Now I'm p*ssed off!

[Axman]

Yesterday afternoon I was out in my back yard checking my corral of projects. Something seemed odd about my 79 Malibu wagon. After a couple of seconds I realized what was wrong, the driver's door and the rear driver's side door wasn't closed entirely. Upon closer inspection I noticed the shift knob was missing and the rear seat padding was pulled loose from the framework. I investigated further! About a year and a half ago I installed a CD changer that was partially concealled on the inside of the left rear quarter panel. In this location is an opening that is just right for the changer to fit and pivots out for cartridge loading. The wiring ran under the interior trim and under the rear seat, then under the dash to the head unit. I removed everything last year except for the changer as it was not visible from the outside of the car. Well, the changer was gone! When I removed the rest of the stereo I took the 10 disc cartridge out. I have the cartridge here in my home office. They only took the $6 shift knob and the changer. My $160 shift light tach is still in there. My Grant wheel is there and all my other gauges, etc.

Today I looked a little further, and seen that the reason the seat cushion was pulled out is because they did't have enough sense to pull the release lever to uncover the wiring. They then ripped all of the wiring out. One wire was for the remote control panel which was still under the seat with about 2 feet of cable left on it. Also the frequency interupter was still there. Now, the unit can't be used without the remote because there is only one head unit available with built in remote, it cost over $300. Other head units need that interupter. Also, the cartridge will cost them about $40. The remote can be replaced but as far as I remember they are pricey also. The changer also had a problem playing discs 2 and 3. Repair shop estimated repair cost at around $80. The theif will pay almost the cost of a new changer to have a working unit.

I am out in the middle of the desert, nearest house is 1/8 mile and it's vacant. My guess is it's a kid who went digging around in the car in the middle of the night. Kids tend to steal trinket type items (my "dice" shift knob) along with the stereos and will pass up the costly gauges. Next time I hear noises outside in the middle of the night, my 9mm Beretta and I will have to investigate.

[mustangII460]

Sounds like the person knew it was there. Crime is relative. Meaning most of the time its someone you know. Or someone a friend has told etc. Which makes it worse to think your friends could be ripping you off. bastards.

[silver_pilate]

Last years some punks broke out my passenger side window. However, before they did that, they tried to force the door lock with a screwdriver or something and completely ruined it. They also apparently tried to pry they triangle window loose and also tried prying the door open at the top leaving scratches and a small bent area at the top of the door frame. Now thieves piss me off, but incompetant, idiotic, morons who jack up other stuff while trying to break in really, really piss me off. Once they got in, they stole all they could find.

They took paperwork in the car (insurance stuff), all my tools (Gearwrenches and a hand picked assortment that I used for the Mustang), and my custom built sub/amp box. With that, I had quick disconnects on all the wires for ease of removal at the track, so they all just popped free. However, instead of graciously unpluggin the $70 interconnects, they just cut them. Also, they took my backpack. MY FREAKING BACKPACK!!!! All of the other stuff didn't matter. I had hours and hours of lab work and notes in that bag which were of no use to anyone but me, and that stuff can't get replaced.

Anyway, there were a string of 30 or so breakins just at my appartments and hundreds all over town. I got to where I was sitting up nights with a baseball bat praying the SOB's would come back.

Then, about a year later and one o'clock in the morning, I heard a scream in the parking lot and my nextdoor neighbor comes running up and beats on my door. She said that she saw a guy trying to break into a truck. So I go down there, and of course the guy's gone. However, there was a truck backed into a space with people sitting in it. When I saw them, they took off. By the time we got in the car to chase, we saw the same truck pulling out of the next complex over with the would-be theif in the truck. We chased them out of town and eventually ran them down and copied their plates. They then pulled over to try and force an issue, and we kept going right on passed them. No sense in facing likely armed idiots in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, we reported them to the cops. Don't know that anything was ever done about it.

Oh well. They better pray that I don't find out who broke into my car. If I do, it's go time.

--nathan

[Axman]

I doubt it was someone I knew. Not to many people have been to my house. I also never told anyone I had a changer in the car. All my friends are my co-workers who know that the stereo was removed before storing. The car has been sitting in my backyard awaiting upgrades and minor repairs for over a year. The changer has been there all that time. That nearby house has a busted window, it's been busted for a couple of weeks now and the shards of glass are still in the frame indicating that nobody went in the house. I suspect some punk kids did the broken window and also may have been rummaging in my cars before returning to steal the changer. I've been living here for three years and never had anything stolen until now. Summer is the worst time for thefts because kids are not in school. Today I'm putting up a few "Trespassers will be shot" signs!