Attempted Vehicle Entry

[chasfm11]

Sometimes informal justice has a poetry uniquely its own.

Well said.

I have a mental image of the perp snapping the latches on the brief case and having the diamond back lunge at him as soon as he lifted the lid.

A life of crime can be far less risk free than some of those trying to do it imagine.

[Grog]

I would never do this myself you understand but it is Texas and I have heard of a gentleman who had his car broken into so many times he got a nice looking briefcase and put a big ole diamondback inside. Sure nuff got boke into again and still did not catch the purps but the fence at the end of the road was taken out as well.


So I heard.

I hope that was real

[randomoutburst]

In other words, they're dumber than a box of rocks!

Had someone get into my mom's Expedition when she left it unlocked one night. The 6-disc changer was taken and so was her car jack, which was used to steal the rims and tires from a car on the next street.

My mom was making homecoming mums for the high school, and had her cash box in the back, next to where the car jack had been. Had a couple thousand dollars in cash in the box, but the dummies didn't think to take it. Good for my mom, unfortunate for the burglars.

To the OP: that's infuriating to see someone going from house to house checking for unlocked vehicles from which they plan to steal valuables. I cannot stand someone who thinks that stealing is okay. The people who work and earn what they have shouldn't have to worry about lazy thieves stealing their belongings. It's sad.

[TexasComputerDude]

ugh, thanks for the link

We just had about 800$ worth of something (shear teeth I think) stolen at the shop sometime in the past few days. I'm always inside the office, even late at night.


We are considering buying 4 of these, but checking out other options. My town is getting really bad about thievery. Things are walking off left and right.

[WildBill]

To the OP: that's infuriating to see someone going from house to house checking for unlocked vehicles from which they plan to steal valuables. I cannot stand someone who thinks that stealing is okay. The people who work and earn what they have shouldn't have to worry about lazy thieves stealing their belongings. It's sad.

Last month, my neighborhood had ten thefts [that were reported to the police], all of them from unlocked vehicles. LOCK YOUR CARS!!!

[KD5NRH]

Too bad I don't still have the beat up old Tempo; I could loan it to you as bait. Watch the curbs for something that once was expensive to leave where they can get to it, and then you'll have a theft charge to work with.

[Keith B]

Well heres the update:

I don't have the report in hand, just verbal, but apparently an officer went to the guys house that evening and interviewed the individuals. They used an excuse they were trying to get a car charger from a friends car, but were unfamiliar with the neighborhood and thought it was his. However, they couldn't identify the car they were supposed to be getting the charger from (guess they didn't remember what my car looked like from all they had tried. LOL) Anyway, they apparently were pretty scared about being contacted and the parents of the one boy were there, so hopefully they got the message. Police are still reviewing the info including the video, but since no other issues were reported it will probably be dropped.

As for a crime being committed, Texas PC 15 is Preparatory Offenses, with 15.01 being Criminal Attempt. It would be a hard case to press as they can always use the excuse they were mistaken on what car they were to get into. Also, PC 15.04 is a Renunciation Defense that could be used by a lawyer as they abandoned their attempt on my vehicle and I didn't actually witness any other events happening. Even if convicted it would be a Class B misdemeanor at most.

Best thing is if they got scared straight by the visit and don't continue their mischievous deeds.

[Texas Size 11]

I'll be willing to bet a few of us have a scared straight story or two in our past...I know I do. They may grow up to be productive members of society yet.

[PUCKER]

That's great to hear Keith - at least they now know that they are "on the radar" so-to-speak with the police and citizens. Sometimes all it takes is just one event like this to keep them on the straight and narrow.

FWIW - I drive a Jeep that gets to bask in the natural environment (translated = my wife's hot rod gets the garage all to itself) all night. Well, it's not my first rodeo with a Jeep. The best thing, even when I have hardtop and doors on is this - leave nothing in there that you'll miss. It's without doors and hardtop right now and there's nothing of value in/on there. The garage door opener comes in with me as well (that's an obvious but much-overlooked item). I hear waaaaaay too many stories from fellow Jeep owners of tops being slashed, consoles ripped apart, etc. just to get a few CDs, etc.

[MojoTexas]

Well heres the update:

I don't have the report in hand, just verbal, but apparently an officer went to the guys house that evening and interviewed the individuals. They used an excuse they were trying to get a car charger from a friends car, but were unfamiliar with the neighborhood and thought it was his. However, they couldn't identify the car they were supposed to be getting the charger from (guess they didn't remember what my car looked like from all they had tried. LOL) Anyway, they apparently were pretty scared about being contacted and the parents of the one boy were there, so hopefully they got the message. Police are still reviewing the info including the video, but since no other issues were reported it will probably be dropped.

As for a crime being committed, Texas PC 15 is Preparatory Offenses, with 15.01 being Criminal Attempt. It would be a hard case to press as they can always use the excuse they were mistaken on what car they were to get into. Also, PC 15.04 is a Renunciation Defense that could be used by a lawyer as they abandoned their attempt on my vehicle and I didn't actually witness any other events happening. Even if convicted it would be a Class B misdemeanor at most.

Best thing is if they got scared straight by the visit and don't continue their mischievous deeds.

You could always look up the kid's license plate at http://www.publicdata.com/ and send him an anonymous Christmas card each year, "Merry Christmas, I hope you're still not robbing cars."

MojoTexas

[Bob in Big D]

I hope the LEO that visited that kid and his parents explained that a homeowner has the right to shoot them if he/she catches them in their vehicle.
Bob

[03Lightningrocks]

The Plano police are aggresive about crime prevention. Contact Officer Dawson in the Crime Prevention unit. They may want to place a extra patrol in the area.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I know from personal experience. We provided video, finger prints... even a tire iron that the video showed the perp holding with no gloves on. Anything... NOPE!!! Three weeks later five outside AC units were stolen from the same building. let's see now.. I sat in a parking lot at a local gas station(three minutes from the police substation at parker and ave K) and watched a drunk guy bounce off half a dozen obstacles and even spend 10 minutes drinking a beer out of a bag and the Plano police never did show up. Our office parking lot has been a regular shopping center for thieves... anything???? NOPE. Never in the past six years have the Plano police ever caught one person involved in the more than twenty crimes we have had in our parking lot. The Plano Police are only good for providing a report so your insurance can pay up. Plano police get a big thumbs down from me. Just once I would love to see them actually solve a crime. They are however, excellent at sitting near intersections busting folks for running red lights. I have to give them a big thumbs up for revenue production. They are at zero for solving any crime I am personally aware of.

[03Lightningrocks]

To the OP: that's infuriating to see someone going from house to house checking for unlocked vehicles from which they plan to steal valuables. I cannot stand someone who thinks that stealing is okay. The people who work and earn what they have shouldn't have to worry about lazy thieves stealing their belongings. It's sad.

Last month, my neighborhood had ten thefts [that were reported to the police], all of them from unlocked vehicles. LOCK YOUR CARS!!!

Heck... my neighborhood had five hit in one night and every one of us locked our cars. The theives just knocked out our windows. I was amazed that out of five vehicles, none of us had an alarm system. I also could not believe that none of us heard a thing. It is too late now but all five of us have car alarms. I just hope we wake up if any of them go off.

Plano police refused to take finger prints. Told us it was pointless. I thought my neighbor was about to have a kitten. He got so mad his face turned red. Plano Police just shrugged his shoulders and handed us all a yellow card with an incident number on it.

[03Lightningrocks]

I'm thinking about buying the biggest rat trap I can find and sticking it in my center console. Probably use a $20.00 bill for bait!

And there's always the old "possum in a sack" trick, but the weather needs to be cooler, wouldn't want the possum to be uncomfortable while he waits.

I thought about glueing razor blades to the edges of my stereo but then figured they would bleed all over my leather seats and it would just cost me more money. If I rig a trap that kills one of these hoods I go to jail. The cops know they aren't going to catch these theives so there just isn't any winning. Get good insurance and hope for the best.

[MojoTexas]

The Plano police are aggresive about crime prevention. Contact Officer Dawson in the Crime Prevention unit. They may want to place a extra patrol in the area.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I know from personal experience. We provided video, finger prints... even a tire iron that the video showed the perp holding with no gloves on. Anything... NOPE!!! Three weeks later five outside AC units were stolen from the same building. let's see now.. I sat in a parking lot at a local gas station(three minutes from the police substation at parker and ave K) and watched a drunk guy bounce off half a dozen obstacles and even spend 10 minutes drinking a beer out of a bag and the Plano police never did show up. Our office parking lot has been a regular shopping center for thieves... anything???? NOPE. Never in the past six years have the Plano police ever caught one person involved in the more than twenty crimes we have had in our parking lot. The Plano Police are only good for providing a report so your insurance can pay up. Plano police get a big thumbs down from me. Just once I would love to see them actually solve a crime. They are however, excellent at sitting near intersections busting folks for running red lights. I have to give them a big thumbs up for revenue production. They are at zero for solving any crime I am personally aware of.

Out of curiosity, what neighborhood is your office in? For a year my wife and I lived near the intersection of Park and K when we moved back to Texas in 2008. I'm very happy to be out of that general area. The Plano police did respond pretty promptly when I called 911 on a drunk guy exposing himself in the apartment complex we were living in. They took him in for public intoxication.