorry" I say.
Then the officer gets back in his car and writes down some more stuff. After a minute or two he begins to speak with the driver who now sits in his driver seat, the rest of the family sitting in the car. I try not to listen as the officer interrigates him. "OK this translating business ins't going to work!" he commands, "You, [to the daughter] tell him what I ask and give me his response." The daughter is the only one who can really speak English fluently. The officer asks some more questions about the lights; then I hear the husband uproar in his native tongue something belligerent sounding. The officer tries to control the situation, while I try not to listen. The wife gets out of the front passenger door I assume to help, but is halted by a stern voice, "Ma'am get back in the car," she tries to say something. "Ma'am, I gonna have to ask you to get back in the car and shut the door!" She does, and the interrigation continues. After a minute or two, she dares out of the car again, this time to speak with me. She carries a notepad full of information, all the way to my mother's maiden name...literally!
"You phone number. Could you give me your phone number?" she asks.
"Umm, well, sure I guess." I respond questionatively.
So I write my number on her pad as I eyeball all that personal info she has of mine. I am quite concerned. Then she tells me more:
"Yeah. Someone hit us in the same place," she points to the dent that was supposedly caused when her husband hit me. "Someone hit us there and didn't pay." she remarks. (so apparently the car was already wrecked before they hit me)
"Oh" I respond disinterested.
She walks back to her car and I am thoroughly disappointed with the course of events that have ocurred. For another time, the officer comes to speak with me:
"OK. So you say his lights were not on?" he asks.
"That's correct." I reply
"Well how could you tell the lights were not on?" he asks.
"Well when I saw him, his lights were not on." I say.
"If you saw him, why did you pull out in front of him?" he asks accusingly.
"No. I mean, when I saw him after he hit me, the lights were off." I reply.
"When did you see him?" he rhetorically asks(I just told him).
"After he hit me, when he was between the curb and me, and after I pulled away and looked in the rear view mirror." I explain.
"Well this call came in at 5 o'clock. You didn't see him?" he sternly asks.
"Not that I could see." I respond.
"Well it still wasn't
that dark, but you didn't see him, right?" He interrogates me.
"Well, no, I didn't" I reply.
So he proceeds to gives me some paperwork and a
citation, of all things!!
"OK on this paper is my name, the date , and the report number. If you need to get a copy of the report, you call this number." He gives me the slip and proceeds. "Now I need you to sign this citation for failure to render right of way, saying you will be in court on this day. It doesn't say you're guilty, but you need to be there." So I relunctantly sign it, thinking 'what is happening in to me????' The he gives me another slip: "On this it gives you instructions on the defensive driving course and deferred ajudication if you choose to go with one of those options. Do you have any questions?"
"Well, no," I reply, "this is just my first time to go through this kind of thing."
He obliges and walks off. Everone goes home and I am typing this.
SUSPICIOUS NOTES:- I called the police to make sure eveything would be fine. And they return the favor with a ticket!
- She ran out and rushed me to give her my insurance.
- She discouraged me from calling the police several times.
- She tells me the car has been hit in that spot before.
- The car's lights were OFF.
- There was no honking of his horn.
- They "didn't have time to brake" as he says, but I was in the intersection for a while (4 sec) before the crash.
HERE'S the DAMAGE: (click to enlarge)
As far as I can tell there is no paint damage and the scuffs will come off with a good scrubbing. But what do I do about the dents. Can I take panel off and just pop them out? There's dents on the driver door and front-left quater panel. Also the plastic trim is pushed in. Is that sill good? I don't have any money and it looks like I'll be in the negative for quite some time. Is there a way for me to fix this w/o paying a shop the minimum fee of $700 per repair?
My poor sweet baby Brougham...WRECKED!!! 
Hope it works out!
