Smash and grab

[obsessedwithsilver]

I decided to hit a bank on the way back from dropping off my maintenance guy (not the best neighborhood). Parked the car under a camera with a sign that read "all activities are monitored by a camera". Went into bank, returned five minutes later and discovered my passenger side window had been smashed and gps unit had been stolen.

Four rolls of halves netted a 1967 and a 1964.

I feel like a dupe for not hiding my unit under the seat.

OWS

 

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[jrf30]

Did you at least check the camera tape to see if the police could use it to search for someone?

(Although most of the time it seems the cops couldn't care less.)

 

[obsessedwithsilver]

I filled out a police report (6th district in Cleveland is about 1000 feet from the crime scene) and told them about the camera. I urged them to view the tape. The officer I worked with said they would "probably" look into it.

Frankly, I doubt they will do anything.

I'd gotten lazy and now I'm paying for it.

I hope the rest of you will take care when you are coin roll hunting.

OWS

 

[OmegaMan]

There is nothing worse than a thief
They need to be strung up by the bolts and whipped.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[cdltpx]

Sorry for your loss.
I use to wear gold drove a cadillac I liked these things and realized it is best to keep a low profile. I drive a good running car now but nothing that would suggest wealth the gold I sold almost all of it but a chain and a wedding band rarely wear them. When I leave my car I try to park where everyone can see I drive around until I get the parking spot that will insure someone will see my car. Rarely will pay with cash and when I carry cash it is usually less than $20. If someone comes to me like a begger I literally act like they are trying to give me the plague. I will speak loudly to get others to look "get away police get away " usually a robber will assume the role of a begger the last time someone pulled a gun on me he was begging they will do this to see where you keep your cash. For that reason I carry 2 wallets one to give a robber the other to prove who I am when I file the police report and attempt to get my Id back.
They probably watched you walk into the bank and took advantage of the situation. We are entering desperate times you will hear more of this happening If you are out detecting you might tell loved ones where you are going and when you should return. I carry a weapon in my pocket and watch my back when detecting.
Try this take a pix of the contents of your wallet keep a copy in your owners manuel so if you loose your wallet you can shut off the cards they have do this asap this could catch the crooks. Keep a key hidden on your vehicle if you are robbed and they take your keys to prevent you from leaving you will have a way to get in your car and get going.
When I travel I will use my window mount gps even then we will watch the car whern we get out. Try this get a cheapo compass place that on your front window they will think you are some kind of cheap skape to add to the image leave a pair of those safety glasses that go over your perscription glasses when they see them they think wow he sure aint gonna have any ray bans in there. When you get out your car carry a cane even if you are healthy it is the only weapon that is leathal that you can carry anywhere. http://www.youtube.com/user/cdltpx#p/f/567/MH0_UDhXQs0

 

[Motor_scootah_boi]

Stupid stuff happens inna da ghetto .... ! So stay out ... Also disguise yourself to look more like a workman / plumber type ... I carry my boxes in a heavy canvas tool bag to avoid prying eyes around my home ... When I arrive at my dump bank they're looking at me like: " Is this guy here to fix that leaky toilet .... ?? " I will only get worse in the future , so beware .... !

 

[obediah]

A similar sort of thing happened to me once and there WAS evidence to prove as it was my innocence of a charge made against me (since I was accused of something, being there knowing the progression of events could PROVE from a recorded event the claim to be false against me), asked police and even Prosecutor to subpoena this evidence; when the probable cause hearing came up against me they had NOT even looked at evidence I requested in writing to be examined- which could easily be used to prove myself innocent and what became perjury & false statement against me. The Judge threw out the charge against me which was good but they could of arrested the person who LIED and testified LIES under oath but they refused to do so.

 

[mrbelvetron]

As a police officer I get to deal with this on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis. Sadly there will never be enough of us to completely saturate and cover any city entirely. For instance, my city is aprox. 10.4 square miles, dead center between Dallas and Fort Worth with two major 3-4 lane highways running through. We usually have 6-8 officers covering a population of roughly 50,000 people, a number that swells greatly during the work week. At any given time 2-3 (if not more) of those officers are occupied on calls. If a major call goes out like a serious wreck, barricaded person, robbery, etc. all of us may get tied up for a while.

So when in the midst of all the thefts, domestic disputes, assaults, etc...we don't always seem very sympathetic when we go to the vehicle burglary where someone left their GPS unit, laptop, packages full of x-mas goodies, purse, wallet, MONEY-BAG, checkbook, etc. fully visible in their car. So now when some jerkoff smashes the window and steals the property, we've got yet another report to take up our time. And it's usually something that could be easily avoided, which is frustrating.

I would estimate that 90% or so of our vehicle burglaries are window smashed gps taken, window smashed laptop missing, etc.

Should we be able to leave ten grand sitting on the front seat with the doors wide open and noone mess with it? Yes we should, but we don't live in that world yet. It ticks us off as much as the victims.

Now, something I tell all my victims and any other citizen that asks is that the best way to not be a victim is to make your car less attractive to a burglar than the car parked next to yours.

Take any electronics, gps, cellphones, detachable radio faceplates, computers, etc. and the power cords or mounting equipment (we get a lot where thieves break in because they see the mounting equipment and logically assume that you hid the gps or other stuff in the center console or under the seat).

Any packages should go in the trunk after purchase and to be really safe you should leave the parking lot and come back to a new parking space, rather than just secure the car then walk into another store. The thieves watch for this and know you'll probably be in the nexxt store for a while so they have plenty of time to pop the trunk for that flat screen you just paid $500.00 for.

While we're on that, when you get a new computer, flatscreen etc.....break the box down and put it in a trash bag or something, not just sitting on your curb for the garbage man. Plenty of home burglaries occur because the thieves cruise around and look for the houses with new fancy gadget boxes, then wait till they know the residents are probably away or at work or something.

Sorry for the long post. This has been my public service anouncement. Be safe, and happy hunting.

 

[jim4silver]

There was a poster on here a while back (I don't remember who it was now) who wrote about having a bunch of halves stolen from his car. He had kept them on the front seat I believe.

I agree with the cop poster above about keeping stuff in the trunk. Yes it might be possible to break into a trunk, but the crook won't be able to see in there like he/she can inside the passenger compartment.

I try to stay out of bad areas when I can whether CRHing or not. While crime can happen anywhere, I believe the opportunistic type crimes like yours are more likely to happen in worse areas or areas where the crooks congregate and spend alot of time (generally where they live, etc).

There is one bank in such an area that lets me have the machine bag when it fills. When I go to get it I am at that bank at 9:01am and out of there by 9:02am (as fast as possible in other words). I find that the local wandering thieves/bad guys are still asleep at that time (generally looks like a ghost town around the bank other than for a couple of customers).

Also watch out for mall parking lots. They crooks know to go to more upscale areas where people are spending lots on stuff and carrying it out or locking it up in their cars for extended periods while shopping.

Like others have posted here I think in time there will be more dangerous and direct crimes committed on people. Good thing more states allow concealed carry nowadays.

Jim

 

[Rich Hartford]

Years ago I caught someone doing a smash and grab on my car. So I did a grab and smash. It was an invigorating and satisfying experience.

 

[scotty1418]

OWS,

If I'm not mistaken this is right by Collinwood? Not a very nice area for sure.

Sorry to hear.

 

[obsessedwithsilver]

Yeah Collinwood. I live in the next county over (Geauga County) but I was traveling through and my gps unit spotted a few banks I had never hit. I got lazy and didn't hide the merchandise. My bad. It will never happen again if I can help it.

OWS

 

[srcdco]

Keep in mind that now that they have your GPS, they also have your home address. This is a new tactic that thieves are taking - break into you car, steal your GPS, tell it to go "home" and rob your house.

Scott