TexasCHLforum.com

msandoval858 wrote:

mojo84 wrote:I made a huge mistake. I exited my vehicle and started into the restaurant. When I was about 20 feet from my truck I realized I had left my briefcase with my laptop sitting in the back floorboard. I returned to the vehicle to put it under the back seat. They must have been watching as they knew exactly where to look even though nothing was visible from the exterior of the vehicle. The good news is, they did not find any of my other items I had in the console.

This is exactly what happened to me. I was meeting a friend and started walking away, returned to get something out of my backpack and then placed it in the back floor of my pickup. I covered it to keep it out of view. Obviously someone was watching to know exactly where it was because that's the only thing they took. They were even kind enough to recover the area I had "hidden" the backpack

You will also notice how once the guy cased the vehicle he made a pass around to be sure no one was coming back out to see what he was doing. Once he determined it was clear, he BACKED into the spot which allowed him to open his door and block the view from behind your vehicle, and the wall in front kind-of blocked the view from the front. That way anyone just driving by or from a distance would not be able to eassliy see him punching the lock. The Chevy trucks are VERY easy to punch unfortunately.

rp_photo wrote:I believe that an inconspcuous/slightly ugly vehicle is a good deterrent, such as what I drive.

There a few dents, small rust areas, and a missing hubcap that I leave as-is, both because I'm lazy and I feel they make the vehicle look less enticing:

Some random items and trash on the passenger floor (again due to laziness in part) adds to the "Nothing interesting here" message.

I also avoid having any affinity stickers that would reveal my gun ownership or political opinions. That's what the Internet is for.

That won't necessarily deter a break-in. We have had several grab and go type vehicle burglaries here at our work location, and they will hit anything if they think there is an opportunity.

For vehicle burglars, there are basically two types: Opportunists and car thieves.

The opportunists are the ones that will either punch or jimmy a lock (the more professional crooks), or smash a window and grab what they want. They are the ones that are looking for that quick grab of a GPS, cell phone, laptop, iPod, car stereo or even a gun, and don't care what the vehicle is. They will rummage through and spend no more than 60 - 90 seconds inside the vehicle, then high-tail it out of the area. And, entry takes them about 5 - 10 seconds, so their total time is less than 2 minutes usually.

The true car thieves are looking for a vehicle that they can strip. Even an old beater with nice wheels and tires will be a target to them. They will target those vehicles that have an easy way to bypass the ignition quickly. They know what they want and how to get it and are no slower than the amateur smash & grab thieves.

Bottom line, if your vehicle is targeted either due to items inside or the type that can be stripped and parts sold easily, then you are subject to getting hit.

And, a really popular thing now is catalytic converter thefts. We have had several here in the north Dallas/Richardson area lately, including one at out office. The thieves use cordless reciprocating saws with metal cutting blades to hack off the cat. The precious metals in the catalytic converter is worth anywhere from $200 - $300 to them. To replace the cat, it can cost you $2000 - $3000 plus.