lock your doors. and other advice.

[vujade]

I don't post for any other reason than to hopefully spare someone some future headache/heartache.

I was walking to my wife's car this morning to start it up as the family got ready to go to church. I found her car door ajar. It was broken into while we were sleeping. As neighbors gathered that morning, we all realized that SEVERAL of us had our cars broken into (all on one side of the road). All snatch and grab. They took the usual stuff like electronics, sunglasses, stereos. etc. For once I'm glad my wife kept the car dirty as my daughter DS (I already scolded her that she should never leave it in the car again) still sat there under a pile of sweaters and beach hats that my wife always leaves in the car.

I happened to lock the car door that night but I didn't alarm it (I just locked it from the door instead of using the remote lock/alarm). One of my neighbors was an easier pickings as from talking to some of them, at least one of them left it open. I normally keep the cars in the garage but we happened to leave the car outside because we were cleaning the garage the other day. I'm glad my wife took the garage opener inside that night.

There are always bad guys out there. Same advice you've heard before just but a reminder. Always lock your door and if you have an alarm use it. If you have a home alarm and you leave, always alarm it even if it's a 'quick trip'. (My neighbor just went to the neighborhood park for an hour and got broken into just that way). Don't leave any valuables in the car.

Of topic but it was an eye opener 3 or 4 years ago when our house was broken into. Those doors/locks that builders put into new houses are weak. 2 heavy kicks will take it right down the hinges. Replace them with longer screws, stronger bolts and/or add a storm door for another bit of protection. Check your home owner's insurance and make sure you have adequate coverage. I found out that they don't cover any cash stolen, jewelry is usually capped to a small amount. Document/inventory your stuff. (I take a picture of everything and store it in several places). You can add items to be itemized for insurance (I have a few of my guns added just in case). If you have a safe - it's really not that safe. But at least bolt it down. And I usually carry 80% of the time outside of work, sometimes I just forget (my work doesn't allow it), I'm going to make it 100% now (except for prohibited places and outside of work, I'm going to minimize that)).

There are a lot of scum out there. Be careful.

Edited September 30, 2012 by Dolomite_supafly

[vujade]

I'm such a dork. How do you change the title? I spelled adviCe wrong.

[Caster]

Thieves suck......find them and get a rope.

Edited September 30, 2012 by Caster

[TN Outlaw]

my papaw told me Locks are just for the Honest people

[SingleStack]

Yeah, that does suck. was it just some scum kids or is it a high crime area?

[Guest Razz]

my papaw told me Locks are just for the Honest people

Like gun control laws.

Had my car and truck broken into 7 times while we lived in Chicago...in the "good part of town". The last time was the night before my wife was to be induced to birth our son. All the thief took was my wife's overnight bag which contained her clothes and my son's first set of clothes. I was in rare form that morning.

[Tempest455]

I had electronics (GPS and other stuff) stolen from my car a few years ago. Same situation, a number of peope did. Recently, house behind me was broken into and a gun safe and electronics were stolen in the middle of the day. And, we live in a nice neighborhood. Does not matter where you live anymore with all this hope and change.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I've had the same experience where I live. It's a bad feeling when you call the police while you

are standing there looking at a bashed in window and the front seat is full of glass, maybe the

radio and whatever is missing. etc.

I have had to go through it three times so far. Tired of it. Plenty of lighting and everything

stays as secure as possible. I even do spot checks in the night, now, because of my experiences.

I feel your pain!

[GlockSpock]

Probably a month ago I took my wife to the land of unclaimed baggage in Scottsboro. Got back late that night. Guess from being tired I slipped and left my vehicle unlocked. Next morning we jumped in to go to church and I noticed that the cable that usually resided in my glove box connected to my iPod was pulled out and laying on the passenger seat (the cable is connected to the radio). That is when I noticed that my iPod would never see me again, nor I it.

Her car door was a bit ajar too, but they didn't find anything in there I suppose.

We live in what I consider a very good area downtime, however late at night I figure some punks were walking down the street checking all the car doors to see what they could find.

Now I drive my wife crazy making sure everything is locked

[vujade]

Yeah, that does suck. was it just some scum kids or is it a high crime area?

Good area in a not so great part of town. I've got great immediate neighbors but the best way to describe it was after the market crashed, folks lost homes and seedier folks moved in. It hasn't been the same since.

Not this particular incident (not that I know off) but recent break ins have been linked to a few of the schools kids around here who then sell the stuff at the local high schools. I know of at least 2 kids that were caught and then released since they were under 18.

[vujade]

Probably a month ago I took my wife to the land of unclaimed baggage in Scottsboro. Got back late that night. Guess from being tired I slipped and left my vehicle unlocked. Next morning we jumped in to go to church and I noticed that the cable that usually resided in my glove box connected to my iPod was pulled out and laying on the passenger seat (the cable is connected to the radio). That is when I noticed that my iPod would never see me again, nor I it.

Her car door was a bit ajar too, but they didn't find anything in there I suppose.

We live in what I consider a very good area downtime, however late at night I figure some punks were walking down the street checking all the car doors to see what they could find.

Now I drive my wife crazy making sure everything is locked

My mom lives in the 'good part of town' and still doesn't lock her doors and is pretty laissez faire with her security. I tell her all the time that bad and poor folks will likely not rob each in their neighborhood; they may more than likely smart up and drive the extra couple of miles to rob a subdivision that may give them a little better return on investment.

[1pointofview]

I bought my first house while I was still in college and working full time. I lived in a new sub that was kinda in the middle of no where. I came home from school one night after a long day. basically walked in the door at 945pm, brushed my chops and went straight to bed. About 1030 I heard someone trying to open up the back door into the garage. I jumped up, grabbed the shotgun and waited by the bedroom door which gave me a clear view to the backdoor. luckily who ever it was could not get in the back door and decided to give up. been hyper vigilant about ensuring doors and windows are always locked,

[reed1285]

Know the feeling, my wife had her ipod stolen out of her car that i bought her for her birthday 2 yrs ago. I remedied the situation a lot by ALWAYS making sure i have nothing of value in my vehicle at the end of the day. My wife does the same now. So if somebody decides to break into one of our vehicles they will get nothing.

[Ebow1]

Ha! My vehicle itself isn't even something of value. I kid, but this does bring to mind what happened about a week ago where I work. Driver comes back from a run, leaves her car unlocked with the keys in the ignition because she's just gonna run in, grab another order, and run out. Random dude walking by says Hey, free car! Hops in and drives off. I have always locked my doors on delivery and at the store just to be safe, but even I admit that the odds of that actually happening are pretty freaking low. Although I'm guessing the odds don't mean a whole lot to her anymore.

[peejman]

Been there, had stuff stolen. My wife left her car unlocked at her parents' house a couple years ago. Lost our radar detector, multi-tool, phone charger. I was just glad they didn't damage the car. I think one of the neighbors had security cameras and got photos, but we never heard anything from the police.

Reminds me that I really need to do a video inventory of the house and review my home owner's coverage.