Our full sized Chevy Van was stolen last night from in front of our hotel room in La Mirada California. It looked like this:
We are on vacation from our usual AO of Arizona. So we got stranded until I could rent a replacement and we are on our way again.
Here’s the thing, this van is a beater that has been hauling kids for ten years and has had a relatively hard life. Lots of dents. Ran great, but 13 years old. It was no prize. It was specifically targeted I think. Why?
We were parked between a nice Porsche and BMW.
I filed insurance claim and police report. The LACS Sheriff deputy had little interest in investigating the crime or obtaining surveillance tape from the hotel and basically shuffled paperwork.
Questions:
1. Why this vehicle?
2. What will be done with it?
3. What can I expect as a response from Law Enforcement and insurance going forward.
4. Is there any risk of these folks showing up at my house 450 miles away now that they have my address and garage door opener? What measures would you recommend?
Lessons learned:
1. Take everything of value out of the car at a hotel. We didn’t lose much other than car tools and sentimental flashlights. Some stuffed animals, but my son lost a bag of camera gear sadly.
2. Maybe don’t carry registration or insurance material with address on it? But I think it is the law to have that when pulled over so I keep it in the car.
3. Don’t store firearms in your car. I was thankful the thieves are not also armed with my guns now. We don’t store them in cars ever and I didn’t bother to bring any to California.