Car break ins

[dr_wu002]

I believe it was here on VFTT a long time ago, someone posted about leaving soiled underwear or a fake pile feces in plain view.

I have real dog puke in the back seat of my car. A dog threw up there once and I kind of thought it wasn't worth cleaning out as it was gross and filled with beef jerky.

-Dr. Wu

 

[SAR-EMT40]

saw a Silver Dodge Ram truck go by me at a normal speed. I looped down Rt 3 and re-entered the Gale River Loop Rd at the South end and a couple miles in (before you get to the Gale River trailhead), the same silver Dodge Ram went by me like a bat out of hell.

Uh Oh. This is disturbing. I own a Silver/Gray Dodge Ram pickup and I have been known, on occasion, to go like a bat out of hell, but not usually. I have also been in the area described but, I assure you it wasn't me.

If you see me, I will wave and I am hoping to get a VFTT sticker to prove that I am one of you guys. I now hear that there aren't any more though.

Keith

 

[Tuco]

<I have real dog puke in the back seat of my car. A dog threw up there once and I kind of thought it wasn't worth cleaning out as it was gross and filled with beef jerky. >

Dr. Wu, remind me to think twice about hitching a ride from you..........

 

[1ADAM12]

Seriously

Seriously what we need to do is get one of those motion cameras....you know the ones that hunters use and when the deer walks in line of view the camera takes a picture. I know the good cameras take quality pics at night without a flash. This way the thieve/thieves would not even know they had there picture taken.

Adam

 

[Jay H]

Yeah, but then you'd also get photos at the local grocery store of the blue haired ladies going grocercy shopping...

No offense to the blue haired ladies!

Tuco: I've been in Dr Wu's car, but only the front seat!

Jay

 

[RoySwkr]

Is there anything that we as a hiking community can do? Send out e-mails to proper authorities etc.?

I suggested in a previous note that we attempt to publicize those areas where break-ins occur, either to shame police into action or to get local innkeepers afraid of lost business if this isn't stopped.

Much police work is assembling clues so we can give them pieces. When my chauffeur was waiting at Hale Brook Trail she saw a suspicious vehicle head up to Zealand parking and return, and when I got down she insisted we go check it out. Had we found any broken glass she could have described that vehicle to the police.

 

[Jasonst]

I have real dog puke in the back seat of my car. A dog threw up there once and I kind of thought it wasn't worth cleaning out as it was gross and filled with beef jerky.

-Dr. Wu

Truly laughing out loud...

The Gatorade is probably one of the best ideas of all.

 

[Barbarossa]

I deliberately keep my car as disgusting as possible -- both as a deterrent to breakins in the Whites but also in my crummy neighborhood in Boston. Although, people smash off my sideview mirror so often that I've taken to stocking up on them as they only cost $15 and it's about a 5 minute fix. Anyway, my car is filled with bottles, candy bar wrappers, papers, dirt, dog puke, and who-knows-what. I'm always hoping though, if my car gets broken into that the criminals take a swig out of one of the "gatorade" bottles in the back seat. Bleh!

-Dr. Wu

This method works! I work nights in Boston and have not had a problem. I don't have any 'gatorade', but no one is going to look at my car and say 'There is a laptop under all that debris!'

 

[AntlerPeak]

Well, yeah, but it's nice to vent...I don't think I'd have a problem shooting someone with my paintball gun if he was breaking into my car, though. Maybe legally I would, but I wouldn't feel bad about it...

Don't assume anything I had a neighbor once who left the lid open on their washing machine. It was in the cellar under a window. A thief broke the window then stepped inside to rob the house. You guessed it, he went right into the the washing machine and broke his leg. He sued! and won! My neighbor's insurance company had to pay this guys medical bills plus additional for pain and suffering. I didn't believe it either when told about it but it happened.

 

[1ADAM12]

The camera surveillance sounds great, but how much would it cost per location and how would it be paid for?

They are very inexpensive and I just thought it would be cool to do some undercover work. I was not talking about funding or anything but hoping that maybe one of our fellow VFTTers could be a hero

 

[Rich Lachapelle]

NRA stickers and shotgun shells

First of all, anyone who would leave a wallet in a car is more or less
perpetuating the problem.
I leave a bunch of spent shotgun shells on the dashboard and rear deck.
Also, several NRA stickers on the side windows for good measure.
A petty thief does not fear police or people who drive Volvo's
with Sierra Club and "love your mother" bumper stickers on them.
Make 'em fear you.
Seems to work, even in Vermont where we have a
virtual lack of a criminal justice system.

Paintball gun??? How about a .45?
"Honest officer, he came charging at me so I
had to fire in self defense". Better to be
tried by twelve than carried by six!

Rich in Vermont

 

[jjmcgo]

Shoot, shovel and shut up

We're all allowed a moment of rage but this is a police problem. You don't want to lie in wait for them because unpredictable things can happen. I tried apprehending fleeing vandals at night once and wound up knocking down from behind a ... mid-teen girl. Lucky not to get sued.
You could get shot approaching car thieves or stabbed. You could get run off the road trying to make it to Gorham before they do.
The cluttered, rusting s***box has always been the best deterrent. Cleaned out cars with open glove boxes just makes you think everything's in the trunk.
BTW, this was a big problem back in the 1960s so it's nothing new. Happens all along the Appalachian Trail.

 

[slowmo68]

I know this may be kind of gross but I have an idea about leaving a spot of fake throw up that you can buy in a joke shop or worse a fake dog doo in the back seat. This may deter a thief from wanting to enter your vehicle. Although if a lot of people started doing this people may look into these cars and think that hikers in general were a really disturbed group.

 

[Quack]

Cleaned out cars with open glove boxes just makes you think everything's in the trunk.

Good point. This may only be working for me because I drive a Subaru (no trunk).

 

[spicyjeff]

I was camped on Gale River Rd when the breakins happened at the Gale River Trailhead. When I was driving on Gale River Loop Rd, I was near the North end near Rt3 and saw a Silver Dodge Ram truck go by me at a normal speed. I looped down Rt 3 and re-entered the Gale River Loop Rd at the South end and a couple miles in (before you get to the Gale River trailhead), the same silver Dodge Ram went by me like a bat out of hell. He was really flying.

I talked to some of the breakin victms and found out that while the window was smashed, nothing was stolen, not even a wallet that was in the car. So, it looks like the thief was scared off. The speeding truck could be a coincidence, but it might not be. Something to keep your eyes on the lookout for.

Darren:

I hope you mentioned this possibly circumstantial detail to the authorities. If enough of these little details are put together hopefully they will catch the perps.

And unless you were at Galehead Hut on Saturday night telling me this story, I heard from another source almost the exact same story from when this gentelman was at the Gale River trailhead parking lot late last week.

 

[patrickbrusil]

As a community we could take shifts on different days of one or two people staked out at the prime target parking lots

True, those staked out would not get to hike but if anything happened they could hopefully get all the essential information on the delinquents or prevent any vandalisim from occuring.

this would be a monumental effort and take plenty of preparation.

 

[amstony]

Paintball gun??? How about a .45?
"Honest officer, he came charging at me so I
had to fire in self defense". Better to be
tried by twelve than carried by six!

Rich in Vermont[/QUOTE]

Don't forget the throwaway piece, comes in handy for this type of situation.... a big knife will do too.

Open the glove compartment and empty it, leave a window open some, take a car to the trailhead with a 177,000 miles on it, and DON'T leave your wallet and all in the car. Unfortunately crime has migrated to the White Mountains, which is no surprise. Look at the national parks, some of them are pretty bad and they have armed Park Rangers.

 

[Jasonst]

As a community we could take shifts on different days of one or two people staked out at the prime target parking lots

True, those staked out would not get to hike but if anything happened they could hopefully get all the essential information on the delinquents or prevent any vandalisim from occuring.

this would be a monumental effort and take plenty of preparation.

I think I would rather have my car broken into than hang out in the brush all day with the mosquitoes, hoping someone tries to break into my car so that I can take the chance that he's armed and then get shot. Just hike already.

 

[dropack]

Sign Says Nothing To Hide

Last year my wife and I took our yearly two nighter backpack in Vt, when we got back to the trail head two days later four of the six cars at the trail head had been broken into. I do not know why mine had not been but maybe it is because I did not leave anything in it and make it easy for anyone looking in the vehicle to see ther is nothing there. Also, we always place a sign on the dash board stating: " There is nothing of value in this car, please do not trash it". I do not know if the sign worked that time or any other time but, I did notice the other car at the trail head that did not get broken into also diplayed a sign with the same type of message. And they also had left nothing in the car, ie: blankets, clothes, papers or anything else someone looking in might think is hiding somthing of value. Just this year we had some empty bottles and I did not want to leave them in the car so I put them in a trash bag and tied them to the bumper, they were gone along with my twenty cent deposit. The thiefs must have been heading back to Mass to cash them in.

 

[KayakDan]

The problem of break-ins,particularly at places like Ninteen Mile Brook,or Zealand,needs the attention of AMC. If breakins at NMB become a chronic problem,it could potentially cost the AMC thousands of dollars in revenue. Who wants to book a spot at Carter if there's a good chance of having ypur car "ventilated" before your return?
Perhaps the AMC should consider investing in a camera surveillance/lighting system to protect their "clients". If you use the huts,and are concerned about parking,e-mail the AMC and let them know that Carter may not be your choice next time.
To add to the dillema,if your car gets trashed by these fools,and there's no sign of forced entry-your insurance company could decline payment for damage. So,do you lock the doors,and lose a window for insurance purposes,or hope they just open the doors and rifle through,and leave.?