Stolen TV

[DreamWeaver]

Stolen today at 12:40pm from Wal Mart parking lot in S. St. Petersburg, FL (15 min from Ft Desoto Park). It took theives less than 5min to break in and remove vehicle....soo sad. ...mad. Lots of stuff gone.

[DreamWeaver]

Originally Posted by 65GT

Did you get a police report? Did they check Walmart security cameras? Other local businesses cameras that might have gotten a license plate? There's
got to be a way...

__

Yea, "bum rap" says it all. Wal Mart security cameras saw it all. It took less than two minutes for it to happen. The cameras only showed a picture of the car that let the theif out and of them pulling away in less than two minutes. St Pete Police claim it is a bunch of kids stealing vehicles to party in. They have a very non-chalant(spelling??) attitude when it comes to grand theft auto. Perhaps they are fighting more important crimes. At least they didn't get the real goods...the AS. They may know where I (and the AS) live though.

[azflycaster]

The thieves also have your garage door opener, if you have one. I suggest you reprogram the door immediately.

[moosetags]

I am really sorry to hear that. It makes me so very angry. I hope that you were amply insured, and that the culprits end up in a firery crash while running from the police. No one has the right to mess with somebody else's stuff.

[LJH]

Very sorry for you DreamWeaver. Was a nice looking truck. The police don't seem too interested in crime fighting any moore. Our daughters car was broken into in Columbus O. She called the cops, they said anything under $5000, was not investigated. I guess that's life in the big city.

[Jim Foster]

A lady kite flier friend of ours in Bend OR had her kites stolen from her car parked in her driveway. Kites may not sound like a big deal to most people, but these were hand made beautiful creations worth a lot of time and money. She reported it to the police, they took a report, and our friend continued to check with trash pick-up people, searched the sides of the roads, nothing for weeks. She got a call from the Bend police just before Christmas, and they had her kites along with loads of other loot stolen by a group of thieves. They also had the thieves.

Don't give up.....

[lsinclair]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

The thieves also have your garage door opener, if you have one. I suggest you reprogram the door immediately.

If you have a conceal & carry, one thought would be to delay reporgraming in the event the culprits attempt entering through your garage. Then vola, you can repay them with "interest"!!!
It's truly sad to know there are people who have no conscious and knowingly violate the propertyand rights of others. But then the courts don't help by failing to hand out more punitive sentences!

[FreshAir]

I left my work one night and found broken glass where my Grand Prix was parked. Cops found the car and the thieves before I reported the theft. The car was damaged considerably from attempts to strip it. I got it all back to original but decided to park at work in a safer area. A young lady who worked in the same building had her Volkswagon vandalized about the same time and decided to park in the same safer parking area as I. After 2 or 3 ocassions of walking to our cars together I asked her out to dinner. Two more dates and two months later we got married. In a few weeks it will be 39 years married.
Neil.

[azflycaster]

FreshAir - Great story, karma to you. Congratulations on the 39 years. May you have many more!

[FreshAir]

Thanks Richard. Added bit to the story. After our wedding we rented a Scotsman 15' trailer and honeymooned in Death Valley. The Grand Prix became our very first Tow Vehicle.

[safari57]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

The thieves also have your garage door opener, if you have one. I suggest you reprogram the door immediately.

This is very important as we learned through a friend. The other thing is to make sure you tell all your neighbors so if your truck shows up on the driveway they know to call the cops unless you've told them you got it back. The thieves steal cars and then drive the vehicles to the homes when they suspect the people are not home, or they phone to see if anyone answers. Neighbors don't think anything of it if your own truck shows up on your driveway at an unusual time. The thieves load the trucks and vans up that they've stolen and away they go again. Worse yet, they know you'll replace all that stuff so then they can come back and get brand new stuff too.

Bummer on the loss of the truck for sure and all the hassles that goes with that. Crummy way to start the new year.

Hope if you do get it back that you get it thoroughly checked out to make sure they haven't damaged it severely. Stay on top of your insurance company.

Keep us posted.

Barry

[safari57]

Freshair,

Neil, nice story. We are also coming up to 39 years in May. It's neat that you met someone through adversity that turned into a such a wonderful thing.

Thanks for sharing that.

Barry

[westernviews]

I take it you live in St. Petersburg and frequently shop at the Walmart where your truck was stolen. Where were you parked, in with a lot of other cars or off by yourself? Have any security system installed in your truck? Any suggestions for others to lessen the chance of this happening to them?

[3Ms75Argosy]

wow, two minutes! I thought the newer trucks/cars were harder to steal. I wish you the best. There's nothing like feeling violated, I'd also think hard if any charge receipts or any link to your social security was in the glove box.

Keep up with the insurance company.
May the force of good be with you.
Marc

[DreamWeaver]

St Pete Police found it this afternoon. Probably out of gas but can't tell yet...dead battery. Theives jammed a special tool through the driver side key hole. The alarm went off, but once the truck was started it apparently shuts off. BTW, the theives must have quickly broke open the sterring column and used a flat head screwdriver to start it because like I said earlier; the Wal Mart manager viewed the security video(only 2min).

I was parked six spaces from the front of the store. I rarely frequent this store.

Oh yeah, nothing was taken except small change.

The only damage appears to be during break in and sterring column. Insurance adjuster comes tommorrow.

The only thing I can think of do do differently would be to leave the truck unlocked with the key in the ignition. This way when police find it, there might not be any damage.

[soldiermedic]

Wow....talk about good luck getting it back in good condition and with minimal stuff gone.

Karma to you.

Steve

[crispyboy]

Glad to hear you got the truck back.
I would be so mad I couldn't see straight. Talk about feeling violated

[redeagle313]

Glad to hear that you have your truck back.

I wish you had owned a GM TV with Onstar, the police would probably have apprehended the thieves while still in your vehicle.

[safari57]

Glad you got your TV back and the damage isn't extensive.

One thing we are told here by the Govt insurance company is that a not too expensive option for vehicles that don't have it is a vehicle immobilizer that won't let the vehicle start unless the actual key is used. My car and truck have them built in.

In addition to that many folks here have the steering wheel locks that are clearly visible to a thief.

Of course all of these can be circumvented, but each thing takes time, so if they see that you have these they are more likely to go find one that is easier to snag.

I detest these people with a passion. I had one of my trucks broken into 5 times in 6 months. Even when I left it unlocked they still punched the locks out because they were too stupid to actually try the door handle first. I left the ashtray (coin collector) open so they could see there was no money to steal and they stole the ashtray. I also left the glove box door open so they could see there was nothing in there either. I carried the insurance papers with me in my briefcase so they wouldn't have my home address and name info, something I always do. Alternately we hide it in the trunk so it's always in the car, particularly if we share the driving. They'd jam a screw driver into the ignition switch on the steering column and snap it out only to realize I had an immobilizer on it, so then it got keyed. I got fed up and sold it. Each incident was a new report to the police and insurance company so I had to pay the first $200 each time. After the second shot I started fixing it myself.

Anyway, very glad you got it back.

Barry

[Wabbiteer]

I possible theft attempt happen to my '94 Z-28; steering column shattered by pulling the column casing apart using the turn-signal stalk for leverage - either that or it was a terrorism from a co-worker. Anyway, they did not defeat the key & steering lock... I just went without turn signals for 60,000 miles. The only way I see to be pro-active would be having a silent alarm paged to your cell phone or something similar which could give enough time to notify authorities in time to have responding officers actually see it in action. Once they get thirty feet from vehicle they are as good as immune since no fingerprinting or other forensics will be employed...