In the situation where they original owner was nowhere near the scene,It isn't a huge leap to assume it may have been stolen,especialy considering the guy was most likely wanted for Attempted Vehicular Theft or Vehicular Theft,When 2 & 2 are put together they make reasonable doubt & it isn't a big hassle to at least phone the guy abd see if the officer believes the story,instead of just immedeitly Scrapping it barely minutes after he reported it stolen.
"I see this guy isn't the Owner & is wanted for stealing vehicles,Hmm Since i don't see the owner anywhere near the scene,perhaps i can take 5 seconds to ensure i'm not scrapping a innocent mans vehicle"
"Sorry sir,I know we were unable to assist you when you where the victim of Auto Theft,But I'm going to destroy your hard earned property because i cant be bothered to spare 5 seconds to investigate this"
I'm not knocking the Officers,Only saying that they could have just as easily took a few minutes and investigated it,You know like real cops do when they catch someone commiting illegal acts in a vehicle not registered to them, wouldnt it be better to let one suspected Drug dealer get away then to punish a victim of a crime?
See Tom understands.