My car got broken into again.
I drive a Jeep Wrangler with a soft top and two of the window zippers are broken so I just leave the back windows out at all times. I don't keep much in the car - a hat, some rubber bands, a pair of scissors, coins for parking at the gym, a stuffed dog, my CDs, loose change, the garage door clicker, a Thomas Guide.
Last time my car got broken into the thieves took everything. They also got a coat I loved very much and a pair of awesome sunglasses. And all my favorite CDs.
The last time I lived in K Town, a ghetto apartment run by ghetto landlords who didn't seem to give a rat's ass that I'd been robbed. Even when I told them I'd been robbed again. They made no effort whatsoever to fix the latch on the gate or change the code to the garage.
So I moved to this beautiful building in this beautiful neighborhood where there are cameras everywhere, including two on my car, and I live on the third floor behind a secure gate and my landlords are just down the street and so very nice to me and the manager is a sweetheart.
In case anybody plans to move here, they're R&E Investments and they're fantastic. I've never had a better time dealing with real estate management than I have with them.
Anyway, so even though I live in this high security building on a street with mostly houses, this morning when I went to get in my car and go to the gym I found my door not completely shut. The glove compartment had been busted open, the center console had been busted open and my stuff had been thrown all over the car.
They took loose change and the garage door clicker. They apparently didn't notice the CD case or the hat I hid in my secret spot.
That means they took the time to pick individual dimes, pennies and nickles out of the random places they had been dropped, but neglected to take the 24 CDs I had in the car.
I guess they didn't notice the cameras either.
It's not easy to get into the garage so my guess is they know somebody who lives here. I have a feeling once we look through the footage we'll figure out who it was. They didn't take anything that can't be easily replaced, but it will be nice to get them before they do. This is the first time I've been robbed where I feel like I can do something about it.
In the meantime I can't drive anywhere because my car is trapped in the garage until the manager calls me back.
I'd like to stop being robbed now, okay? Seriously, scumbags in LA, please stop stealing my shit.
EDITED TO ADD:
The manager thinks it was probably a homeless guy who slipped in behind somebody's car when they were coming in. He broke into another car too but didn't really take anything of value. That makes sense. The cameras wouldn't bother him and he can't really use my CDs. He probably took my clicker so he could get back out of the garage. Now I have to go to the main office to get another one, except first I have to figure out how to get my car out of the garage tomorrow and hope they don't charge me a fee.
Just had my soft top convertible broken into over X-mas while I was away in Spain.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that pisses me off more than being robbed is that the criminals were real idiots.
They cut a rectangular hole out of the top in an effort to try and pull the items out through said hole.
I wonder how long it took them to realize that once they slit the top, all they had to do was unlock the door.
NOTE TO FUTURE THIEVES: One slit. Pop the lock. Jack all the shit.
Much easier for everybody. Me to tape the slit. You to not look like a moron sawing through more tough synthetic material than you need to.
but neglected to take the 24 CDs I had in the car
ReplyDeleteMaybe they just didn't like your taste in music?
This happened to my friend one time. Some people broke into his car, took his CD player and like 1 CD out of 30 - it was obvious the bandits had flipped through his CDs and found them to be... lacking. My friend was so offended.
ugh, sorry to hear about the violation
ReplyDeleteCould be worse-- they could left a bunch of WARRANT and MILLI VANILLI and BeBivDevoe CDs and such.
ReplyDeleteAt that point I think you are morally compelled to drop to your knees, shake fists at the heavens and bellow in your best Chuck Heston: "THOSE BASTARDS! THOSE DIRTY DAMNED BASTARDS!"
Dunno that it's a good idea to leave camera equipment in a jeep with unzipped side windows. That seems to be kinda sorta begging for boosting.
Maybe you should just scatter some used 11mm casings around the back of the vehicle and on the floor of the garage around your car. Let would-be thieves draw whatever erroneous conclusions they like.
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My passenger side window is broken and can easily be pulled down and I have a ton of crap in my car (mostly exactly that, though - crap), yet I never get robbed. And I live in a crappy part of the valley... I think the Mexican families in my barrio must have my back.
ReplyDeleteTD
Camera equipment?
ReplyDeleteI think you misunderstood where I was talking about surveillance cameras in the ceiling. I don't keep camera equipment in my car.
WARRANT is awesome, Brett.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'.
First, I don't keep original CDs in the car, only copies. If they get stolen, then I only have to spend a few bucks to buy some blanks and burn new ones. Then again, they tend not to steal copies.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while shell casings in the back MIGHT deter some, it might also attract undo attention by the police if you forgot they were there. Also some theives might break in looking to find a weapon.
1) I copy all CDs onto my laptop now so if they do get stolen I can make new copies, but burned CDs don't play well in my player.
ReplyDeleteand
2) I'm pretty sure Brett was kidding about the shell casings.
Shell casings might attract attention from police? For what-- "suspicious public display of brass"?
ReplyDeleteUnless I missed some major Google News headline, I'm pretty sure that whole 4th Amendment thing is still on the books.
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not a lawyer (just shaped like one) B
sucks!! good luck with getting your car out of hawk, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of funny actually. I waited a day because I couldn't get out without the clicker, then finally I asked a neighbor if he'd come down and let me out with his clicker. He told me there was a switch on the floor and if I drove over it the gate would open automatically.
ReplyDeleteI felt kind of stupid but I drove out.