rplumbo

My Feedback: (3)

I had my car broken into last night, and aside from a lot of pride and safety they took my hobbico field charger. I had just put a new fuse in it too. I woke up this morning and found my passenger side window had been smashed. They rifled through everything, the glove box, the trunk and the pile of bottles, papers and Skor bar wrappers I had sitting in the back, and finally settled on my charger. It was really the only thing of value aside from about 12 CDs. The police just came. So now we'll have this in a file cabinet somewhere...great, thanks...big help. They didn't even dust for prints or look for trace elements or fibers or anything. Not that I expected them to, but isn't that the problem? Shouldn't we expect them too? I know all things considered a $50 break in isn't bad compared to murder or car theft etc. but I still feel equally violated. What's worse is that I know they won't get caught. I work damn hard in school and I sure don't have time to run around breaking into cars at all hours of the night, so why do they? Well, I'd hazard a guess that they're not in school. This is how the "cycle of abuse" works. So if anyone notices a charger for sale here or on ebay by someone with low RCU post count and clearly doesn't really know much about his product. Can you let me know? It will come with charge plugs and without a box.

Thanks.
Reid

RedWing

My Feedback: (4)

Sorry for your loss.
I had the same thing happen a couple of years back.
They broke out the passenger side window to get my radar detector. I ended up moving out of that area.

Bill

av8er50

My Feedback: (6)

Reid,
I am sorry for your loss, I know it can pi$$ you off!! But in defense of the cops (since I am one) let me explain a couple things that unfortunately the officer who took your report didn't.
First of all you should thank the RC gods or whoever it is you pray to that they didn't dust for prints or not only would you have lost your charger but you would have had black "dust" in and on your car, you and everything else you own until you sell the car. There is no neat way of doing it and no matter how hard you try it's impossible to get it all cleaned up.
Second had they taken finger prints and actually got something that was a usable print it would have taken a year or so to get through what ever agency is in charge of comparing prints unless they have AFIS, an automated print file. But then they operators would have put it to the bottom of the pile in order to deal with priority cases ie. homicides etc and unfortunately thats likely where it would stay. And again I understand that your charger is #1 priority to you but if you had a family member hurt or killed by a bad guy, whose prints would you want on top of the pile.
Third what most people don't understand is that when thefts such as these occur that it's not uncommon to get the stuff back do to some bonehead kid bragging to his friends instead of keeping his mouth shut. Then not only is one crime solved but then usually several.
Lastly before I step off of my soap box, you can't imagine how much easier for us to convict someone of said thefts if the rightful owner has recorded serial #'s or put his own on the item. I preached this for a long time but never did it myself until a neighbor was burglarized then I did it. Digital photos of all electronic equipment , serial #'s, and or my name etched into the item in a less than obvious place. Then I took the disks to a family members house so if there is ever a fire I have a record of valuables in my house. You would be surprised how hard it is to think of the things that need recorded. I even have all of my RC equipment photo'd in case of theft or fire, so no argument as to what I did or didn't have.
Anyway that's enough I guess, sorry for ranting but I wish people understand that cop's do care about even the small case's. If we didn't care about you or your problems you can bet there wouldn't be too many cops out there putting our butt's on the line for next to no $$$$.

Jeff

Steve Guinn

Reid,
I don't leave anything in my car that looks like it might have some value. Actually, it is always empty. Saves broken windows.

I am a smoker, but totally agree with the cigarette butts. Always picking up after others.

Barland

Reid - some people are just plain nasty... add to that lazy and they end up stealing other peoples stuff to get along. I know this on two fronts. First, I spent 28 years as a cop and had a great career. I either processed or had processed many vehicles after they were broken into, and to be honest, it was a rare, make that very rare, occasion when anything "useful" was found.

So I will agree with the information Jeff gave you, he's right on! I would also suggest you keep contact with your PD, perhaps you will learn that you were not the only victim that night. Here, when this happens we got multiple reports. You charger was also specialized enough that it may show up in time.

The second reason I know how you feel comes from a similar event at my house a few months ago. In that instance the *#$@!
not only went through my truck, stole CD's, and a good old cell phone, they then used my garage door opener to open the garage door and made off with nearly $1000 worth of good woodworking tools... I was lucky and got the cell phone back when it was dumped in a nearby yard.

I also had one of my former fellow officers come out, but with our "practical" experience we didn't bother messing up my truck to process it - I didn't think it was worth it.

Hey.. good luck, hopefully this was the worse thing that will come your way this year -- hope so anyway.

FormerCA.

My Feedback: (8)

People who steal SUCK!!!!

Goinstraightup

My Feedback: (26)

Preach it FormerCA! After only 9 flights, I had a Kadet Senior stolen. I was just starting out too.

Thanks for the info Jeff912.

rplumbo

My Feedback: (3)

Hi Jeff-
Obviously I wasn't expecting them to process a case for a $50 charger. I guess I didn't make that clear. "The little guy" is a hard role to play. I understand that my case is no where near the top of anyone's priority list except my own. Frankly, I wouldn't ever want something this small to take time away from a murder or something more serious. But the reason I say that is because I'm a decent human being, which again, is sometimes a hard role to play, because if I wasn't a decent guy, I'd be stealing other people's chargers, just like this moron did mine.

Thanks for your support guys. I appreciate it. I'm sure they broke in for the CD player, luckily it had a detachable face, which was "safely" in the house. I actually had an old face plate case in the bottom of my glove box which I found on my lawn. It was, of course, empty but I'm sure they were looking for it. I would guess when they couldn't find the face plate, they didn't want to leave empty handed, so they took the charger. They'll probably just destroy it. I don't know. That's my best re-creation.

Thanks.
Reid

MHawker

My Feedback: (16)

Reid,

First off, sorry to hear about this. I hate that violated or helpless feeling you get when it happens. I had a car stolen while I was at a show one night. It was weird to come out and find an empty parking spot where my car used to be. Then, to second guess where I parked just in case!

The car was recovered with fixable damage, but my stereo system ($3000) was gone. BUT, a year later, I got a call from a detective saying they found an insurance paper with my information on it when they did a raid on a guy's house. Good news, he had some of my stereo stuff in his house.

Let's hope you get a call soon!

Mike

Roby

I never leave anything in my cars for a prolong period of time
that is worth anything. AND...don't lock the doors, it will
save the windows. If nothing is found inside they will leave
quietly without damage. Locks and glass will only keep out
the honest people

It's not the way things should be but this is the way it is.

Regards
Roby

John Wells

My Feedback: (10)

Many police departments won't respond to burglary to auto reports and take them over the phone. Fingerprint matches are rare but sometimes it happens. The general rule is, if you don't want it stolen, don't leave it in your car.

It takes these three things for a property crime to occur:
1)Suitable target
2)Lack of a capable guardian
3)Motivated offender
Your situation included all three.
Sorry to hear of your loss. I wonder about the flyers that leave all of their R/C stuff in trailers that sit outside. They (trailers) often get stolen.

JW

edge_fanatic

My Feedback: (4)

Interesting comments about the garage door opener...Hadn't thought about that one.

My garage door opener is probably the most important possession I have in my car.

Now I need to figure out how to disable the opener at night....Hmmmm

daven

My Feedback: (1)

Edge_Fanatic,

My main garage door button in the garage has a lock button on it.

If I decide to leave my car in the driveway, after I close the door I hit the lock button on the main button. This disables the button out in my car. The door won't open until I hit the Un-lock button inside the garage.

A great safety feature that should be on everyones opener.

Reid, I hate to see your loss. Its not a Quick field charger, but I have an older Digipace I charger that charges and discharges receiver batteries (It would do transmitters also, but I don't have an extra jack I want to give up). If you would like the charger, let me know and I will give it too you. I work in the St Paul Midway area, and would be happy to meet and give it to you if interested. Send me a PM if you would like it.

rplumbo

My Feedback: (3)

daven-
I appreciate your generosity. I'm going to actually buy myself a new charger as what I will label 'the silverlining' to this incident. Thank you very very much.

Reid

av8er50

My Feedback: (6)

Daven,
I gotta say that people like you give me the often needed reminder that there are people in the world that aren't out to screw you. But rather to do something nice for someone you don't even know. Way cool!!!

Jeff

edge_fanatic

My Feedback: (4)

My garage door opener button in the garage has a lock button also....but its a hassle of a habit to get into to keep it set on lock....Months/years of doing that to save one incident is surely worth it...but hard to get into as a habit....

I've had nice toys in the garage for sixteen years and have been lucky so far...(this means tomorrow, my stuff will be gone for sure...LOL)

rb765

My Feedback: (9)

sorry to hear about your loss... but in reference to the officers dusting for prints, weather conditions often contribute to not finding any latents. latent prints are mostly moisture and the dust that is used sticks to that moisture... so if there is any condensation from any source, all that will happen when u put powder on is a black inky mess and it'll ruin your dusting brush... also, inside a vehicle, there are very few surfaces conducive to lifting any latent prints as most surfaces are textured or cloth, both will not yield usable prints...apart from that, i teach my trainee's that there are really two reasons to dust even if u dont think that there will be any prints (ie the surface is covered in a heavy layer of dust), the first is in the hopes of finding prints, the second is to give the customer (victim) a sence that we are really trying and care...the officer that did nothing left you the victim feeling like he did not care about what happened. yes higher priority crimes do need to come first, but to a victim, THEIR crime is the most important. and in our department, a good quality print usually comes back in a few weeks. most are scanned directly into the system now and do not have to be hand traced like they did when i started 13 years ago.

den1tjb

I feel for you as well. Had the stereo stolen out of my Jeep, as well as a walkman in the glove compartment in Dec....on my sis's birthday. I had it parked in the parking lot of the Olive Garden. Like former CA said, people who steal SUCK. Sorry again about the loss.
Ty

pinball-RCU

In my heart I know you are right, but still I keep locking my doors. When will I learn? I have an 86 Honda Civic wagon. POS, really, rust, cracked windshield, seats all split up, one fender doesn't match the rest. Absolutely nothing of value in the car other than some quarters for parking meters, and those were hidden. In a busy, patrolled, County parking garage, someone smashed a window in an attempt to steal the 10 y.o. cassette player. The only tool they had was a screwdriver, which is not something you can get a cassette deck out with, and who would buy a scratched up 10 year old cassette deck anyway? Against my better judgement I called the police, but after they didn't show up for an hour I gave up. I wanted the person stopped, if possible, but I really don't know what the criminal justice system could do for a person as totally irrational as the person who broke into my car.

Come to think of it, I now remember when I started locking the doors. I stopped at the drug store after stopping at the supermarket. There was a box of Tide laundry detergent in a shopping bag on the front seat. I came out of the drugstore and the box of Tide was gone. Now you tell me who steals a box of Tide?

I maintain that us honest people have absolutely no chance of ever understanding the minds of the people who do these things. They just cannot think the way the rest of us do. Any attempt to describe their motives is futile. It's like trying to figure out what your dog is thinking.

edge_fanatic

My Feedback: (4)

Want to bet that it wouldn't have been taken if the doors had been locked?

In my opinion, locks keep "basically honest" people more honest...It won't keep thieves out, but it will keep most folks on the right side...

When I was visiting Vermont a number of years ago with my family, I was in a small touristy city where my bro in law lives....He told us, and demonstrated, that most residents leave their homes unlocked and available for use by the neighbors when the residents go on vacation. I'd never do that...Grown up in big cities where the house would be vacant when I got home...

Why do I lock my house? To keep "most" folks out...Thieves will still get in if they really want to....(of course, they might find that they and my dog have differences of opinion as to who should be inside the house...LOL)