Christmas Giveaway STOLEN

So...last night some jerk decided to smash out the passenger window on my car and steal my radio (which they didn't manage to get 'cause a police car rolled up but didn't get a look at the guys), and on top of that they took the surefire L1 I got on the giveaway, along with my 5 d-cell mag, my jacket, some pants my girlfriend gave me for Christmas that I was going to take in and return...y'know...I'm just sick to my stomach. They even took the little 4 AA lantern/light I keep in my glove box. The only reason I even keep so much stuff in my car is that I work out of my car as a night security guard just to make ends meet while I'm going to school. This isn't even a bad neighborhood...at least I didn't think so 'til now. Sometimes I hate my life...a LOT. (Just had a molar pulled, lots of pain, they took my prescription out of the car too).

-Michael

Wow...maybe it would be best not to leave expensive things in the vehicle like that? I don't have any tolerance for thievery...but I also don't "advertise" I have things worth stealing by leaving them out in the open...

I can understand why you leave stuff in the car, but...you shouldn't. You should bring it in every night if you want to reduce the "temptation" of thieves. (I'd personally like to put a few holes in them myself, but...)

I do know what it's like doing security at night to help pay for school...I was a commissioned security officer for 4 years.

And I have a factory stereo, so that helps...have you checked into the Eclipse stereo?

JM-99

Every since I had a laptop stolen in the same manner, EVERYTHING that I need to keep in the car that has value - goes in the trunk. It only goes into the car when I'm in the car... That way, they can't see it to be tempted.

Hopefully, with the police report, your car insurance will replace some of it..

Man that really sucks! I can totally sympathize too because I own a jeep (the least theft proof vehicle ever created). I had issues at the trailhead a couple of times so a friend of mine (handy with a welder) created this nice lockbox out of diamondplate and we mounted it. So now the valuables go into that. It's very similar to this http://www.tuffyproducts.com/trunk/trunk.html#trunks

but now I'm also thinking of adding one of these as well http://www.tuffyproducts.com/lockbox/027.html

Even when car seats are cluttered with "junk" there is a perception of something SOMEPLACE in the car is worth stealing. Like they said, keep it in the glove compartment or trunk.

Even stuff under blankets are suspect.

Nomad said:

Sometimes I hate my life...a LOT.

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I am so sorry to hear about your misfortune. I know things seem really bad for you right now, but remember there is always someone worse off than you.

Hope the New Year turns around for you real soon.

If it makes you feel any better, last night I lost a G&P P60 flashlight while working from work to the train station. I thought I heard a "plop" and searched the surrounding grass with my other xenon flashlight. Finding nothing, I walked on. When I got home I discovered that the P60 had fallen out of one of the outer pockets of my commuter bag. In itself no great loss ($20). But inside it was a $22 Wolf Eyes 168B lithium-ion cell and a $37 3W/1W regulated LED module from Emillion.

I'm sure you don't need advice right now, but I try to avoid this situation by leaving my glove box open and the coin tray open and empty. Anything of value is stashed somewhere inconspicuous. Any thief walking by sees the open glove box and open coin tray and assumes some other thief has already been thru the car... couldn't be anything good left there to waste time on. A lot of break-ins are just for the curiosity of what is in the glove box. Let the thief be curious about the neighbor's glove box, not mine!

I figured this out after a couple of breakins. Nothing was ever taken, but the glove box and coin tray were both always open. Someone wanted to see what I was storing in there@!! So now I just let them see it without having to be curious. No breakins since.

Man... that bites! I've been fortunate enough to never had anything of value stolen from any of my cars. At one point, we liven in a very nice apartment complex on the edge on a not nite neighborhood. The wife had her car, I had my car (an 87 Sterling) and a project car (an 80 Monte Carlo). The driver side doorlock was messed up on the Sterling, so I manually locked all the other doors, but left the driver door unlocked so anyone glancing in would only have a 1/2 or 1/4 chance of seeing the unlocked door. The Monte was kept locked.

Anyway, since the Monte Carlo was hotrodded, I was in habit of driving it the short trip to work. One morning, I got in the Monte Carlo, and noticed that the stereo was missing. 'DAMNT!' I thought to myself. So I immediately jumped out to look if anything was missing from the Sterling. Nothing was missing.

Now the funny thing is, they were parked right next to each other and the Sterling had literally $3,000 or more of stereo equipment which would have been difficult to get to except the $1,200 Alpine headunit which was backstrapped, but he wouldn't have known that until he tried to pull it and there was no damage at all. The stereo he stole from the Monte Carlo was one of those that might cost $30 at Walmart or a fleamarket and comes with a pair of cheap speakers. It was a piece of junk but this guy had jimmied (granted very easy on a RWD GM) the locked door unlocked and it was right next to an unlocked car with a stereo worth more than the entire Monte Carlo.

Point is, either you're going to be hit or you aren't. Having nothing of value is the best alternative, having nothing at all visible is the next best. I don't know if the prescription was visible but if so, that was almost definately what they were after.

Lesson learned. Won't happen again, will it? But go easy on yourself... Someone was killed last night. And someone was raped. And some little girl was beaten by her father for taking her shoes off without untieing them first. A stolen L1 is not the end of the world.

The surefire was hidden in a little compartment between the seats...but god...yeah I think I'll just start leaving that stuff open. God...and geico will only replace the broken glass, the police came by and took fingerprints, enough was stolen that it's a felony, hopefully they're not all mine. :-\ And you know what? I really DON'T think it's wrong to severely punish thieves like that. People like that are an evil blight upon the world. Vlad the Impaler had the right idea on how to deal with burglars...impale them! God I wish I'd realised what that noise was...I was actually awake but I live in an apartment complex with lots of students. I tell you, if I hear a car alarm going off I'm stepping outside with a nice cudgel and praying it's the sphincter who stole my stuff. The prescription was for 600 mg motrin and I believe it was under other papers on my car seat. I hadn't filled it because honestly it's not strong enough for my aching jaw. I get to have another molar pulled on the 13th...that one's broken off at the gum line.

Nomad,

I recently suffered a burglary and a very nice CPF'er sent me a replacement light for the one I had stolen.

I would like to "Pay It Forward" a little. If you will let me, I can replace the Mag you lost with something a little more potent than a simple 5D mag. And although I don't have an L1 to replace your's with, I probably can come up with an LED light of some type to help out there also.

Please PM me with your address info.

Bill

Bill, you continue to impress me with your generosity!

bwaites said:

I would like to "Pay It Forward" a little. If you will let me, I can replace the Mag you lost with something a little more potent than a simple 5D mag. And although I don't have an L1 to replace your's with, I probably can come up with an LED light of some type to help out there also.


Bill

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You are a very generous person indeed!

bwaites said:

Nomad,

I recently suffered a burglary and a very nice CPF'er sent me a replacement light for the one I had stolen.

I would like to "Pay It Forward" a little. If you will let me, I can replace the Mag you lost with something a little more potent than a simple 5D mag. And although I don't have an L1 to replace your's with, I probably can come up with an LED light of some type to help out there also.

Please PM me with your address info.

Bill

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What generous people we have here at CPF! :thumbsup:

bwaites said:

I would like to "Pay It Forward" a little. If you will let me, I can replace the Mag you lost with something a little more potent than a simple 5D mag. And although I don't have an L1 to replace your's with, I probably can come up with an LED light of some type to help out there also.

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:twothumbs, bwaites!!:rock:

hquan said:

Every since I had a laptop stolen in the same manner, EVERYTHING that I need to keep in the car that has value - goes in the trunk. It only goes into the car when I'm in the car... That way, they can't see it to be tempted.

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Also, be sure to avoid putting valuable things in the trunk in a public place where people can watch you ... unless you are about to drive somewhere else. Otherwise, thieves can target your car for a break-in even if your valuable items are hidden.

Nomad said:

So...last night some jerk decided to smash out the passenger window on my car and steal my radio (which they didn't manage to get 'cause a police car rolled up but didn't get a look at the guys), and on top of that they took the surefire L1 I got on the giveaway, along with my 5 d-cell mag, my jacket, some pants my girlfriend gave me for Christmas that I was going to take in and return...y'know...I'm just sick to my stomach. They even took the little 4 AA lantern/light I keep in my glove box. The only reason I even keep so much stuff in my car is that I work out of my car as a night security guard just to make ends meet while I'm going to school. This isn't even a bad neighborhood...at least I didn't think so 'til now. Sometimes I hate my life...a LOT. (Just had a molar pulled, lots of pain, they took my prescription out of the car too).

-Michael

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I feel for you. I've had my car broken into several times. Once, in a military storage facility (they got my speakers). Second time, right in front of the house (leather jacket and amplifier).

I know in other countries, the police catch them, they beat the living sh*t out of the thieves, and throw them in jail. Then they beat the sh*t out of them again for good measure (and for any other crimes the crimminal got away with), and that seems to curb crime in their land. I'm not saying this is right, but that's how most of the world does it.

Wow, Nomad. You have just had The Mother Of All Bad Days!

As terrible as this is, it could have been Much worse. If you'd have surprised them in the act, they likely would have turned on you with their (ahem) Semi-Automatic Assault Prybars. Even if you were prepared to deal "effectively" with THAT scenario, you'd probably be looking at $20,000 minimum to retain a criminal lawyer to defend yourself from the poor, socially-disadvantaged scumbags.

You are in a precarious stage of your life and are being tested. My hat's off to you for juggling a job with college (and medical issues!). That is stress. However, do remember this: all the tough stuff that doesn't kill you will simply make you stronger... in the long run. So, think Long Run, son. Turn that anger into renewed energy in pursuit of your ultimate purpose.

A few months after I returned from Vietnam, my apt. was burglarized. What'd the a-holes take? A cheap suitcase... filled with my irreplaceable photos and 8 mm movies documenting all my experiences, shots of good buddies (some who didn't make it back). No value to the crooks. Priceless to me. Left a big hole in my heart.

But I learned a lot from that experience... and the salty old investigating cop who told me how to NEVER become a victim again. And some of those lessons -- including the re-arranged mindset -- have saved my butt (and loved ones' butts) many times over the last 35 years.

It hurts any good, caring citizen when Bad Things happen to Good People. You just got one of life's painful jolts. If you're a long-term Winner, you'll reflect on this painful period, learn from it, and move on toward your destiny. Life's tuition ain't always cheap. However, if you take good notes, you'll wind up being a wiser, tougher, and better man.

Keep your chin up, dude.

I really appreciate it everytong. I'll be replying to bwaites/Bill with my address after I finish writing this reply. To be honest, I guess I'm not the strongest person in the world because I do feel the need to share my troubles, sharing it makes the burden lighter. On the flip side I always try to be there for others. The past 3 1/2 - 4 years have been really rough except for my girlfriend. My ex girlfriend and I had purchased a house together, but my credit was bad, so we put her name on everything (I know, I know, I learned), I put years of my life and everything I had into that house and other things we had together, so when she cheated on me and we split up I lost everything. I had been making ok money but working REALLY hard for it driving a taxi in Vegas. I decided that since I'd lost everything I had nothing to lose by making a fresh start. I decided to go back to school (had to clear up old student loans and some health issues first) and go for a teaching degree. This is my last semester at part time, from now on it's full time, I'll be a sophomore but I'll be going through the summers and as many credits as I can take so I'm hoping to have my degree in 2 1/2 years, but more likely it'll be 3 from now due to the way the programs work scheduling wise...but I may get to start with extra credits above my degree so that'll mean starting a teaching job at a higher pay scale, it'll even out I hope! I JUST bought that car because my '71 hornet has been unreliable for getting to work, so seeing it busted into was bad, but having the lights and other items I use for work (jacket, pepper spray) and christmas present (pants I had to exchange for a larger size) stolen was even worse. I REALLY think that the probation/short jail terms that thieves like this get are NO deterrent at all, caning and other corporal punishments work much better. A civilized and productive member of society would never need experience this, people act like it's barbaric, but stealing and smashing what other people have worked so hard for is worse than barbaric, it's just plain evil. If a sense of ethics or morals isn't working to keep people from being thieves then simple fear of the consequences might have a better effect. It's funny though, people face harsh sentences for relatively minor stuff ("indecent exposure", visiting a prostitute, smoking a joint) and receive light sentences for crimes which really hurt people (theft, battery, vandalism). Right now I've barely been able to sleep because of the feeling of being sucker punched (GOD I was so excited to get that light! And everything else, it was just that I had some NICE things for the first time in a long while) and the stress of having to pay the company I work for for another jacket. Candlepower forums has been fun for me, I did my first modifications (besides a drop in) on some solitaire lights... I used a 5mm 30,000mcp LED (did I get that right?) plus a 12v m21/23 to soup up a solitaire for myself, and used 1/2 of one of those m21/23s and a 3mm 18,000mcp LED for my girlfriend's (simpler for her that way, less likely to burn out or not twist on LOL). Just enjoyable...looking forward to doing more tinkering. A lot of you guys might wonder why I liked the 5D cell mag light (I got it really really cheap, I'd have actually liked a 6D even better LOL) it's because when you're wandering around a dark car lot or shopping complex at night it's comforting to have that extra heft in your hand. At any rate, I'm writing a book here, I just wanted to say "Thanks!" for all the support here!