In my county, in the last five years, there has been an unbelievable number of cars stolen because they were left unlocked with the keys in them. In some cases, with the owner’s “car gun” under the front seat or in the center console or in the glove compartment.
Catalytic converter theft has increased greatly too.
Suburban area, mostly. Low-crime. Somewhat uncommon. I have to put on my shocked face when a stolen vehicle doesn't turn out to be repo'd. When it does happen, I can tell you where it's going to be found: one of two neighboring jurisdictions, within a six-block radius. Far more common are "rock rentals".Originally Posted by Mark D
Yes, on both counts, although our morons generally don't leave guns in the car, just every other fucking thing.
Come to think of it, I don't believe I have ever filled out a stolen vehicle bulletin and not ticked the "keys with the vehicle" box.
Car theft has become common place in Connecticut. However it is 99.99% preventable because in every case the Keys are in the car. Some people leave the keys in their car at home in their driveway. Colder months a car started with the key to warm up. Easy pickings.
Becoming more common is brazen theft by deception in a store/mall parking lot. A multi person team will wait for the driver to start the car. One perp will then knock on the car window and say "someone damaged your car". They will refer to a part of the car the person needs to get out to look at. If the driver gets out to look the 2nd perp jumps in the car and takes it.
Catalytic converter theft is on a heavy upswing. In two separate instances shots have been thrown at the vehicle owner in my hometown who went out to look at the disturbance in their driveway. This is quite uncharacteristic in my town. Direct quote of a text I received from a cop buddy; "In a happier note, a guy interrupted 3 guys trying to steal his catalytic converter and when he approached them they pulled a gun. He pulled his gun and shot at them three times. Unknown if he hit anyone" I asked about consequences for the vehicle owner who fired at the perps. Again a direct quote of his response; "Nope. Self Defense. He said bad guys had a gun, and we believed him." I was glad to hear this and slightly surprised that in Ultra-Liberal CT there wouldn't be some sort of BS charges for the vehicle owner.
I went to a town meeting held by our Police Chief. He basically said the laws passed over the last few years in CT have emboldened the "juvenile" criminal element. They have no consequences and the the kids are being utilized buy gangs/crime rings. A typical suburban nighttime scenario: A stolen car full of kids will roll into a neighborhood they have targeted. All but the driver get out and sweep down the road checking every car. If the car doors are locked they move along. If they gain entry they quickly grab anything of value. If keys are in the car it is gone! They move down the road hitting every car as their getaway vehicle creeps along with them. The Chief had plenty of video to show from security cameras. Security lights and obvious cameras were of zero deterrent value, the perps don't care.
Last edited by JohnO; 04-18-2022 at 07:11 AM.
A case I prosecuted involved some juveniles, some of whom were treated as adults. They worked as a team. They split up into smaller groups and cased neighborhoods trying car doors in the early morning hours. This yielded them miscellaneous stolen property and, importantly, a firearm (they were previously unarmed). Using that firearm, they carjacked somebody at gunpoint in their driveway leaving for work. He’d remote-started the car to warm it up. In that car was his “go bag,” and so now these juveniles had two guns and a car. The victim gave a good description and a BOLO went out quickly. A short vehicle chase terminated with the juveniles wrecking on an embankment near a creek. The juveniles bailed on foot. They split up. One group carjacked somebody at a gas station. This resulted in a multi-jurisdictional police chase at speeds in excess of 100mph in morning traffic, endangering far too many people (and totaling the victim’s car). The other group was caught casing cars in a parking lot and, presumably, looking to carjack somebody else.
Please lock your doors. Please do not leave guns unattended in your cars. And, as noted, car thieves are unlikely to be good stewards of your property. I agree with the general suggestion to let insurance/tow companies do what they’re paid to do - frankly, it’s been my experience that unless recovered quickly, you probably do not want the car back anyway.
alas, INAL but i might caution the notion of responding with defensive firearms as in some states, use of deadly force to protect property is a felony, additionally showing up w/said defensive firearms which are used and end up with a death/serious injury could be considered premediated in the eyes of the local prosecutor and end up costing more in legal fees than the stolen property is worth.
sorry but as pointed out...it's appropriately insured...
Did you grow up when leaded gasoline was in widespread use?
Sorry but:
1) You are completely missing the point of the OP’s scenario. It’s talking about a car that has been stolen and located recovered. In most places either the police meet / wait for the owner at the recovered vehicle or they are towed to a secure location by police. This usually depends on the condition of the vehicle and whether or not the owner wants it back. In the OP’s area the police do not do this (why is a whole other topic). While it might be wiser to simply call a tow company to retrieve the vehicle it would likely be an out of pocket expense if the vehicle is mot being totaled out via an insurance claim. If one had to go retrieve a vehicle under such circumstances being armed is merely a precaution especially if one normally goes armed. The purpose is to retrieve a vehicle purported to be abandoned. There is no premeditation to confront the thieves etc. However, IME such vehicles are often abandoned in areas where a random encounter requiring you to be armed is more likely than encountering those who stole the vehicle.
2) OK, I’ll be the one to spell it out. While many subtleties of communication are lost in text mediums such as forums…. what @Caballoflaco is getting at is that the style and tone of your posts here and in other threads is… odd. They read like they were written by an AI bot. It’s not so much what you are saying but rather how you are saying it.
"Get to know your audience" is sound advice around here.
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