The downstairs little old ladies have pretty nice car's.

When they triggered my motion detector light, they figured it was time to get gone,

Instead of backing out the driveway to the street, like they came in,
They shot forward in to
The back yard,

Clipped a 35 ft. Conifer , missed a yard light by 6 inches,
went down a steep grass bank, through the ditch and head north out of town.

It's happening in tiny town ,twice a week these days

They are checking car doors here. It’s happening all over and it’s getting caught by people’s ring cameras. For the most part if your doors are locked they are moving on but in a few cases they are breaking in anyway. Lock all your shit. People are hurting out there financially and resorting to petty crime.

The good news is ,
The ladies are not leaving any valuble's in plain sight.

That's the source of the vast majority of vehicle related break-ins and thefts... The low-hanging fruit of unlocked doors.

Packs of thieves will prowl neighborhoods and parking lots, pulling on door handles until they find ones that are unlocked, and then pilfering them for cash, credit cards, and anything that's easily resold on Craigslist/eBay/etc. like electronics and fancy sunglasses. Sometimes they get luckier and find guns, or the keys to the car itself.

Actual forcible entries are much less common since they're much riskier, and typically result from leaving something obviously valuable, like a purse or laptop, in plain view.

These thieves love traveling to small towns and the "good part of town", where people are much more likely to be in the mindset of "I live in a good area/small town, so I don't need to lock my doors."

Always lock your doors. No matter what. It drastically reduces your chances of being victimized.

RogueJSK is right on. We had a rash a vehicle burglaries in our, Pop.~15000, town. Most all were vehicles left unlocked. They were even doing it during the day, when they came across an unlocked vehicle with a purse or other valuables in plain sight.

We lock house and vehicles, but many here don't, citing what Rogue said, "good area/small town" etc.

So - is it considered baiting to leave a junker knapsack on the front seat and sit in the brush with a well scoped 22? Asking for a friend

quote:

Originally posted by sgalczyn:
So - is it considered baiting to leave a junker knapsack on the front seat and sit in the brush with a well scoped 22? Asking for a friend

Many years ago when I lived in the NYC area, there was a strike by city sanitation workers. No garbage collection.

I knew somebody who put his trash in a gift-wrapped box and left in plain view in an unlocked car.

quote:

Originally posted by sgalczyn:
So - is it considered baiting to leave a junker knapsack on the front seat and sit in the brush with a well scoped 22? Asking for a friend

No I would think that is no different than setting out a trap for a pack rat. Vermin are vermin.

Yep, caught people checking our car doors on on our ring cameras. Doors were locked and they moved on. Dogs usually alert us but not every time.

It's increased here, too. Lots of photos in the paper from surveillance videos .
Makes me glad my two cars are kept in the garage.

I've notice these posts are mostly from areas behind enemy lines.
Move.

it's a big problem here in mid TN. Neighbors have them on video and the PD wasn't interested.

quote:

Always lock your doors. No matter what. It drastically reduces your chances of being victimized.

What Rogue said.

We used to get hood rats driving thru the country club, pulling doors and stealing guns, money, wallets, laptops, GPS, cameras, and everything else. Twice a year......

Right before Christmas and one cycle during the summer when school was let out...

When I worked that district I would drive the country club all night if needed just after school got out and from thanksgiving until Christmas night....it never happened on my shift....I actually told the captains about it and the cyclical rate....but no one listened to me.

Your car came with locks, you didn’t have to pay extra for them....use them...every time. I leave nothing in my truck and it’s parked on the street. It’s always locked.

Last year it happened to my neighborhood here in TX. Due to the ring camera we were able to see it was teenagers in a Toyota sedan with three walkers and a driver...they pulled doors and unlocked cars were searched and loose change and money stolen...someone left a spare set of keys in their SUV and it got stolen and driven until it ran out of gas and was recovered two days later parked at the mall(within walking distance to the hood).

I don’t leave a single penny in my truck, the only thing in it is a towel, a spare shirt, and a road atlas. All under the back seats .

Catalytic converters seem to have gained in popularity in my local. Through northern Kentucky and south west Ohio they are hitting U Hauls and car lots pretty regular. Stored campers and RVs are targeted as well. Im guessing here the new security cameras dont give good details at night and 50 plus yards away. Looks like a group of 4. Driver sets off at distance while the passengers go to work. I dont get how the thieves can so easily sell the damn things. What's the grey area where scrap yards aren't helping LE when it comes to selling cats ?

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
People are hurting out there financially and resorting to petty crime.

I don't believe these people have no other recourse than stealing. People are stealing because they are too lazy to work and it is easier

Natasha & Boris, try steal car
Hit conifer instead.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I've notice these posts are mostly from areas behind enemy lines.
Move.

It's plague proportions in N GA.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I've notice these posts are mostly from areas behind enemy lines.
Move.

It's plague proportions in N GA.

And here in my ski resort town in Utah as well. Car break-ins here have become a huge problem the last few years

It has been steadily increasing around here as well, and really took off in the last 5-10ish years or so.

So no, it's not just people in certain states that are stealing.

There are thieves everywhere. Even in "red states". Hell, most of the criminals around here would probably describe themselves as "conservative".

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
People are hurting out there financially and resorting to petty crime.

I don't believe these people have no other recourse than stealing. People are stealing because they are too lazy to work and it is easier

Yep. They're generally not doing it because they were laid off and are desperate to pay their electric bill and put food in their kids' mouths, though I have heard the sheepish "rent is due" excuse before. They're typically doing it just because it's a relatively low risk way to get easy money.

It seems especially common among lower-income teens and young adults, who (based on my experience) commonly appear to use it as a way to easily generate funds to feed their desire for luxury items they want but otherwise can't afford: cell phones, computers, watches, video games, big TVs, etc. (As well as drugs and alcohol.)

So it's partly the petty thief way of "keeping up with the Joneses".

quote:

Last year it happened to my neighborhood here in TX. Due to the ring camera we were able to see it was teenagers in a Toyota sedan with three walkers and a driver...they pulled doors and unlocked cars were searched and loose change and money stolen...someone left a spare set of keys in their SUV and it got stolen and driven until it ran out of gas and was recovered two days later parked at the mall(within walking distance to the hood).

Same here about a year ago, neighbor has cameras up, he caught them getting into his old (20 year old) MB not much in the car but it was left unlocked, camera caught them trying my doors on the truck but it was locked and there isn't anything in it...

Another tip, remove your garage door opener if you are parking the vehicle outside, it's easily taken and used later to get into your house, or even then for them to get into the garage.