I drove myself and two co-workers to lunch Monday, 2/15/10. I chose a parking spot in the rear of the lot and backed into a space (no pull through available at location). This positioned my Chevy Avalanche with the passenger side doors facing away from the rest of the lot and to the end of the lot. I had a Sony digital camera lying on the console of my truck.. Upon returning from lunch and entering the vehicle we noticed nothing wrong or missing from the vehicle. Tuesday around lunch time I needed the camera and could not locate it. My first thoughts were, "I moved it or it fell to the floor mat or I removed it from my truck." After searching feverishly for two days, questioning anyone who had been close to my truck, and exhausting every possible location I could have put it, I began to have that sinking feeling I lost it or someone stole it. My new Garmin GPS had been in the truck the whole time, so I felt as if someone had entered my vehicle they would have taken it also. Fast forward to Wednesday, I approached my truck from the passenger side to place my computer bag (aka my man purse) in the front passenger seat. As I reached to open the door I noticed there was a hole right under my door handle. My first thought was, "someone has shot my truck !" I began to think about it and inspect it a little closer and the "light" slowly began to come on. I phoned my friend who owns a body shop and asked if he had any vehicles with damage to the doors that looked like a bullet hole. "Yes, I see it all the time. Thieves have a punch and place it right under the door handle, knock a hole through, reach in and unlock it, just as if they have a key. No alarms, broken glass or anything.
I then placed a call to my insurance agent, who is also a friend, and explained it to him. I proceeded to tell him the situation and how I was puzzled that they left my GPS and all other belongings. Here is where it gets scary ! "Oh no, he said, they want the break-in to be so subtle that you don't even realize it. They look at your GPS to see where "home" is. Now they know what you drive, go to your home, and if your vehicle isn't there they assume you aren't and break in your home." He says they will even leave a purse or wallet and only take one or two credit cards. By the time you realize there has been a theft, they may have already had a couple days or more to use them. This is another reason they want the break-in to go unnoticed. I didn't realize my situation for two full days! They even give you the courtesy of re-locking your doors for you. I guess they don't want it to be broken into by other thieves !
Had they have found your check book, they could have taken checks from the middle section so they wouldn't be noticed.
Please remove from your GPS unit your home address as "home" ASAP ! Put in your local Wal-Mart address or some where else! Park your vehicle in a highly visible place. I positioned mine perfectly for them and didn't realize it until it was too late. I hope this is beneficial to you and helps you keep your valuables in your possession and your vehicle from damage. Most importantly, it may keep the thieves from showing up at your home !
DO NOT LEAVE VALUABLES IN SIGHT INSIDE THE CAR.
Periodically walk around your car, daily if you are in a shopping center or other parking area. Report thefts immediately....Bank w/missing check numbers, Credit card agencies, Police, and Insurance Companies.
12 comments:
You might as well remove your registration and insurance cards too since they have your home address on them in most cases. Oh, that's right, our government requires that those be in the vehicle. And they won't let us defend our homes and children either. Guess we're out of luck then, huh?
The hole punched in the door in a good story. The GPS "home" story is stupid. First, thieves won't take the time to do that. Second, they can get your address from your registration much faster. What you really need to protect is your garage door opener remote control.
[Not sure why this happens, but occasionally I'll post a comment and the web site will give me an error. I then re-submit. Sorry if this is a duplicate because sometimes I then shows up twice.]
anonymous 8:40, stop clicking twice when you submit a comment. It only takes one click. That will resolve the error messages.
Anyone who leaves a camera in plain view in their car is asking for it to be broken into.
WELCOME TO SALISBURY!!!!!!!!
to 10:11am.... nobody asks to get broken into. you have a vehicle that you paid for, with items you paid for in it. its called disrespect. nobody should have to live in fear that someone will rob them of the items they worked hard for. unfortunately there are individuals who choose to be criminals and all we can do really is hope they get caught. Mike Lewis has done a great job in trying to get Salisbury back on track, and i applaud him for it.
bottom line... if it isn't yours, leave it alone.
My Subru has a function that if you lock it with the "clicker" and unlock it with the key, the alarm sounds when the door is opened. The "event" would have been noticed if they opened MY car door.
Thieves work harder at stealing than they would if they used common sense and got a real job..POS of society taking something that someone else worked hard to get .And damaging a vehicle that an innocent person worked their asses off to get.I hope the right person catches them at the right time breaking into a car... Lets see what they steal than.....
The GPS Home theory isn't that important. I guarantee there are numerous pieces of paper in the car with the home address.
So what have we learned? To puncture a hole below the key hole when I want to break into a car - (unless it's a Subru of course)
Thanx fer the great tip!
Welcome to Salisbury. Crime is high here, what do you expect.
BTW if any local person tells you how great it is here disregard everything they say. They have been drinking the local Kool-Aid. Its prepackaged around here and ignorance is added.
To all of the the people that complain about how the locals talk about what a great area this is to live: It WAS a great place to live, right up until the time you all figured it out and moved down here and started spoiling it. What made it special was the small, home town feel that you got pretty much everywhere you went. And then all these people from the western shore showed and things haven't been right since.
By all means, if you don't like it here, pack your shit and head back home, and take all the other whiners (and the criminals that moved down from DC and Bmore) with you. We won't miss you at all, and we will get back to small town livin'.
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