Just had another car stereo stolen

[tridim]

Second one in 4 months. Last time it was an expensive one and they broke my door handle and trunk latch to get in. This time it was a 10 year old piece of crap that will probably pull about $5.00 on the street. They broke my driver's side window to get in.

What the hell is going on here? Am I just incredibly unlucky? or is this a trend spawned by the new poverty class Bush has created? I don't live in a dangerous neighborhood.. It's just about average for crime.

I hate what I said to myself when I saw the window. I basically repeated, "I hate people" about 10 times under my breath. :(

[Infomaniac]

1. That sucks

I'm in NYC so I know the pain and aggravation this kind of stuff causes. We finally gave up and pay for a parking space.

[tridim]

2. Oddly enough

When I lived in Queens I never had my stereo stolen, although I did have two loads of laundry stolen from the laundromat.

[Infomaniac]

8. Laundry stolen in Brooklyn

Ahh, you're bringing back memories. My laundry was stolen in Brooklyn. BTW, do you still live in NYC?

[tridim]

9. Nope, I left NYC about 5 years ago

I couldn't take the daily, 90 minute bus/subway commute.

[tedoll78]

3. "I hate people."

I've had a stereo stolen too. They smashed one of those little triangular windows in the front corner of my truck to get in (the ones that rotate open and shut).

:grr:

[BiggJawn]

4. Classy Thief...

around here, they throw a chunk of spark plug insulator through the side window, screw being "nice"....

[curse10]

5. I had mine stolen right out of the underground garage

some other tenant left the garage door open :grr:

Came down and found my door ajar, car ransacked, and stereo gone. I felt so violated. And what's worse is that the police don't waste their time with stuff like this :-(

[Deja Q]

6. Shouldn't the police BE spending some time on this?!

Fingerprinting, et al?

That's their fucking job, to protect and serve. :grr: :mad:

I've a car alarm these days. With stickers saying there's an alarm.

[curse10]

7. I called them, not knowing they wouldn't do anything

they said, "Did you see it happen?" I said "No." "Well, you can come file a report if you really want to, but we don't send officers out for this sort of thing." :grr:

[Xithras]

10. It's not worth their time

Fingerprinting is only done in cases where the perpetrator is facing a felony conviction. It simply takes too many man hours to dust a car, transfer prints into the computer, and run matches against the local and national fingerprint database. That's not even mentioning the fact that it's nearly impossible to get prints off this sort of crime...prints from the exterior of the car are inadmissible, and car interiors are usually made out of grained leathers and plastics that don't hold prints very well.

And if they do catch someone, then what? Stealing a car stereo is a misdemeanor will get the perp a few weeks in the county lockup, at most, and is more likely to net a slap on the wrist like a short probation. Since most stereo thieves will plead not guilty to the charges and force a trial, the expenses involved with the government prosecuting this type of crime aren't seen to be worth it. The ONLY exception exists in the case of witnesses...if there are witnesses the case becomes a bit more open and shut, and DA's are much more willing to prosecute.

[democracyindanger]

14. Maybe it's just me, but

I'd rather have them doing domestic violence calls or solving murders than worrying about my car stereo and a couple of CDs.

[Mizmoon]

11. My dad gave up and left his car unlocked

at all times. That way they wouldn't bother breaking anything when they stole stuff.

[gardenista]

13. yep that's the way to go. I did that when I lived in DC

Gotta be prepared to deal with people sleeping and, um, doing other things in the car, tho.

I used to leave lots of AA literature around inside the car. It seemed to help!

[UrbScotty]

12. Have the police done anything? (nt)

[tridim]

16. They just had me file a report online

They did nothing. Par for the course.

[gardenista]

15. When my car was a "parts cow" in DC, it turned out to be

a guy in the neighborhood, who finally got caught. He had a very, very loud truck, which he would fire up to cover the noise of breaking glass. Folks in the neighborhood figured it out, and though I don't think he got time, the thefts stopped. I swear, I think he was taking car parts on order. I had to replace my right rear tail light several times.