Filing a Police Report After a Car Door Damages Your Mirror
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 1, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I was parked at a shopping center and a car pulled up next to me and the backseat passenger hit my side mirror with the door. They ran off inside quickly and I took a picture of my mirror. Once they came out, they immediately went to leave and I tried getting a person’s attention in the passenger seat. They rolled the window down and I told her that her child hit my mirror. She told me to take a picture and replied with I did. She then told me to take a picture of her car and sped off. Should I pursue filing a police report?
Attorney Answer
Yes, file the report — but do it with realistic expectations. The far more useful step is your photo of the license plate plus a claim against the other vehicle's insurance, because on these facts this is at most a very minor offense and the police may not treat it as a hit-and-run at all.
Texas law does require drivers to stop and exchange information. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.022 requires the operator of a vehicle involved in a collision resulting only in damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended by a person to immediately stop at, or return to, the scene and remain there until the operator has complied with § 550.023. A violation is a Class C misdemeanor if the damage to all vehicles is under $200, and a Class B misdemeanor if the damage is $200 or more. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.023 sets out what has to be handed over: name and address, the vehicle registration number, and the name of the operator's motor vehicle liability insurer, plus showing the driver's license on request.
Be aware of the wrinkle in your facts. The damage was done by a back-seat passenger opening a door, not by the driver striking your car while driving. Whether an officer treats that as a collision involving her vehicle under § 550.022 is not a sure thing. What is squarely covered is the part you actually experienced: you were standing there, you told her what happened, and she drove off rather than giving you the information § 550.023 requires. That is worth reporting, and it is worth reporting exactly that way.
Separately, the criminal question and the money question are independent. Even if no charge is ever filed, whoever damaged your mirror is still civilly responsible for the cost of repairing it.
What you can do
1. Get a written repair estimate first. That number decides whether this is a Class C or Class B matter and whether an insurance claim is even worth filing. 2. File the report with your local police or the sheriff's office, in person if you can. Bring the photos, the plate number, the exact date, time, and location, and a short written account of the conversation at the window. 3. Ask the shopping center's management for surveillance footage covering that parking area and that time window. Ask this week — most systems overwrite within days. 4. Report the incident to your own insurer and give them the plate number. Insurers can identify the owner's carrier and pursue the property damage even when police do not act. 5. If the repair is less than your deductible, consider small claims court in the justice court for that precinct. You will need the owner's name and address, which the police report or your insurer may help you obtain. 6. Keep the original photos, unedited, with their timestamps intact.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The damage is under $200. Is it still worth filing a report?
Yes, though mainly for documentation. Under § 550.022 that dollar amount puts the offense at the Class C misdemeanor level, which is the lowest tier, so do not expect an investigation. The report's real value is as an official, dated record supporting an insurance claim or a small claims case.
Can I claim against her insurance when it was her child who opened the door?
You can present the claim, and the vehicle's liability carrier will decide whether it covers the conduct of a passenger in the insured vehicle. Coverage in that situation is not automatic. Your own insurer can also pursue it if you have applicable coverage, which is often the faster route.
What if the police will not take the report?
Ask to file it online or at the station rather than by phone, and describe it as a driver leaving after being told her vehicle damaged yours, which is the § 550.023 information-exchange failure. If they still decline, your photos, the plate number, and a repair estimate are enough to proceed civilly without a report.
