Violated...

[Frazzled LaShawn]

Last night as I left my gym I went to my suburban, hit my unlock button on my remote, and tried to open my door. The door handle had no tension on the other side and the door did not open. I looked down and noticed that my lock had been punched out. The rendered my door useless. After checking my car to make sure no one was IN IT I went home where my husband worked his magic and finally got the door open. Did I mention I had to climb through the passenger side? Graceful! Looks like we have to go to the dealer to get this fixed as it broke something with the door mechanism as well as the lock.

I am so irritated about this whole situation. I guess I should be thankful my car was at least still there when I came out. Of course, had it been taken insurance would be helpful, whereas right now it does me no good.

[12stones]

Sorry to hear that LaShawn. Hopefully they just damaged it and didn't take anything of value. And even if you were able to use insurance, you'd just have to pay more in a different way... Glad you're safe, though.

[SaSha]

Its hard not to be mad when someone messes with your personal property. Hang in there, get you car fixed.

[Cope]

This has been going on at gyms for severl years in Houston and College Station. Thieves know that once you leave your car, they have a minimum of 30-45 minutes to either steal the catr or take the contents. Theft from lockers in gyms is so prevalent that people leave their wallet in their console.

[toverman]

A city near where I live has the most car burglaries at a gym along a highway (good for smash-n-grab crimes). The city finally convinced the gym to install security cameras aimed at the parking lot, although I don't know if they actually monitor them.

Sorry to hear about that!

[Frazzled LaShawn]

Funny...my gym is right on a major highway as well. From everything I have read my model of suburban is actually pretty easy to steal, but something broke when they punched the lock making it to where they could not open the door. I guess I got lucky. I never leave anything of value (other than carseats and strollers) in my car, but I think now I am going to be even more careful.

It just makes me really irritated and sad that people do this. Makes you feel very violated.

[Sassy Chassis]

Sorry to hear that. I had my driver's side punched out and the idiots apparently couldn't get into my car that way so they went to the passenger side and busted out the window! Then they tried to "pop the hatch", but the "popping" doesn't pop the hatch it pops the fuel door instead. Since that failed they went and busted out the back window too. Also, I think they thought they were stealing CDs from a neoprene case, but it was my car's manual that they took.

*sigh*

I hate thieves!!!

[SCone]

What was in the car that can be used for ID theft? Any credit card receipts? Check books or canceled checks? What about personal information? Insurance card, old credit card receipts, keys, address book, etc.? Think about anything that could be used that has nothing do with finances. Any doctor, dental, prescription info? Any of these could have SS#

All of these are more valuable to a thief than you might think.

I've had the same thing happen to me, they stole my Yukon and "cleaned" everything out. Got the Yukon back the next day, but there was not a single piece of paper, or even trash, left inside.

They were after personal data.

Let me know if I can be of any assistance. My business deals with ID Theft and the restoration process.

[ggeen]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I do know how you feel. I had my Chevy Blazer broken into at Home Depot. I was in the store all of 10 minutes picking up some flex tubing used in beer making. :)

When I came back and hit my remote, no sound. I looked and all the doors were open. The criminal had broken out the passenger side window and ripped out the stereo. I think I got like $3,000 from insurance to fix the window, repaint the side of the car, replace the stereo, and replace the leather seats which were torn by the broken glass.

There is a real sense of being violated. I empathize and feel sorry for your loss. I hope everything else works out and God bless you. -G

[Breezy]

That sucks royally!

[SpeedRacerSlots]

Happened to me several times for the factory installed rear set entertainment system in our Expedition....there are vinyl letters on the back doors now that state..."Don't bother, someone else already stole it!"

LOL

As for the ID Theft comment by SCone, i agree.

[Patti Edens]

I was waiting in the parking lot at Sage and Richmond for the rest of the photographers to show up for a night shoot. I got there about an hour early so I was just watching the comings and goings and I was parked in front of a gym. I saw a guy cruising around in a golf cart for security. He had a regular circular route that was very predictable...hint.

I saw an old green truck pull up to a nice looking black truck in the row right in front of me about three cars down. Both vehicles were facing me. The passenger of the old truck was on the driver's side of the new one. He got out and all I could see was his upper body and lower legs and feet since he kept the door of the green truck open. He stood there awhile. At first I just thought he was probably changing his shoes or something since a lot of the folks going to the gym did that. But then all of a sudden I saw him open the front driver door of the new truck and get in it. !!!

That scared the heck out of me because I was afraid he or his driver would notice that I saw what was going on. But, he jumped back out pretty quickly and they took off. But not before I wrote down their license number. I was too chicken to put my camera up and take a photo though.

As soon as the security guy made his next round (about 5 minutes later), I flagged him down and gave him the info. He looked at the black truck and said, "Well, it doesn't look like anything is missing". He didn't even write down the license of the green truck. So, I pointed out that the keypad entry lock was all messed up and the truck was all scratched up next to the lock.

He tried the door and found it was open and wouldn't lock. Then he took it a bit more seriously and took the info. I doubt if they did anything though.

Then, a few minutes later, the owner of the black truck came out. He was about to get in his truck and didn't even notice the damage to the keypad and paint. I jumped out of my truck and stopped him as he was about to shut the door. I told him his truck had been broken into. He had this, What? look on his face, so I said, did you leave the door unlocked because it was unlocked a few minutes ago. He said no, but he unlocked it with his remote. I told him to look at his door and he finally got the message. He frantically started looking through his truck and found that his cell phone was missing and who knows what else. He was freaking out. I let him borrow my cell to call a friend. Unlike the security guy, I think he and his buddy were going to do something and I don't think they were going to the police station.

I just hope they didn't get hurt in the process.

[MicWayWal]

Originally Posted by Patti Edens

... But not before I wrote down their license number... I flagged him down and gave him the info...Then, a few minutes later, the owner of the black truck came out...I let him borrow my cell to call a friend.

Way to go Patti, If more people had the balls to get involved like you did, there would be less of this kind of crap. You got safely involved. I hope there is someone around like you when some jerk tries to take something of mine.

[AndrewCCM]

I know how you feel. In my late teens/early 20's... I had 3 cars stolen within a few years of each other. Of course, each time was in an area that I pretty much predicted it would happen...gut told me so. Funny thing (actually, not so funny)... The first car was stolen and was involved in a hit and run.... Guess who got a notice in the mail? ME. Stated that I was involved in a hit and run...That was a kick in the.....area.

Not a fun thing. There was a time where I was so angry about it, that I wanted to just plant my car and wait... I'll just leave it at that as to what went through my mind next.

Of course, I didn't do that. I switched away from sports cars for awhile and haven't had a problem since. I also am very cognizant of my surroundings these days...Listening to my police scanner daily also makes me very aware of where not to be and at what times...It is so predictable after listening for awhile. Not everything is exact... But lots of things and perceptions are definitely reinforced after monitoring for a few months.

Sad.