Car broken into....

[Baldkin]

So, I just got home from driving 4 miles home with a broken car window.

 

Apparently whomever busted it was trying to take the stereo, the entire center console is ripped out and shredded.

 

They also managed to steal my ipod and my itrip and besides that they did manage to steal my backpack which had about $300 worth of college books in it.

 

Wonderful.

 

Just wondering if anyone has any advice.

 

I called the non-emergency police number tonight, and they told me to drive home and call back tomorrow.

 

Time for bed.

 

Seriously. I thought my last day of finals was supposed to be a good day.

[danzig6767]

Not much advice here, but i had a crazy break in story

 

Some years ago i had my car broken into also. Like with you, they broke my side window to get at my stereo which i stupidly left in my car even though i had a removable one. At like 3 AM i hear a knock at my door, it's the cops telling me my car got broken into. I guess these guys had broken into multiple cars in my apartment complex i lived at then and the cops happened to catch them in the act. I get my stereo back and the cops said thankfully no resident had seen these guys in the act and came out to confront them because they all had a gun on them. If i had seen it going on, i'm sure i'd have burst out the door to confront whoever was in my car.

 

Ends up all three guys were gang members with records and i got a sobpoena for court, i wasn't thrilled at the thought over a measly stereo. Thankfully i never had to go and maybe 8-10 months later i got a check in the mail from jail as restitution for the window, wasn't expecting that.

[berniebrewer4life]

Baldkin, i feel your pain. Two weeks ago to the day, i had my car broken into and they tried to steal it.(infact, it was EXACTLY 2 weeks ago this hour that i got the call that they found the guy). My ignition was destroyed(they tried starting my car with a screwdriver),

and i am still waiting to get my car back from the auto care center.

 

I would call the police today, fill out a report, and hope they catch the guy. I wouldn't get your hopes up tho, chances are they can't do anything about it, unless they can find some fingerprints on your car.

[Teatoe993]

Just wondering if anyone has any advice.

 

Don't live in Milwaukee. Sorry, I can't figure out how to make text blue. Although I am somewhat serious.

[Invader3K]

One time when I was still in college, and at my parents on Thanksgiving break, my car was "broken into"...meaning I was stupid and left the door unlocked overnight. Nothing major was taken, just a portable CD player, a pair of outdated sunglasses, and a couple CDs. The odd thing was that my parents live in a pretty decent neighborhood in a small town, so that type of thing is pretty weird. I reported it, and of course heard nothing ever again.

 

Now I'm pretty anal about locking my car all the time, though.

[homer]

My car was broken into 5 times when I moved to Chicago. Granted it's a Jeep but still.....I ended up putting a lock on the steering column and leaving the doors unlocked. At least that way they wouldn't be tempted to cut through my windows. I started taking my stereo faceplate with me and never left anything of value in the car.

 

Then some jag bag in Clintonville, WI stole my gas cap.

[RyDogg66]

Im sorry to hear what happened to you. When I moved to Milwaukee 15 months ago, my car was broken into twice in 2 months, both times I had a stereo in it that was taken. It certainly wasnt the only reason, but it was what got me thinking about moving out of Milwaukee, which I did in June.

[Patrick425]

It's a shame that there is not a whole lot that can be done in these situations. I guess you have to look at it this way. A small percentage of these people will eventually see the error of their ways and reform and maybe go on to do some good things and contribute to society. A larger percentage of these people will eventually end up paying for there crimes. These are desperate people that will eventually do something really stupid, get caught, and do some real time. Even if they never do any jail time, they will never truly live happy, fulfilling lives. I know this doesn't help you get your stuff back, but you probably end up having a much happier life than they will.

Another weird story - My first job out of college, I drove around the Midwest auditing real estate franchises. I used a company car for these trips (did not take it home with me). One weekend someone smashed all the windows on the car that was parked at the office I worked out of (I know, poor sentence structure...whatever). In the car was a bunch of books and papers and even a fax machine that I took on the road with me (this was the late 80's). Nothing was touched at all. There was no sign that they even attempted to enter the car. Never figured out what happen...just some stupid vandals, I guess?

[NeedMoreFans]

The best advise I can come up with, to avoid this in the future, is never leave ANYTHING of value in sight of a potential crook. Put iPods, CD players, cell phones, all the cords that you connect to them, in the glove box or center console or just take them with you. Also, put any large bags in the trunk. I'd also just go with a cheap stereo, nothing worth a ton of money. Don't give people any reason to break into your car.

 

On a side note, I followed all of this advise, and someone still tried to steal my car. I have a puncture hole under my door handle on the driver's side. They tried to pry the door open, but did not have any luck. Wouldn't have mattered...I have an anti-theft device that shuts off the fuel injectors unless I turn it off with my key.

[temke]

i have had 2 cars stolen in milwaukee. both were recovered within 24 hours, but in neither situation was there even a thought of looking for the thieves...either by myself or the police.

 

then again, i really didnt care since i got the car back.

 

reminds me of when my bike was stolen as a kid. i would go to the police station every couple weeks to see if they found it. i am sure the police really didnt give a crap about a 10 year old and his bike in the grand scheme of things (side note...said bike was stolen from in front of a church)

[radman12484]

When I lived on the Eastside my roommates cars got broken into all the time. People's cars would get broken into when we had parties, etc. So my two roommates decided to camp out on the roof for 3 nights in a row, didn't catch anything. The 4th night, we caught someone breaking into the garage he had and took off running, saw we had a gun, never came back.

[PKBadger]

Here's the thing that confuses me.

 

Maybe I'm naive, and I don't frequent the seedier areas of Milwaukee, Racine (my hometown), or Chicago. But is there really a huge black market of car stereos out there? What is the incentive? Can these punks actually make money by doing this?

[bigredrobbo]

To be simplistic, drugs cost money; stolen stuff (whatever it is) raises money. Ergo, stolen stuff = drugs.

 

To paraphrase Vincent Vega. You don't "mess" with a man's automobile - you just don't...

[jordanmuehl]

Do you live on the East side? If so, I feel your pain. I never like to leave my car in down on the East side at night for fear of my stereo being lifted and my window being destroyed the next morning.

[kilgore37]

I guess Ive been lucky. I live on the east sie for 7 years and never had my car broken into.

[jordanmuehl]

I haven't personally, but plenty of my friends have had the misfortune of having it happen to them.

[1992casey]

I had a car window smashed and stuff stolen in Mexico. I didn't do anything because the residents told me that the cops were likely taking a cut in exchange for ignoring these incidents. The only thing I regret is that I had rented a station wagon. I had purposely chosen a different vehicle, but when it didn't run well, I ended up with the wagon.

 

My brother, a former cop who was off duty at the time, was robbed at gunpoint (or toy gunpoint) on the East side way back when. The guy dug through my brother's pockets and took everything except his gun. It must have been quite a surprise to the thug when he was shot at as he ran away, and just as weird when he looked through the stolen stuff and found a police badge. My brother missed, and the guy wasn't caught.

[homer]

"To be simplistic, drugs cost money; stolen stuff (whatever it is) raises money. Ergo, stolen stuff = drugs. "

 

 

Yes, that was simplistic. Some people just steal stuff for money. Not every thief is on drugs.