How many of you have had stuff stolen from your vehicle while it was parked?
I was fishing the other day. When I came back to my truck, my cell phone was gone. I live in a 'resort' town...this isn't supposed to happen. From what I understand every cell phone has an electronic signature. Who would want to steal a cell phone knowing the owner would suspend service ASAP? I parked where a bunch of migrant workers park for the construction project across the road....
I guess this isn't the kind of place it used to be. When I moved here, people didn't even lock their houses. That was just 11 years ago. What a difference a decade makes! Just pisses me off.

.

Just imagine what it will be like a decade from now!

I've had two toolboxes stolen from my truck, and the last one weighed at least 300 lbs!

I'm kinda glad I wasn't there when the bad guy walked off with that one.[BD]

Eric The Hun

I had parked my company truck in a parking garage in Baltimore. This garage is in the same building where our offices are, and it is patrolled by security guards. The truck alarm was set, and it was the middle of the day. When I came back to get in the truck, the passenger's window was broken, the alarm was screaming, the security guards were all standing around, and I was missing a $2000 laptop, a cell phone, and my brand new sun glasses. The sun glasses pissed me off the most since they were MINE and the company wasn't about to replace them. The worst thing is that it was winter and I was minus one window on the ride to the glass shop. The thief got away but they have a video of the whole break-in since there are cameras everywhere.  Keep in mind that this building is the headquarters for a major bank. You'd think the crooks would avoid all the security, but this guy just boldly did it right under their noses. Smash and grab is the most common form of theft these days, at least in B-more.

Heck, I get vitimized every year - on the same date no less.

Yup, April 15th is killing me man.  

James

When I lived in San Francisco my home was robbed twice. Lost a guitar, bikes, cmera radio. Stuff that gets pawned easily. Also when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale I was held at gunpoint once. He went to jail that night.

My wife had 2 pair of Oakly sunglasses stolen out of her car at the mall.

My brother in law finished packing his LIFTED F-350 to move into kalifornia (yeah I know I tried to stop him) at about 3 am.  When we woke up at 6 am his brand new Yamaha Banshee was gone out of the back of the truck.  It was chained in and there was a trailer on the back so they couldnt lower the tailgate.  The truck is so tall that I can barely see over the side into the bed and I am 6'1".  Someone actually lifted that heavy bastard out of the back of his truck and set it down on the ground.  There were no marks from it even being dropped.

Come to find out, quads are very big on the theft list because they dont require tags or registration to be shown like you do with a boat or car.  So you can actually get a ticket on a stolen quad and the cop wouldnt even bother to check if its stolen or not.

pish, pish, broke in your car...

I had my wallet, cellphone, jacket, gold chain (14k, 35" figaro) and cross (14k, 1.8 carat in diamonds), personalized bracelet (14k, 8" figaro), and my citizen stolen from me (at gun-point) by 3 little angels (yeah, right) while visiting my friend in the "safe" part of town.

Most people want to turn 21 to be able to drink... I just want my CW permit.[:(!]

F.Y.I. - I'm a 20yr old Black Male, and yes I USED TO wear that much jewelry all the time. I've had most of that jewelry for years (except the watch), and have been to New Orleans, Detroit, and Chicago (Lived in all those places) and had never had a problem like that (maybe cause I knew to keep my guard up). Then I go to Virginia Beach... and got robbed. [:\]

You can save your post telling me what a dumbass I am for having that much jewelry on, now I know; Thank you very much

ET 3, the reason you proably got robbed in your home-20 is that you weren't alert.  When you travel to those "dangerous" cities like Chicago and Detroit, you're probably on guard, alert and whatching your six.  However when your in your own backyard you're relaxed and not paying attention.  It happens to many people.

I was the victim of a violent assault 5 years ago. 4 white perps for no reason jumped out of their pickup and proceeded to lay an intense beating and kicking on my butt right on a streetcorner at about 8 pm at night. One used a 2x2 deck rail that he promptly broke over the side of my head. I wasnt knocked unconcious either. I was awake for the whole thing.I fought back,broke one guys nose, but lost equilibrium and went down on the ground.The stomping and beating proceeded.They didnt even take anything from me. I wound up in the hospital with a fractured skull, bleeding from my left ear,bruising across the temple, ear, and massive bruising on my neck over my cerebral cortex, and my hands and arms were black and blue from blocking the blows. Also a golf ball size blood clot in my brain bucket. The neuroligist said, matter of factly, I was supposed to be dead or at least a vegetable, and for the life of him he couldnt understand why I was sitting upright talking cohesively to him. Must be that hard Irish head of mine .Took two months before I had my balance back again.5 months for the clot to completely drain. To this day I have headaches. I gave the police descriptions of all of them, the truck and 3 digits from the plate. No luck at all finding them. When I was called in for a photo lineup about 4 months later, they were all of african decent in the lineup. I chastised the detective for not even reading my report(4 white perps, not what he was showing me at all, not what was in the report.) I have since taken classes on how to defend myself against multiple attackers(Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu) and am much more confident in myself in those types of situations.I carry a combat folder everywhere now as well.(handgun concealed carry is impossible for civilians to obtain in NJ) But it was hard going for a while. I had a very bad outlook on society at that time and since then I have realized that I cant hold everyone responsible for a few bad apples. There are some good people out there still. Just they're caught in a society that breeds hate and contempt. After my incident I have met others who have had similar altercations. It is not easy to get up again and get back into society.Its vey frightening. I know first hand. So I helped out for 2 months as a counselor for victims of violent assault. It can happen to anyone. Statistically it is more probable that you will be a victim of assault, than you being in an auto accident. Thats no typo. Its true. So now I train for the unexpected. My wife and children as well. Some people(friends included) call me a bit paranoid, But its a fine line between paranoid and prepared.I'm a big guy too, 6'2 250 lbs. Dont think because you're big it wont happen. Train for the worst possible scenario. Be prepared for any situation.Do your best not to be a victim.

synweap,

Was the attack based on race?  Are you also white?

I know what you mean.  When I was a kid, I lived in Watts (I am white).  I was 16 living on my own.  One night 6 black guys same age as me tried to jump me, but I had the best defense in the world.  World class SPEED.  At 16 I weighed about 150lbs.  Same frame now at 220, and I really oly need to lose 15 lbs to look fit, so you can imagine how thin I was then.  

But I'll never forget how scared I was.  It doesn't matter if the attack was race based or not.  The SOBs that did that should be severely punished so they don't even think about it again.  Sadly, the police showed a lack of interest or competence in your case.

James

Snyweap223, wow man, I'm sorry for you.  Glad you made it alive.  You know reading that some people call you paranoid really pissed me off.  Paranoid, I'd bet that they'd be ultra paranoid if they had an experience just a fraction as bad as what you had.  For those accussers of you, they're just in denial - it's the lubricant that gets them through their days.  I would however disagree with you when you say that there's a fine line between being paranoid and prepared.  I believe that there's a huge chasm between being paranoid and prepared.  For years and years the boy scouts always said "be prepared".  No one ever called them a paranoid bunch.  No the accusation of paranoia is just a control method/technique utilized by politicians and the liberal media to avoid addressing some of the real problems in our society.  If you think that there's a real rape problem at the mall, the politicians rather then having to go through all the work and expense  of solving the problem, merely discount your concern and say you're "paranoid".  I feel for you man.  Hang in there.  Society is about 99% nice people.  Unfortunately you have to prepare to handle the other 1%.

A close friend and myself got jumped by at least 15 guys at "Southland shopping mall in Hayward CA. Not sure of the numbers, couldn't count them all. Thank god no other weapons were used except hands and fists. Don't know who they were, mabey mistaken identity. We got beaten up pretty good. After they got tired the first time outside the mall they did it again inside the mall while we were trying to leave, our limping could not outpace their running. Got jumped one last time by only 4 guys when we made it to the parking lot. Thank god my buddy Paul is a good natural fighter. He fought off the last three and beat the shit out of the asshole on me. It was not racial, the attackers were hispanic, black, white and asian. I am white/asian and Paul is white. That took months to recover physically.

Before I met my wife she was raped on her way to work in SanFrancisco at gun point, asshole shoved a pistol in her mouth, broke some teeth, and damaged her physically/mentally.

After we were married we got our 78 Pontiac Grand Prix stolen when wife and kids went to visit Grandma and Grandpa. It got late and grandparents said stay the nite. I got a call at work the next day, "Did I move the car?" well they found it in Oakland 2 months later stripped.

We have also had our condo broken into. Someone used a drill to drill out our door locks. During the day when we were at work, in a security building complex. I guess none of the neighbors saw or heard anything. Took some personal items, we did not have anything of any real value. Just a working class couple starting out in life. I am a mechanic for city of Hayward work on police cars, fire engines, tree trucks, pool cars etc. My wife is a waitress at a local resteraunt. Dont know of any enemys that we may have. We don't do drugs or sell the shit. My wife doesn't drink, I do occasionally.

We now have a house in a decent neighborhood.I have had my house tagged, carburetor cleaner works great in removing the stuff.

A punk tried to jump me on the way to work, I stopped at safeway grocery store to get breakfast for everyone at work. I saw him coming and did not give him a chance. I wont go into details, I don't want to get into trouble.

I guess my family has just had a run of bad luck.

Also my friend at work just got his 68 Camaro stolen out of his driveway last week. He had been restoring the whole car. He had finished everything except the short block and paint.He had thousand of hours and thousands of dollars into it. He rebuilt the 12 bolt posi, m21 4spd, front and rear suspension, interior, brakes, cooling, wheels and tires, etc. Police found it in Oakland 12 hours later completely stripped, they took everything except the cab shell, they took windows, doors, interior, complete front end, subframe and suspension, brakes, whole drivetrain. They left the club sitting on the floor, assholes did that just to spite him.

Dan

I've had a car stolen and stripped, another broken into, truck broken into, and been guest of honor at an attempted murder.  I now live ina state where ccw's are 'shall issue' and no longer feel the need to carry everrywhere I go. If you live in one of the 16 states that have no CCW, move to one that does.  To he!! with NJ, MD, CA, and wherever else corrupt politicians criminalize your Constitutional rights.

Dan,  I'm gonna put this bluntly.  You'd better move outta Kalifornia before the criminals kill you and/or your wife.  This isn't rocket science.  You can get another job in one of the other 47 nice states.  It's easier to get a job when you're alive.

SB

We've lived in same house in Contra Costa, CA for 21 years. It's on a dead-end street up a small hill. One way in, one way out. The last time a home in the area was burglarized was in 1982. I've left my truck parked unlocked out front on many occasions. In the summer I keep the windows cracked open so the morning sun doesn't warp the dash. I've had the same stereo since 1993, top of the line Kenwood with 200 wt. amp and Dynaudio speakers. We've left the front door unlocked many times and had the garage door open until late at night to get the cool evening air. We know everyone in the area and everyone watches out for each other. Before we came up here we lived in LA for 19 years. Never were burglarized, robbed, beaten, etc. And we've always lived in middle-class areas -- nothing fancy.

As far as Dan's experience, I work in Hayward and I know the area he's speaking about. The Southland Mall area is improving, but it's still not a great area. There are really good people in Hayward, but there are a lot of a-holes as well. If I lived in the East Bay, Castro Valley would probably be my choice. Otherwise, I'd live in Contra Costa. It's more of a drive but there's less stuff going on.

Anyway, I guess a lot of it is just luck. When we were young we went to SF at least twice a month to party. I went to college in SF and never had any problems. If you avoid the seedy areas, you can live a mostly crime-free life in California. But you still need to be aware of your surroundings no matter where you live.

I was robbed and my car was stolen. I am 99% certain of who did both crimes.

Too many times to recant all of them.
Jumped- every week in HS. Afew times after.
Car stole- TJ police peeled my car and was ready to make a Mexican cop car out of it when I found it. I cant set foot in mexico any more.
Stabbed- for 75 cents
Other trauma at the hands of men
Heart trauma from the fairer sex

walking home from my after school job i was shot by some kid with a 9mm at about 50 - 60 feet. he fired about 10 shots, hit me once, in the side pocket whare i had a book that i was reading.

pissed me right off, blacked out, and i chased after him. lets just say he was in far worse shape than i when i finished with him.

i had a bruise for about a week, and was sore for about three weeks.

i learned three things from this experience..

1) crime can happen anywhare, anytime.

2) i "was" an anti, not anymore

3) i am capable of some pretty heavy shit when properly motivated. (ran this guy down, jumped a 10 foot fence, put him in icu for a month, and i didnt feel a thing untill an hour later.)

Imbroglio; Was it the 1% uncertainty that kept you from going after the perps?

No, I was merely waiting for Y2k to happen and he would have been collateral damage as a result of the power outages and other chaos. But of course nothing happened, thanks to the damn goatee heads who worked to keep the electricty flowing just so starbucks wouldn't shut down. You goatee heads really ruin my day.

I was traveling south on I35 and stopped at a rest stop outside Georgetown, Texas a couple of years ago. It was around 3 in the morning, and I had to piss. I went into the restroom and started doing my thing when two Hispanic guys came in. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that one had a buck knife.  As I was zipping up, one of them said "give me your wallet". I turned around holding my officers model .45 and said "what"? They ran out the restroom and disappeared into the fields behind the facility. Never saw those guys again. I guess I've been lucky, have not had anything stolen yet.  

Who has not been a victim.  I have had my car broken into 8 times in Phx, AZ.  So I moved to a small town where you think it should be quiet.  Im in my garage and go in  to get a drink and come out and chain saw is gone.  Its amazing that people have the balls.  And as for cell phones, its probably fun while it lasts.  I took a report from a lady that only used her phone for emergencies and did not notice it was stolen.  When she got her bill $1500.....ouch.  Its amazing after they are stolen the thief will normally answer it untill the battery goes dead.

Hey MATTJA,

I haven't been as lucky, but my parents have.

They live 11 long blocks from where I reside and nothing ever happened to them in Hayward. They still live in the same house, sometimes with the front door unlocked. Sometimes with the back door wide open. I don't get it. Dad has been in the Navy for 23 years, seen a lot of shit overseas. Never had a problem with anything at home. I guess I am making up for it, LOL.

Dan

Hello SB

Yea, it would make sense to move but this is my home and I am not going anywhere. I know, pretty dumb huh. My home and I will fight to keep it. I keep telling myself just a run of bad luck, its gotta change.

Stuck in CA by choice, LOL.

Dan

My home was buglarized and ransaked. I thought that I lived in a good neighborhood, wrong. I moved.