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Dear Catherine,
Good a.m. and may this find you well. If you want to warn those coming to do business at this dealership, make sure you are not on the dealer's property, when you do so. Make sure you're on a public sidewalk or public road. If you enter upon their property, they can seek to have you arrested for trespassing.
If you're on their property, the responding police officers likely will ask you to move, rather than arrest you at once. However, there's no guarantee they'll cut you slack: it depends on the approach to policing in the city/town where the dealership is located. In some places, officers tend to want to deal with matters in a civilized way; in others, a "take no prisoners" approach prevails.
Obviously, if a police officer asks you to move, comply at once. A lawyer's fees for getting an arrest expunged from the record, will quickly eat up $2,000.
If the dealer declines to come to Court and/or to pay the judgment, you should first try to have their assets seized. If that is too costly or time-consuming, contact local newspapers and television stations, as has been suggested. They welcome "human interest" stories. The bad publicity you could get for this dealer is priceless.
They could sue you for damages. Your defense: you told the truth, and nothing but the truth. Most Courts will be persuaded. However, you'll still incur defense costs.
In sum, the best way to get your money is to get the Court to order the seizure of their assets. If their bank account is frozen by Court order, that will get their attention. If some of their vehicles are seized to satisfy your judgment, that, too, will get their attention.
Most judges react badly, to their orders being ignored. While police in the US do not have a duty to protect the law-abiding person (US Supreme Court, South v. Maryland, 1854; exceptions are witnesses and paid informants), police officers do have a legal duty to carry out judges' orders to arrest persons or to seize property.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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