A friend had their car stolen in St. Louis. Police did nothing, even though the location of the vehicle was known and the person who stole it was identified.

A friend had their car stolen in St. Louis. Police did nothing, even though the location of the vehicle was known and the person who stole it was identified. When police did nothing, eventually the owner recovered the car themself when they found it abandoned. They got it repaired and reported it not-stolen. 3 months later they got pulled over and dragged out of the car at gunpoint, handcuffed, arrested, etc. For stealing their own car. Edit: My point is, police will absolutely arrest someone driving a stolen car. They love to arrest people, that's their main business. Recovering property isn't their main business and they actively avoid it. Generally police will not go to a specific location to recover a vehicle that's been stolen but now is sitting in someone's driveway, for example. I'm sure there are exceptions but I am fairly confident that stolen car recovery is rare and generally happens only if they catch someone actively driving around with the stolen car and the same license plates which have been recorded as belonging to a stolen vehicle.