RFI: Stolen Cars

[Doc_Glock]

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.

[Totem Polar]

Pardon my language, but fuck that. Sorry to hear of it.

The why is probably because A, being older, it was easy, and B, the perps need to haul something; bodies (alive, dead, whatever), B&E crew... who knows.

I make a copy of my registration on my scanner and keep it with me, and my insurance card goes with my license in my wallet. My car is sterile, except for the plates and vin. FWIW, I’m no LEO.

Hope you find an upgrade set of wheels after a decent finish to your road trip. Hang in there.

[Nephrology]

Probably precisely because of the age. Certain vehicles/ignition systems are especially vulnerable to being started "alternatively." On some older American made cars (maybe others?) you can punch through the ignition cylinder with a long flathead screwdriver and use that as the ignition. Newer vehicles with more sophisticated security/ignition systems are harder for your average hoodrat to boost and thus avoided unless they are unlocked +/- visible valuables

Sorry for the loss. Insurance will probably give you money you can turn into another beater. might be worth looking at something made in the last ~10yr

[rcbusmc24]

That type of vehicle is especially useful for many different things and never looks out of place no matter where those things are being done....

[Duelist]

Probably because it's common, innocuous, and they needed it for a local crime or to take to Mexico to sell.

[Lester Polfus]

I'm guessing yours didn't have a "chip" key. Full sized trucks and vans were some of the last vehicles to get them, because fleet customers balked at the cost. It's been since 2002 since I studied auto theft in depth, but my understanding is that the chip key cars are stealable, but the number of shitbirds who know how to do it is orders of magnitude lower.

I saw lots of stolen rides, but no memory of anyone's house getting ripped as well. I'd still reprogram my garage door opener though.

Sorry to hear about this. What a shitty way to screw up your vacation.

Thank you very much for not storing any firearms in the vehicle.

[txdpd]

You only need to jimmy the door handle and punch the ignition to steal one of those, 2 minute job. Probably going to be used to steal an atm or a burglary. Hopefully it gets ditched and recovered, and not turned into a prostitutes mobile field office or chopped.

If/when you get it back, very carefully check it top and in all nooks and crannies for needles, condoms, drugs and anything else that might be a biohazard or contraband.

[secondstoryguy]

Vans and larger trucks often have no security (transponder/chip keys) because they are often used as fleet vehicles and it makes logistics of key duplication a pain. The van is probably going to be used to move people or dope. It will be used, discarded and ten hobos will probably have a soup kitchen in it.

[SkiDevil]

It was either:

A. Taken to Mexico

Or

B. Stolen for use in some criminal venture

I have had two cars stolen. My cars now all have a quality alarm with a kill switch, and I don't leave anything of real value inside, particularly weapons.

[AMC]

Thank you for not leaving firearms in the vehicle. Especially in a van, with no separate locked trunk, California law states that the firearm would need to be in a locked container placed out of view, or preferably permanently attached to the vehicle. Even in my city, we are getting several teletypes a week about guns taken in auto burglaries....and we are citing the owners. Sad thing is, often the reportees are out of town cops or feds (notorious for this). They will still be cited if they didn't comply with the law.