Car Window Smashed on Driveway and Bag Stolen- What Can I Do?

Llasertip on 05/07/2015 - 11:30
Last edited 05/07/2015 - 15:33 by 1 other user

Hi guys,

So for the 3rd time in over a year, we've had the cars in our driveway cased and broken into. Here's a video of the first time that it happened in may last year:

https://video-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xaf1/v/t42.1790-2/1…

The first time, a car door was left unlocked and the scumbags just opened the door and got a few pairs of sunnies. Since then, we've kept the doors locked.

However, it doesn't seem to have helped as my car was broken into while parked on the verge last night. A bag was (carelessly) left on the passenger seat, so the scumbags smashed the window with bricks- in hindsight, leaving the doors unlocked might have reduced the pain.

Although last night was particularly foggy and the surveillance camera couldn't have got a clear picture, we were wondering if having a top-of-the-line camera installed would help. If we had a clear video of the perpetrators and plate numbers, would the cops do anything about it, or are we just wasting more money?

Thanks

Home & Garden

Comments

  • beachmuscles on 05/07/2015 - 11:35
    +38

    Not sound insensitive, stop leaving stuff in open view in your car. These sh!theads just go from car to car till they see something worth stealing. If it's not your car it will be the next one down the road. I would put massive sensor lights over your car, flood the area of light if there is movement, they run away then.

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 12:38

      Agreed. I've reiterated it many times but the rest of them don't seem to listen- until stuff like this happens.
      From the other responses as well, it does seem like floodlights would be the best idea for now. Our little sensor lights don't seem to be doing the job

    • [Deactivated] on 05/07/2015 - 13:19
      +2

      I would put massive sensor lights over your car, flood the area of light if there is movement

      Can you set one up, which, when triggered, also plays the sound of many many cars backfiring over and over in the direction of the burglars…? *wink*

  • whooah1979 on 05/07/2015 - 11:37
    +3

    three times this year? don't you think its time to move?

    edit
    if these people can't find easy scores (b&e), then the next step would be an escalation to "snatch and grab", then armed robbery.

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 12:41

      Speaking to the neighbours, it was meant to be a 'safe' suburb. It is only recently that this has been getting worse

      • massafiri on 06/07/2015 - 23:49
        +1

        Not to sound rude, but the idea of an orchestrated 'safe' suburb is completely ludicrous. Unless you live in a gated community - nothing is safe.

  • Diji1 on 05/07/2015 - 11:44
    +2

    First of all sorry to hear that I've been burgled and I have a little idea of how much it sucks for you.

    I honestly have no idea if it would help but I'm going to assume this sort of crime is carried out by stupid, desperate people who will commit the same types of offense everyday until they're caught so I can only assume they will be known to police. But of course even stupid people can easily hide their identity in this situation and high motion images are blurred by modern video compression so who knows.

    I don't think a higher quality camera will have much effect as a deterrent.

    You need to change how you are leaving your vehicles in a significant way.

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 13:28
      +1

      We've simply got too many cars. They're usually stacked in the driveway in the order that everyone leaves the next morning. Myself and the partner are moving soon but it doesn't seem like removing 1 car from the mix would alleviate the problem by much

  • DarkOz on 05/07/2015 - 12:06

    Sorry to hear that. This is a common problem in car parks or streets with a someone that does it regularly.

    There isn't much you could do about it except not to leave anything visible in the car. Don't even try to hide anything under the front seats for convenience because the theives will spot them with a torch. Prevention is the key to your problem and a good camera doesn't help preventing it from happening. One thing you could do is install a motion sensored flood light to spook the thief. Assuming that hasn't been done of course.

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 13:30

      There's a small sensor light, which we'll upgrade to a larger 50w one

      • DarkOz on 05/07/2015 - 14:26
        +1

        Is this a 50W normal light or a flood light? You really need a flood light which has a completely different effect to a normal light. Also I would consder something more brighter like 100W - 200W which depends on your parking area.

        • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 16:14

          Thinking of something like this: http://www.bunnings.com.au/brilliant-50w-led-grey-ranger-flo…
          activated by a sensor

        • jzdhgkd on 05/07/2015 - 16:20

          @lasertip: With Philips household LED bulbs I think 8W is equivalent to a 40W halogen, so I think a 50W LED would do quite nicely (~250W equivalent assuming all else equal)

        • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 16:26

          @jzdhgkd:

          Thanks, I'll try replacing the current sensor light with that one and see how it goes.
          Might consider adding another to the left side (where the infrared spotlight is pointing at) too

        • DarkOz on 05/07/2015 - 17:16
          +1

          @lasertip:
          Yup, like jzdhgkd said 50W LED is around 250W halogen which will do the job very nicely. Damn the price $149!

          If that doesn't spook the thief you probably need to do some night watch with a baseball bat. One of my worker did that to a group of teenagers at 3am and scared the shit out of them that they never returned.

        • daleyboy79 on 07/07/2015 - 11:40

          @lasertip: No dont go that type, you want something more like a spotlight that really lights up a particular area. That type of light covers a massive area without really being that bright in any particular spot… and fyi you can get those exact same light for about $50 off ebay (i recently bought a warm white one)

        • daleyboy79 on 08/07/2015 - 14:40

          @lasertip: man thats gonna be super bright at 100W, you will light up an entire street (possibly suburb) with that sucker. I would think your after something with a tighter beam angle (maybe 45 deg) to keep the light focused on your driveway. Those big square ones have a 120 degree angle so are more suited to lighting a large wide area

        • lasertip on 08/07/2015 - 16:52

          @daleyboy79:

          Haha blind the heck out of the neighbours everytime a car drives by. Don't seem to see any 45 deg ones but I'll keep looking. Otherwise, I'll give those 100w babies a shot

  • Randxyz123 on 05/07/2015 - 12:49
    +3

    A few things you can try

    • Install a slightly better camera you can see from the videos they got out of a huyndai white hatch but you need more detail

    • Perhaps a sensor spotlight or flood light that turns on when someone walks into your drive. Get a couple and try and hide them well. But if they are bright enough they'll scare people off or provide enough light to get a good CCTV video and possibly give the police a reason to question him/them.

    • Install security gates (this will probably cost ~5-10K) but might be worth it.

  • Davo1111 on 05/07/2015 - 13:04
    +4

    Well if you keep leaving stuff out for them to steal, you're only encouraging them to return.

    You live in (what appears to be) a large house with a double garage. The first thing would be to clean the shit out of your garage and park 2 inside every night.

    The second thing is to remove everything, and i mean everything from all vehicles, and encourage neighbours to do the same. If it's a crap street with nothing to take, then they won't bother coming back.

    Finally, get a new light installed at the bottom of the stairs facing down the driveway. Your sensor scared them, but was too late.

    Do you have a better placement for cameras? It might be worth getting another one that just records based on movement. Something better than this that has SD card stored on it. Even a dashcam could do the trick.

  • holdenmg on 05/07/2015 - 13:07
    +3

    All the driveway parked vehicles in the Video are parked facing inwards or away from the street. This (with the exception of the Tarago(?)) tends to provide cover as when the doors of the vehicles are being opened the doors of the vehicles are between them and the Camera.

    Try reversing all your vehicles in (so that when you are driving out you will be driving forwards rather than reversing).

    By doing this any footage you capture will be of them rather than the Vehicle Doors.

    Also buy (and use) some cheap Car Covers so that they will look for an easier mark. They won't generally struggle to remove covers and won't be drawn to take things if they can't see them.

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 16:18
      +2

      Reversing it up the driveway is a good idea. Covers probably will end up not getting used because they are too inconvenient; but then again, it's security vs convenience isn't it.

      • Davo1111 on 05/07/2015 - 17:16
        +3

        reversing also means you get a quick getaway, and less walk with groceries.

  • Findo on 05/07/2015 - 13:19

    What area is this?!

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 16:18

      Winthrop, WA. Supposed to be a safe area :S

      • lisss on 07/07/2015 - 17:53

        My area is also relatively safe, and cars still get broken into (also in Perth metro area). But from talking to neighbours, it's ONLY been cars with bags left in them - including gym bags etc. So the easy answer is not to leave bags in your car :(

  • [Deactivated] on 05/07/2015 - 13:22
    +7

    Every time an incident like this occurs, you should immediately report it to the police. Admitted you'd expect little enforcement action from them as they'd likely say that they have bigger cases to deal with, you simply can't underestimate the fact of having crimes like this at least recorded with your nearest police station.

    Another tip would be to either remove or hide your belongings when you leave the vehicle unattended. Given that this has eventuated on prior occasions, whoever is the offender likely knows that there's every chance you'll do something similar again.

    So, rather than hiding your belongings from clear view, the best thing to do would be remove your valuables from the car every time you remove yourself from the car.

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 16:22

      Definitely, police report was the very first thing that we did.
      It seems like they could have been different offenders as the cars driven were different.
      I usually don't leave anything in my car except the rare occasion that I forget about my crummy looking gym bag in the back of the car. Lesson learnt (for the 3rd time) I guess.

  • Schezwon on 05/07/2015 - 16:12
    +1

    Had my car window smashed right in front of a security camera at the city, cops have not done shit all. You need to bait these crooks and setup a rig to catch them. I'll help you.

    • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 16:26
      +2

      Sleep in the trunk with a samurai sword and maglight? :p
      In all seriousness though, if it were to happen once every 3-4 months, it would be difficult to stay alert through this time

      • 2jzzzz on 05/07/2015 - 16:49
        +2

        Trunk Monkey.

        • lasertip on 05/07/2015 - 21:02
          +1

          Chow

  • stemcell on 05/07/2015 - 17:33

    Empty the car of everything and I mean everything no cd's no sunnies nothing, leave glove box open with a simple drop down piece of paper clearly stating car is empty which can be read from the side window.

    There will be less incentive for them to break in and your car will be much tidier than it currently is, a car is to get you between places not to be used as a storage shed.

    • [Deactivated] on 05/07/2015 - 18:23

      Yep totally agree we had a problem in Crows Nest Sydney a few years back I work there but as most houses are car park poor many residents and us workers park in the streets a gang was doing the cars over every couple of days in broad daylight! We were informed to leave our cars empty of everything and to leave all glove boxes open including any other hidey holes for stuff they were even taking loose change.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/07/2015 - 10:24
      +6

      Don't leave a note for them. That just encourages muppets to smash the window out of spite.

  • WT on 06/07/2015 - 11:04
    +2

    I would also get a small desk lamp and fit an led. Leave it on and in one of the front rooms near a window and leave it on all night. They will second guess if someone is awake and hopefully just move on

  • ramshead on 06/07/2015 - 11:23
    +2

    Some sound advice on this thread.
    Lighting is probably your cheapest strategy. Years back I was constantly having petrol milked from my car. Inadvertently left my porch light on over several days and milking stopped.

  • captobvious on 06/07/2015 - 20:34
    -3

    Move to a better suburb. I haven't had a breakin since I left my old suburb, I have left my car unlocked with the gate open last 5yrs without being robbed and the insurance is cheaper too.

  • Thenarrator on 06/07/2015 - 22:01
    +1

    what suburb do you live in?

  • umoddbro on 07/07/2015 - 01:39
    +1

    Sleep in your car.

    • lakers1222 on 07/07/2015 - 03:03
      +2

      better still, get bikies to sleep in your car

      • Scorpiogirl on 07/07/2015 - 07:04

        What's the going rate? Rent a bikie. :)

  • [Deactivated] on 07/07/2015 - 01:51

    this is when you need a rottweiler

  • Scorpiogirl on 07/07/2015 - 07:02

    Or 2.

  • leiiv on 07/07/2015 - 09:41

    If cops never touch this kind of case, then what makes this scenario impossible: Car owner gets an insurance, (somehow) befriended the thief, get stolen goods back, share insurance payout with the thief?
    If it is of almost no consequences for the thief…

    • BartholemewH on 07/07/2015 - 10:57
      +1

      There is an excess to pay on claiming insurance on motor vehicles and not all policies cover valuables inside the vehicle. If you're going to commit fraud you don't need a robber, put a hoody in and smash the window yourself.

      • leiiv on 07/07/2015 - 11:59

        The sad thing is that people have generally accepted that it is the victim's fault (for leaving a bag inside a car). And if somehow the victim catch the thief, the victim may be charged by the cops for assault.. Why don't we all become thieves??

        • FutureTech on 07/07/2015 - 12:40
          +1

          Exactly. Would you blame the victim of a rape for dressing provocatively? You would not. Same principle applies here.

  • Donaldhump on 07/07/2015 - 16:33
    +1

    by a rottweiler and tie it to your car

    • Donaldhump on 07/07/2015 - 16:34

      even better by a car alarm…

  • ankor on 07/07/2015 - 16:40
    +3

    Leave a trail of fish hooks suspended at eye height at night.

    • shmahoo on 13/07/2015 - 23:47

      I think I've seen that movie!

  • altomic on 13/07/2015 - 21:03
    +2

    Leave an iPhone on the front console in clear view. Stand in the shadows with a baseball bat and just think of all the hurt they have caused you and wait….

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