Question:
How long was it at the dealership? If I leave my ride for service overnight, I ask them to keep it indoors. At least it provides some measure of protection from theft.
Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't.

Oh man, that sucks so much! You'll get no lectures from me, I'd gather that more than one person on this board have left themselves vulnerable to this happening at least one in their lifetime.

I bought this for my 4-Runner, love the security of this. Fits custom snug in your vehicle's console.

http://www.consolevault.com/To...2010--2017_p_71.html

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Everything was reported to the SO online. Gave them everything they asked for, plus the narrative, what, when, where, details.

Btw, I'm totally cool with the brothers beating me up on this. Zero problems with it.

I'm not gonna beat up on you. And I would contact the detective involved to see if he recommends you talk to the dealership or let the SO handle it, and then go from there.

I "thought" I "left" a P245 in a hotel room once, and was really bothered until I realized I had put it back in the OEM case and it was in the safe the entire time.

I went to the Hotel and reported it there, as well as the SO, and when I found it, I made sure I let both know I was a dumbass.

The SD laughed and asked me; Just how many guns do you have that you can "lose" one in your safe?"

I told him, "one...", he laughed, I laughed, I gave him a SIG coin". He went , I went .

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Question:
How long was it at the dealership?

One hour.
In = 8:39 AM
Out = 9:36 AM

I'm definitely getting one of those car "vaults".

A trunk is possibly a better target than the interior of the car: things in a trunk aren't seen everyday. Stolen items aren't noticed as soon. The dealership may have a thief that checks the trunk of every car they work on for tempting items.

I'd say you're absolutely correct to report your suspicions to the dealership. If they're reputable, they'll definitely want to know.

Each of our vehicle has a lockbox on a cable under a front seat (wife's car has too much electronic crap under the driver's seat, so it is under passenger seat there. After the family pickup was t-boned, it spent a *long* time at the Ford dealership body shop (which a friend managed), and a few days at the the Toyota dealership as something had to be reprogrammed. When it came back, the (empty) lockbox was gone and the cable was chewed up. Ever since then, the boxes stay locked (so as not to give away the combination) with the latch in the open position unless they have a gun in them, which is pretty much post office trips or trips to a medical professional. If anyone at a stealership wants to see, they can open it, see that it is empty, and not need to tear anything up to verify there is nothing to steal.

Sorry to hear... assuming it was stolen and not misplaced (hoping you locate it), why can't people buy their own shit!?!

Slim possibility:
If it was in a unmarked case and was removed for service reasons, it may have been found later laying next to someone's tool box and they couldn't remember who's car it come from? In which case, the service manager might/should have it and should have reported it to the police?

If it was cased, was there any information to revile the owner?

More likely, some dirt bag stole it!

quote:

I'm not gonna beat up on you.

Yeah, I can't think of anything LESS helpful. :roll eyes: And this to a member who has been incredibly generous....

I agree with those who say see if it turns up tomorrow. It's very possible that you put it somewhere else. Especially because it was not taken by a thief who broke into your car-- a hardened thief. I don't think it is likely that a mechanic would risk his job and a felony conviction to steal a gun that is then "hot" and he would need to palm off in a street sale to a thug-- or keep it an always risk getting caught with it.

If it doesn't turn up, report it immediately, state the circumstances clearly, and see what the police recommend that you do.

I hope that tomorrow you find it and do a palm plant-- and smile.

Forget about the gun, did the dealership remember to put your drain plug back on???

Glad to hear it wasn't "The SIG." Still a bummer.

It was the cockroaches repo'ing their pistol, which they will use when the end of the world comes.

quote:

Originally posted by H&K-Guy:
...In the end, the responsibility is yours, man...

I'm going to disagree with this.

The responsibility falls on the thief. While it is certainly a good idea to always secure valuables and make it as difficult as possible for someone to steal, the actual responsibility lies with those who decide it is ok to take someone else's stuff.

A hidden piece of personal property in a locked portion of the car that didn't need to be accessed for the service should be considered reasonably securing the property from theft.

"But it is a gun..."

Yes, and it could be used to kill someone. Just like a baseball bat or a tire iron stolen from a trunk could be used to kill someone.


Any attempt to secure something can be thwarted by someone willing to make the effort to do so. You could always do "more", if we say it is the victims responsibility to do "more" where does that end?


Working for a LE agency I can tell you this, for a report of a lost pistol, the most you can expect is for the serial number to be entered in the NCIC system. If it ever comes into LE hands and is run it will return a hit. If someone tries to pawn it or sell it through a dealer, it will return a hit.

Pretty unlikely there will be any "investigation". The vehicle having been at the dealer at some time in the past in most cases is not going to be "enough" to warrant investigation and follow up.

Personally, I would go to the dealer and in a non-accusatory manner let the service manager know what happened and that their possession of the vehicle is one of the few opportunities for it to have been taken. I wouldn't expect them to take responsibility, but as another poster said, this may be "another" incident for them that could provide info helpful to take care of a problem employee.

I am a forgetful person so I won't berate you. I once 'lost' a gun by hiding it beneath a 10 lb bag of basmati rice. The 'good idea' was intended for home defense. Almost made me bonkers looking for the missing gun.

That said, because I live in central Texas I am extremely careful to remove any indicators of firearm ownership before taking the car in for oil changes, repairs, inspection, etc. Not only do I not want to have something stolen but I do not want the bastards to back-track to my home address.

Secure all your firearms in your residence!. And keep one threat-stopper at hand.

You can't prove the dealership had anything to do with the loss so bringing it up won't do anything for either party. Falsely accusing them might get you a letter from their legal dept. Allow the police to handle it. If they feel it is worthy to speak with the dealership in their investigation then it won't be personal.

OMG! A flat tire. That is horrible. I hope you are all right after such a heinous ordeal.

Is the tire okay?

I'd give the dealership a way out.

I lost a firearm it may have been in my trunk.
Could you please check to see if it may have been removed for safe keeping?

This could very well be the case.
I would imagine at the dealer they may not want to leave a gun laying around unsecured.
Maybe it was put in safe storage and forgotten about.

Bottom line, I would ask them in a manner not to insinuate theft.

12131, I hope things work out so you find your pistol, unharmed, quickly.

It could happen to all of us. I occasionally come home and find the safe unlocked,and think of the unthinkable.But occasionally I still do it. Still pisses me off when I do that though.

Contact the service manager and see which tech worked on your car. Give that name to the police officers. They can check his name against the pawn list if your state makes pawn shops record serial numbers on a searchable database. They can also check his criminal history for any other theft issues which may give the Detectives reason to chat up the tech.

Well, this sucks.

A couple problems...

1. Any video they have will likely be purged from the system at this point. But it doesn't hurt to check.

2. With the time frame, it is difficult to pin it on anyone.

With that said, I'd talk to the manager/owner. I'd hope the police would as well.

If you can get the names (and they probably won't give it to you, but should to the PD) the names of all the people working that day who could have possibly had access to your vehicle, that could help narrow down the list when the firearm is eventually recovered.

Most firearms DO eventually get recovered. BUt they have usually passed through many, many hands. (stolen by an addict or other shitbird type, traded to an acquaintence for cash/dope, traded to another person, likely a dealer for dope, and then traded or sold black market or even given to a gang member or small time associate of the dealer.)

It takes a lot of backtracking that may never get solved if the perps don't snitch,

Before you talk to the manager and hopefully don[t come on strong with accusations, think REALLY long and REALLY hard about who else could have had access. Are you REALLY 100 PERCENT CERTAIN you never left it anywhere else unlocked?

I can't tell you how many dumbasses leave guns in the car, unlocked, parked god knows where....

We take calls for at least 3 people a week who get firearms taken from their unlocked cars, even parked unlocked in their driveways or in the street in front of their houses.

Usually, it gets taken by some teenage doper, and traded to the dealer for drugs. Then makes it's way to the streets where it get recovered at some crime scene.... Eventually....

Around here there are those on the fringe who would try to make what you did a misdemeanor if not a felony. Definitely DO get that security box. Where your firearm(s) are at and the measure of their security is always your responsibility, regardless of the temptations, morality and ethical behavior of anyone who might happen across them.

As for the car dealership that the car was serviced at, if it were me I'd bring it up with the manager of the store, if not someone within ownership. I'd skip the shop altogether; as far as I'm concerned, everyone within the shop is suspect, including the shop lead. I'd have a harder time believing or suspecting that the entire store would be crooked (at least in terms of personal property theft; bank account 'theft' is another matter...), whereas the service manager works up close with his minions everyday. He may not choose to believe you over one of his working buddies, or may simply choose to protect them because of many reasons, up to and including his own knowledge and possible involvement in the sorts of nefarious shenanigans that might be going on with their operation.

As long as you're fairly certain that the Ruger was still in the trunk before the car went in for servicing (that 'I don't know how' part in your thread title to me seems to leave a crack of uncertainty open), the upper management and/or ownership is where I would begin contact with. They should be far enough removed from the 'grunts' that they would not be nearly so protective of them as they would be of the reputation of the business should word and their name gets out into the wild.