Well I woke up to another stolen car.
A few months ago my 1993 Dodge caravan was stolen.
This morning I woke up and my 1999 Saturn was stolen.
I hate thieves.

Where the hell do you live? Maybe it's time to move?

I was about to say that as soon as I saw the title .

It's definitely time to move when they are stealing 1990s minivans and Saturns.

Agree and remove your phone number from public forums.

Who steals an 18 year old minivan? They aren't a joy ride car and the parts aren't worth that much. Did they ever find the thief in that one?

no they didnt find them.

the problem is i am not sure that it is where i live that is the problem.
i am more sure it is the trashy kids from other areas coming into my neighborhood.
which i am sad to say trashy kids are most kids today.
it doesnt matter if the kids come from drs and lawyers or if they come from trailer parks the kids today are trouble!

Easy to steal, and load up van with boosted goods from other scores....so I am told....
Sorry to hear about the thefts....makes one feel violated...I just had someone steal some old ladders and stuff from the side of the house. Not worth much, but sure pisses you off, and then you wonder 'what's next'..

Steve,
That just sucks--sorry for your trouble.

What kind of thieves would steal an older truck and 99 Saturn before a 914, obviously they have no class.

Steve,

That is a drag! At least they did not get your teener.

I think porbmw is right, they are stealing them to use in other crimes because they are not likely to attract a lot of attention.

Put a lojak in your next car and get them busted.

John

the 914 is at series 9.
thank god.

I had a 93 4WD caravan stolen.

They tried 3 times before they got away with it...wife forgot to put on the "club" one evening.
One time I actually chased them away with my firearm.... You have no idea how tempted I was to put a couple of holes in their "getaway car" just so I could ID it later.
I know who would have probably gone to jail that evening....

Those are one of the absolute easiest cars to steal, all you need is a screwdriver. That gets you through the door and into the steering column.

We got it back and sold it right away. Seems they had been doing some off-roading in it.


Sorry to hear. Most cars that old arent even insured anymore :-(

Stu

Let's really fuck 'em w/ a baited 914. It will be a rewrite of O'Henry's short story "The Ransom of Little Red Chief". They won't know what hit 'em.

Ever since that incident with my car i now have TWO tracking devices in my car. Both with their own small battery so even if the main power is cut, they'll send for another week at least.

30 second updates with GPS, speed and acceleration and best of all, remote access from any PC.
So, even if the car is on a trailer or in a shop, i can simply query it for it's current GPS location at any time.


That should do the trick ...

Damn Steve, that really sucks... , but glad that you're teener is with Joe.

-- Rob

"Let's really fuck 'em w/ a baited 914."

You have absolutely NO IDEA how tempted I was to set a trap.
To steal the caravan, the thief just rips off the plastic steering column cover to get to the internals.

I was so close to wiring a breakwire into the housing so that if you ripped it off, the airbag would go off.

Then I could just clean up the mess after-wards or let the ambulance do it.

Figured that would be another way to go to jail if I actually did it...
Stu

We had a rash of (apparent) teenagers walking through our neighborhood and checking for unlocked cars in the early hours. They then grabbed anything loose: coins, ipods, etc.

My neighbor accidentally left her BMW open (keys in the house) but had a valet key in the glove box. Those knuckleheads found the key while rooting and took her car on an 80 mile joy ride before flattening all 4 tires and abandoning it at the local University campus.

They got the neighbors on BOTH sides of me that night. My truck was locked, thankfully. BTW, we have 4 officers living in the neighborhood. 3 are state cops and one's a local with take-home cars. That didn't thwart them at all.

All the neighbors got together after the incident and voted to raise dues so we could afford to have street lights put in. That seems to have made the bigger difference--no more shadowy areas between the houses for punks to lurk in.

Any details on your setup?

I thought everyone in Florida owned a pet attack trained alligator? No?

Soon.
I'm actually working for the company who makes those devices and my main work project right now is to build the data receiving and processing IT backend.
The devices i'm running are from the first batch of working prototypes. We just started trials with some of our large fleet customers.
The device actually does a lot more than that, it's a fully featured automotive telematics device.

The final product should be on the market within 3 months or so.

That SUCKS! I only hope something very good happens for you soon!

Ya dig....maybe it's the city?
you'll be notified when it's mucho ducat's to get it out of
storage
( has happened to me in the past)

Nice, any idea on a price point?

I've thought about setting one up myself that transmits once or twice a day over radio (APRS). Cheap, but requires a radio license to do it legally.

any idea on cost?

I was thinking of getting one of those pay as you go cell phones and hard wiring the charging cord the car. The cell phone signal could be tracked as long as the battery stays connected or the cell phone stays charged.

Funny, I used to have a VW Thing that the local kids would siphon all of the gas every Friday night so I set a trap for them!! I hooked up an electric fence to the front bumper so when they grabbed the gas cap (metal) they got shocked

Never saw them again!!

Some guy wired up a metal gate to his store to 120v outlet. The guy got sued by a crook breaking in. Another guy rigged up a shotgun to his back door and killed a crook. That guy's in jail. Another guy got sued by a crook when he fell through a skylight not built to code. Be careful what you rig up. I think the only state where you can prevent property loss with deadly force is Texas. Not even sure about that anymore either.

"I think the only state where you can prevent property loss with deadly force is Texas"

Dont forget the Colorado "make my day" law (no really that is it's name).

If you walk in my door un-invited, I can blow your head off and there are no questions asked. The law has been tested and people have gotten away with it.

You just cant chase them down the road and shoot them in the back there has to be proof that you FELT that you or a family member was in danger. This includes someone lurking around your house un-armed and you caught them in the dark.

And I agree with your point. I was seriously tempted to trap my van with the airbag, but outside the home, the law does not apply.
And setting a trap that could kill someone when you are NOT at risk of physical harm (not home) violates the concept of the "make my day" law.

I have always wondered what an airbag would do if set like a landmine.
I am guessing that it would at least break your legs and you would have to crawl away....

Now in the UK, if you use a firearm to protect yourself IN YOUR OWN HOME you can be prosecuted for the use of deadly force EVEN IF THEY COME AT YOU WITH A GUN.

Stu

Sure you can. And it doesn't even need to be your property. 2 words: Joe Horn.

Yes, but those fools also drink warm beer and drive on the wrong side of the road. What do you expect?

Here in Texas a perfectly viable defense is: He needed killin'

And don't get me started on the little crooks in my old neighborhood. I caught one red-handed one night. He ran, and was just two steps faster than me. But I circled back around and nabbed one of his friends when I saw it was useless to continue chasing him. I tracked him down to his trailer home (not kidding) the next morning and told him (as I was telling his mother what he had been doing the night before when she was out on a date) that had he not been just a smidgen faster than me in a flat out run, I would've kicked his ass. He assured me that that wouldn't have been the case, and that he would've kicked my ass...him and his friends. I made mention that I didn't think his friends would've helped him out much, since they were the ones who were so kind as to provide me with his address. It took him a little longer than a normal person to figure that one out, if ya know what I mean. His mother sent him in the house to get a piece of paper to put her phone number on so I could call and get monetary restitution out of him. While he was in the house she said he needed a good ass whippin' (no father figure) and that she had called the police on him just the week before because he had beat her up. When he got back outside I asked him to the front yard. He agreed...where I promptly kicked his 17 year old ass.

Probably shouldn't have done it, but I was tired of those little shits running around my neighborhood causing trouble. I told him he wasn't allowed down my street for anything anymore, lest he get a second ass whippin'. My next stop was his accomplice's home, where I told him the same thing, he had lost his rights to walking down my street for any reason...and that I'd just spent some time at his friends house kicking his friend's ass.

Never had any problems in my neighborhood (or at least my street) after that. I've moved to a much nicer place, but I'll bet that street is still as safe as ever...

FWIW - I am a landscape and irrigation contractor and have never had a theft problem on ANY of my jobs until I did the ONE job in your city. They stole some nice King Sagos in 7 gal. pots before I could get them planted - this while I was ON the job site fiddling with the irrigation.

I don't mean to bash your hometown but I couldn't believe how blatant these punks were!

Certainly you could rig everything with anti-theft gizmos but if it were me....I'd move.

I did contact the Sheriff's office about my theft, BTW, and they very eager to help but there's only so much one can do.

"Yes, but those fools also drink warm beer "

Thats because the refrigerators are made by LUCAS.


Rob-O,

Sounds like you did that lady a favor.
I would have given her my phone # and told to call me if the little A$$ needed further adjustment....

Stu

I just hired hound dog security, would you try and come through my gate?

Click to view attachment

Get a motion sensor light. Unscrew the lights, don't want to scare off your guest(s) Screw in a plug in receptical. Plug in an extension cord and run it back inside. Plug this into a radio next to your bed. When someone trips the motion sensor....radio wakes you.

Creep through the house and take a look at what is going on........someone there, slowly sneak up on them......Choice is then YOURS. Advantage is yours

I can think of whole bunch of options on things to do..............

I got this idea from a hunter who was tired of the racoons getting into his garbage cans. This gave him a chance to get off a shot.
(I'm not endorsing firearm use)

Best idea i've heard, Great idea!
But I also agree with choosing what you do wisely.

Kissimmee is East Mexico!

Last time I was in the Home Depot over there, I don't think anyone that even worked there spoke English.

Yea. I had that happen at walmart.
I locked my keys in my car... and the security guard that drives around the parking lot did not speak or understand english.
It is bad.

.....Good ole' USA...only country that accomedates everyone else accept...
it's own (BTW, I love the hound Dog security)

And the blows keep coming.
Also in the car:
was my tow bar
my daughters ipod
brand new ac compressor
AND ALL THE RECEIPTS AND PAPER WORK ON THE PORSCHE.
THAT INCLUDES THE TITLE!!!

best anti fuck with my shit is life time member nra sticker along side a support your local banditos mc sticker.

Sorry to hear the news... good luck.

That bites.....how could you have kept your title in the car? I hesitate to even keep registration and insurance card in mine.

Sucks - hope you get some justice one way or another. Good luck!

was gonna be registering the 914 when i got it back from joe

......Good deterrant(NRA sticker) join!

THE TITLE WAS IN MY 914 AT JOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry for all caps.
i am very happy because florida charges like $95 for replacement title.

You have been watching to many Miami Vice re-runs.

Best of luck with a successful recovery. Your sad tale prompted me to get off me ass to install a hidden kill switch to the MSD.

Keeping every thing crossed for you.

I miss Elvis....