Over the course of three days I have been following this thread. It's just crazy how it keeps growing, you can never truly catch up. By the time I hit submit on this post it will probably have grown another two pages at least
I have read ALL the posts...although I'm sure I missed a chunk of the ones that were cleaned up by the mods/admin. I dont know how some of you got through it in a two-three hours...you either have mad forum reading skills or skimmed past posts. I shouldve done the same, but was dumb and read everything. From this I think I am qualified enough to offer some fair comments.

1. Joe Dono is just ridiculous. I don't know how no one has truly beaten him down as he had claimed in his story. It's almost ironic that the thing that deserves to happen to him was fabricated in a lie by him.

2. I pity the true victims here, and hate to see it trickle down to their families, but I believe this could have been avoided. It's unfortunate how this happened. I try to put myself in their situation and I think I might have done the exact same thing. I can imagine myself getting greedy with a huge score from some ricer kid with a grandpa willing to spoil him. Lesson learned.

3. I am pretty offended by the business' name. I dont know if it's an acronym for something, The answer to this has been posted by the thread starter and will end here. chi town brat S Mod

4. I would hope that these "donations" are being recorded by the J.A.P. Works folks and plan to return them to those that donated should they be awarded $ resulting in a net amount after all this litigation. If they decline or cannot be contacted, then that money could go towards a charity you all decide upon.

5. I'm a bit confused how one car can "save" this business. Especially when you claim two families have bills to pay in addition to the business expenses. I dont see how a $16K lien can save the day. Yes I understand you put a lot of time and money into this car, but a normal business would be able to move past this and continue to generate revenue, especially with all the publicity you have been receiving. I thought I read something about one of the owners only being able to work from home or a garage or something. Did I misinterpret his post? Or is the shop temporarily closed?

6. I'd assume you'd also try to sue for other damages, but clearly if the car was going to get repo'd this family really has no money to pay you. Youre fighting a lost cause, and I think it may be tough to get a good attorney to help you when it seems there really is no pay off for their work. You'd have to find someone who wants it for the publicity, or is charitable...speaking of which why has no one contacted legal aid? As far as I know, every state has a legal aid society or something similar.

7. Why is everyone talking on here like Joe Dono is going to prison? Someone stated he is no longer on probation, and if he did commit a criminal offense wouldn't he have been arrested by now? I mean he had a police officer accompany him to the shop in his feeble attempt to reclaim the car. I'm sure the police think he's a complete tool, but they apparenty don't think he's a criminal.

8. The best thing here is showing how the community rallies together to help someone in need, regardless of how it got to that point. I think it's great, and you really need to take advantage of the attention this is getting. The ideas coming out like the contest/bbq are great as well. I hope everything works out in the end and I will continue to pop in here for updates.

9. I don't know why I took the time to post this. As I'm sure most folks will skip long posts as mine, asking for cliff notes. Plus many just jump to the last page for the recent posts, and this will get bumped back three pages because of people like DC5 who really post a lot of irrelevant crap and clutter this thread. Yes, we know you are a close friend and are somewhat involved, but I think we could all do without youre attention whoring. Thank you.

10. I think it is pretty pathetic the amount that has been raised so far considering all those that have posted. I have my own reasons for not donating as stated in #3, but man people saying they are strapped for cash and cant even donate a measly dollar? Weak. All you locals should consider getting work done by them too, either now or in the immediate future.

Good luck J.A.P. Works, and please consider a name change or clarifying the acronym.