boomer

Thieving scum ba5tards [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Just over a hour ago i spotted two lads trying to break into my house, obviously with the intention of stealing my car.

I had gone to bed shortly after 01:00am, and several minutes later heard movement down the side of my house. Very soon after that i looked out of my rear window to see two figures peering in through a downstairs window.

I triggered the alarm before they even attempted entry and they ran off.

After a quick 999 to the local police, i checked my CCTV footage with the two officers after they arrived (only three or four minutes later - well done chaps!!).

The two scum had wandered up to the car for a quick peek, then spend a short time furtling with my letterbox - despite the fact that next door's PIR lamp was fully illuminating them. They then disappears around the back.

At the back, they didn't flinch at another PIR lamp going off - but ran like hell when the alarm went off (their fleeing again caught on camera), and drove off in an unknown car (most probably without lights).

The police said that i was the third reported attempt in the area tonight (and unfortunately there will probably be more).

Sadly "no actual offence had occurred", so i don't even get a crime reference number (which will help Bliar's statistics no end ), but the CCTV should have enough evidence to ID them if they are spotted again later.

I guess that i was lucky tonight.

mb

Active

Lucky you had an alarm, I wonder what would have happened if you hadn`t?. The lights didn`t put the scumbags off, do you make a noise and hope they just go away? hope the police respond as quick as they did in your case, or arm yourself with somthing heavy and pray they don`t get in!.
What sad times we live in.
Bob

KC_Sti

Bloody tea leafs don't give a toss these days, so what if you have a camera, seems like they aren't much of a deterrent the same goes for security lights. I say we should all unite and form a gang which drives around at night looking for these tossing low life and beat thirteen types of sh*t out of them, just to teach them a lesson.
But mate, if I were you get yourself one of those stun guns and if they ever come back knock them out with a baseball bat, tie them up in your garage and torcher them with the stun gun for....oo..let's say for about a week, and after that hook up your car battery to their nuts and fire that baby up. That should teach them to think twice before attempting to rob anyrhing again. Do you think I may have gone too far? Does anybody out there think like me? or am I just a bit loony.

C-WRX

KC_Sti,

I think that your torture idea is outrageous,
only torturing them for a week!
You should make it at least 6 months with needles stuck in the ends of their fingers.

turb0s

kc, i'm with u on this one m8.


wot really pi$$es me off is:

if u caught someone in ur house stealing stuff or some1 broken into your car trying to hot wire it u cant do anything except try to scare them off cos if u lay one finger on them u will get done for ABH/GBH.

this is outrageous, u cant even protect ur own property, wot right does some to$$er breaking into ur house have, if they r in ur house/stealing ur car they should expect the consequnces

its a sad world where the law allows law breakers to basically be protected.

mutant_matt

Surely they were at least tresspassing? I would be tempted to force the Police to give you a Crime number for that at least and then at least Tony's stats are slightly less fiddled....

Matt

Neil Smalley

Matt

Trespass is only a crime if you damage something.

Those signs that say 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' are meaningless. What it effectivley means is that 'Trespassers will prosecuted if they damage my property'

Boomer
Good job you had all the alarms etc set up. I hope it does'nt put you off the car. Maybe next time get some automated sentry guns(like in aliens)

NickAdams

iTrader: (5)

Funnily enough,they're the two items that I have sat next to our bed!!!!

Cheers

Nick

marty_t3

A stun gun and a baseball bat next to your bed?? Where do you live?? Bosnia??

NotoriousREV

I've been considering a couple of "Danger - Armed Reponse" signs around the place, may make the *******s think twice, but then again, it may just mean they come fully tooled up

Ad_Supra

u live west mids, where abouts? yup the new trend is to get the keys and then take the car! keep those windows locked up nice and tight. Thieving scally's!

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

C-WRX you ***** needles eh !!! your to nice what you want are cocktail sticks as these are thicker and not as sharp so you have to push a harder to get them in and they make a bigger hole, and in order to inflict more pain just flick the end of the stick

NickAdams

iTrader: (5)

Beirut actually!!!!!

wrxmark

One of the very sucessful methods of stealing cars is via the letter box.
Some people leave car keys and house keys within reach of a nicely made tool whihc the slag put through the letter box.
Are yours left there?

I know for a fact that a lot of motors have gone this way.

boomer

Well i have studied my video footage in more detail, and it can be kinda scarey

• Shortly after 01:00am a car drove past my house (normally there are very few on the road at that time of night).
  
• 56 seconds later a car (almost certainly the same one), drove past in the opposite direction and parked up.
  
• 33 seconds later, two scum are checking at my front door (in the blaze of a PIR light).
  
• 1 minutes and 35 seconds later the alarm sounds, and scum run from the back of my house (with not exactly easy access).
  
• 24 seconds later they flee back across the front of the house.
  
• 22 seconds later their getaway car screeches away.

So, from the initial drive-by, the whole incident took less than four minutes - and the "on foot" bit was under two minutes.

This just shows how quickly the scum can do their deed, should you not have appropriate measures in place.

Anything that you can do to put them off is worth it.

Luckily for me (and probably them) they ran like scared rabbits when the alarm went off, so no damage done other than a sleepless night. There were many more layers of security waiting if they had not run though, so they probably made the right move! I reckon that they were opportunists, driving around looking for nice cars to steal (they had tried two other ones earlier).

The CCTV footage would have ID-ed them through their clothes, should they have been stopped later in the night, but not enough for facial recognition. I feel that a call to RF Concepts coming on, for a new, colour, high-res, low-light camera is in order - thus next time the Police would really have something to go on.

Scum, arrogant scum [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] - a waste of air!!

mb

boomer

mutant_matt,

the trouble is, they would simply say that they were looking for a lost cat. No real crime had been committed unless i had waited for them to gain entry - but what if they had guns?

Neil Smalley,

No worries, if anything, this makes me want my car even more. There is no way that sh1tty scum are going to deprive me of what i have earned, paid for and enjoy very much. For the costy of a few tankfuls of gas you can implement some pretty good security

Ad_Supra,

for obvious reasons i am not going to post my location. However, rest assured that my house is secure and the keys are inaccessible!

wrxmark,

my keys are nice and safe - but i must admit that i can't remember whether i left that exploding fob on a hook right by the front door

Thanks for all your concern - s'pose it is just one of those things about owning a decent car

mb

Neil Smalley

Martin,

Without going into detail of what you have, what kind of setup would you recommend, for say 200 quid?

mkyboy

Hi All

My keys and radio face is kept upstairs with me! With a alloy bat!!! The dirty @unt's may get in but they ain't getting out!!!

I copper once told me to just drag them upstairs when done and stick a screwdriver in their hand and say the come at you. The @unts can't do a thing then as its selfdefence!

Theives beware

boomer

Neil,

most of it is common sense (and examples are not necessarily my own methods)!!

Stuff like prickly hedges and carpet gripper-rod nailed to the top of fences is pretty much money that you have to spend anyway - but will protect the perimeter.

I was very surprised how last night's scum were totally unfazed by the PIR lamps, but even if they don't seem to care - at least you get a better view of things.

Much depends on your personal circumstances, but for example a gravel drive or path will make a silent approach difficult. A dog (or even a cat) will sense a threat/danger much earlier than you, and may be a deterrent in themselves.

Hardware such as window locks, alarms should be used as required -but try not to rely on a single system (in case it is disabled or you forgot to arm it!). Similarly regarding your phone - keep a mobile by your bedside in case your lines are cut.

Check that your windows and doors are sufficiently "strong" to resist attach (and fit, for example, patio door bolts).

CCTV is cheap these days - you can buy a VCR for not much over 50 notes, and a B&W camera for less than thirty. Stick a 4 hour tape in on long play and you are covered for most of the night (but make sure that it copes with your level of darkness!).

Visual deterrents will help put off the opportunists (e.g. Diskloks, garage door bolts.) Also, how about the old baby alarm in the car trick?

Speak to your neighbours, as trespass on your property will almost certainly involve their's as well. A row of PIRs down your street will give a strong message.

Neighbourhood watch, and speaking to the local police will also help.

In summary, implement lots of different "ideas", so that even the smartest scum will trip up at some point!!!

mb

p.s. I hope that this doesn't sound too paranoid

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

Martin,

really sorry to hear about this - glad you and your car are ok .

I guess the only way to avoid unwanted opportunist guests is to get the car off the road and out of sight. Not always possible, obviously, but if the temptation isn't there in the first place....

It's sickening that we live in a society where people have such lack of respect for people's property, that they think this is an acceptable way of making money/having fun. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Hope to see you at a meet soon

DaveD

C-WRX

boomer,

I did just that this mornin', opened the garage, disarmed the car, tried the door, wouldn't open,pressed the arm/disarm button again and the door was open which shows how easy it is 2 forget to arm/lock the alarm/car.
Atleast there's the steering lock, disklock, auto immobilizer, pager and tracker 2 keep my mind @ rest.

PS, make sure u check that it is armed b 4 u get your head down @ night!

[Edited by C-WRX - 9/24/2002 10:57:46 PM]

KC_Sti

I was just wondering, the scum seem to like to go through letter boxes these days, is there anyway possible that you could keep the letter box charged with electric so when they open it with their fingers they will be toast? Other than that I guess you could do what one of my neighbours have done and buy a new door without a letter box and have one of those external boxes for your letters.

P.S If anyone catches one of these little f*uckers please cause them a lot of pain and make them say that their just a little bitch before tossing them into a near by river with a rock attached to them. that would just make my day and very much appreciated.

scooby_si

DaveD kum 2 da cov area meet this sunday if u like
Boomer surely they had herd about yer years in the SAS as a booby trap laying chap & fort better off it, obviously not i dunno ignorant bar stools [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] glad yer OK thou m8y
Si

[Edited by scooby_si - 9/25/2002 8:25:48 AM]

chiark

Boomer,

What a pisser. This makes you feel so helpless...

Despite what the police say, this was attempted burglary IMHO. Get it registered as such, otherwise crime figures will not reflect what's actually happening in this country

Nick.