my car break in

[-ben-]

Thanks for replies,let me tell you a little about that incident.Like I said before I was on Mt Clinto road on an overnight.To answer some questions,I drive a nice car a Diamante,but the thing is there were nicer cars in the parking lot.My thoughts on it are a bunch of punk teenagers.I think my car was stuck out.It was my own fault i had a bunch of junk in the car.The funny thing about it is that when i got to my car my trunk was wide open with all my personal belonings everywhere.I had a nice alpine cd deck and a radar detector in the trunk among other things too.All that was still there.All they took was a broken playstation2 and all my cds.It seemed more vandalism than theft.I have thought about this and next time I am going to leave everything open and doors unlocked.A lesson learned.

 

[NewHampshire]

Sorry to hear about your incident. Man, what goes through peoples minds? Here we are minding our own business, having a good time, and someone wants to take advantage of the situation. Glad to hear your safe at least.
Brian

 

[sp1936]

I have thought about this and next time I am going to leave everything open and doors unlocked.A lesson learned.

I agree. I have been doing that for a long time now when parking my truck at trailheads. Plus I leave absolutely nothing inside, not even loose change.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Leave 2 things in plain sight

on the back seat : 3 crushed empty King Cans of beer and a couple of empty gun shells. It'l make them think : boy, what if he comes out of the woods now : we're in deep shit!".

 

[Mark]

next time I am going to leave everything open and doors unlocked.A lesson learned.

I have heard this advice offered in the past. If you leave your car unlocked and it is stolen, won't your insurance company give you grief (i.e., not pay your claim) for not locking the car?

 

[Double Bow]

I have heard this advice offered in the past. If you leave your car unlocked and it is stolen, won't your insurance company give you grief (i.e., not pay your claim) for not locking the car?

It is true. The insurance will not pay. They view it as taking an unnecessary risk. A friend of the family left his car running with the doors unlocked as he ran into a corner store and had his car stolen. His insurance company wouldn't pay. They said it fell under an "act of stupidity clause"! Those were their words!!

What I do is simply make sure the car is empty and I'll leave all the compartments open to show that there is nothing to steal. While this won't stop vandals from smashing your windows for the hell of it, it may make them choose a different victim, one who looks like they might have something worth taking...

 

[sapblatt]

Locking vs. unlocking

If you say you locked you doors, and the thief says they were unlocked who do you think they would beleive?

I think a lot of the break ins have been vandalism as opposed to theft...sometimes I leave them unlocked, sometimes I do not...depends on the lot.

 

[dr_wu002]

I get tons of parking tickets (you live in Boston, you get them) so I leave them all over the car. The theory is that thieves will be turned off: if they steal the car they'll also have to pay the tickets. Not cost effective enough.

See, you gotta think like a criminal!

Sorry about your break-in. Hopefully it'll never happen again.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Doc McPeak]

If you say you locked you doors, and the thief says they were unlocked who do you think they would beleive?

Believe me, they'll believe whoever gives them the best defense not to pay.

That's a drag. I was very nervous on my last trip to the Whites. Before meeting a friend at our campsite I had all my stuff for the week in the truck while hiking the Osceolas and Hancocks. Luckily nothing happened, nor did anyone visit me along Tripoli Road as I slept in the back of my truck one night.

 

[spaddock]

Leaving your car empty isn't always an option. I'm thinking of taking a road trip to VT, NH, and Maine. I'm going to have a variety of gear with me and I'm certainly not going to carry my overnight gear if I do a dayhike somplace.

It saddens me that I see so many "break in" threads in the NH area lately.


-Shayne

 

[Mr. X]

I'm gonna get a dummy to dress up and put in the passengers seat like some one is sleeping, maybe with a snoring sound to boot. Kinda like Ferris Bueller's Day Off!

 

[sun=electric]

My theory on protecting your car and stuff:
(Gleaned from living in the rurals, Brooklyn, Chile and other places)

1. It helps to have a crappy car. Not worth stealing for parts, resale etc. (Still vulnerable if stolen to be used in another crime). No hub caps. Unwashed is also a plus.

2. Nothing valuable showing. Radio, cell phone charger cord, etc (and CDs mean CD player somewhere)

3. Always bring some clean trash like old sun bleached newspaper, empty MacDonald bags etc. When leaving car spread on dashboard and rear window shelf and some on seats etc. This gives the impression that you are a slob and the car is trashed. (Guys in NYC used to spray paint their valuable bikes with all different colors and lock them up. No one can sell a messy bike).

4. Sorry ladies but hide anything that says you are a woman. No bumper stickers about the goddess, etc. Get a big pair of worn work boots from your brother, male friend, dad etc. and leave them in view. Vandals tend to be young loser males who are cowards and like to think the target is weak i.e in their mind a "chick".

5. Park in a puddle or in a muddy spot. Real pros often will not steal a car in a puddle to not get their shoes wet. Vandals are also looking for an easy target.

Note: Spent ammo is double edge sword. Maybe a shotgun is locked in the trunk. No fool carries a long arm backpacking. Maybe some spent 45 cases, but they usually would end up on the ground or saved in a bag for reload. Out of state plates? Did you really bring your hand gun from Canada or Mass.? So anyone with the slightest of gun sense would know it’s a bogus scare tactic.

I have seen people leave gasoline bottles on the tire of the car, to avoid the fumes inside. Bad idea. Vandals with a liter of gas??? Better to cache your bottle in an odd spot off the parking lot that is easy for you to find.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Mac]

Break ins

In my limited experience, insurance companies are not likely to pay if your keys are left in the car (the stupidity gambit).

On the other hand, simply leaving the car unlocked, but taking the keys with you is not usually a valid reason for an insurance company not to pay.

 

[Stan]

on the back seat : 3 crushed empty King Cans of beer and a couple of empty gun shells. It'l make them think : boy, what if he comes out of the woods now : we're in deep shit!".

Yeah ... but then you get the enviro-nazis trashing your car 'cause they think you're a red neck hunter ...

I think dummy credit cards, reported as pre-stolen if you will, would go a long way to snaring some of these #@^!@*s. They'd figure they got a few hours at least to cash in ... then, hopefully the clerk would get the message and get security ... then, hopefully, security would detain the #@^!@*s while the police came for an explanation. Ahhh well, maybe it's all too much to hope for ... maybe that shotgun idea isn't so bad after all.

 

[onrhodes]

Judging by the number of break-ins that occur, I am going to wager a guess that it is local kids/thieves. Generally you're not going to get some one with criminal intent driving up from Boston (or even Nashua for what it's worth) to possibly get some loot. In other words I doubt there is some major "ring" going on here.
It is more then likely some people from not too far away that know when it is a good time to hit the parking lots and have the least chance of getting caught.
While I wasn't a total deviant/miscreant growing up, I spent enough time doing some not so nice things and I certainly wouldn't have taken that much time and effort to go up there and maybe find something.
It's just a thought, and I could be wrong, but chances are there are some local kids/early 20 year olds who sell the stuff on ebay or pawn it and then use the cash to buy some dope.

 

[Mike P.]

Doesn't believing the thief mean catching the thief? If you are away for a weekend trip & it's kids joyriding, it's doubtful they are looking at your car for long term transportation. It's either going to be left in a mall parking lot, another trailhead or a public place depending on if they stole someone elses car or just dumped your off while a friend followed them. They may dump it in the woods, river, lake, burn it etc. or trash it in which case it's unlikely the Insurance company would say, they stole it then broke the window Vs. they broke the window & then stole it then burned it.

Sincerely,
Not always a teen angel & no longer a teen....

 

[bobmak]

Welcome to the club.... been there three times already myself. Once, at the Carter Hut trailhead, they broke a window and stole a paper bag from the back seat that had my clothes for the ride home. Never figured that one out... if someone was that hard up for underwear I would give them a ride to Walmarts and buy them an entire outfit.

 

[Mark]

If you say you locked you doors, and the thief says they were unlocked who do you think they would beleive?

Isn't that insurance fraud? I don't know if the insurance company could prove that you lied about locking the doors, but if the car is really trashed or never recovered, I bet they'd make a good effort to avoid having to pay a claim.

 

[sapblatt]

Fraud

Isn't that insurance fraud?

Yes...probably.

I don't know if the insurance company could prove that you lied about locking the doors, but if the car is really trashed or never recovered, I bet they'd make a good effort to avoid having to pay a claim.

And yes..

Thieves can unlock doors with no damage to the car...so it would really be impossible to know if it were unlocked or if if it was opened illegally.
My car is old and borders on worthless (but it is reliable)...I keep nothing of value in it...

 

[Mike P.]

Fraud? Technically yes but at worse, answer, I think I locked the door.

What they are looking for is if you pay someone to take your car (more popular with leased cars way over the mileage just before you need to return or buy) & trash it.