<VV> Cops and thieves (was Stolen 'Vair)

[Thesuperscribe at cs.com]

Folks,

To be fair to police, let me provide some counterpoints to how this thread 
has gone. Our house was burgled a few months ago and a San Diego County deputy 
sheriff showed up just a few hours later. He took notes, wrote up a report and 
got what looked like a fingerprint off the frame of the unlocked window the 
burglar entered.

The deputy was sympathetic and expressed his deep disgust for criminals in 
general and thieves in particular. But he said it was not likely the burglar(s) 
would be caught. That's the reality, because it's likely (though not a 
certainty) the culprit was an illegal immigrant and might not have any record. 

Such hombres have a regular MO around here, the deputy said. A guy goes to a 
house, knocks on the front door and if someone answers, asks if there's any 
work. If no one answers, he finds a way in and takes what he wants. One of the 
items missing was a pillow case from our bed, and the deputy explained that the 
burglar grabs that to carry away the loot. Usually the guy will ditch the 
loaded pillow case into some nearby bushes, then return later to retrieve it.

The burglar was in our bedroom to grab jewelry -- the most sought after item 
around here because jewelry is easily fenced, and it's almost always stored in 
people's bedrooms. He got about $12,000 worth of it, my wife figures. It 
appears he also meant to grab a camera bag and a flat-type computer screen, but 
left them behind, maybe because something spooked him and he bugged out. And no, 
he didn't go into the garage and take any of my Corvair stuff.

We have a smallish dog who barks like crazy when a stranger appears, but that 
didn't stop him. From her shy behavior for several weeks afterward, it's 
likely he kicked her and otherwise seriously scared her. 

(We later went to an animal shelter and got a BIG German Shepard-Rottweiler 
who was REALLY aggressive about protecting us and the property, but he was too 
much. However, with training, he's now a mild-mannered but still 
fearsome-looking assist dog for a local disabled lady; my wife sees him regularly when she 
goes to physical therapy and he still loves her -- so some good things come 
out of misfortunes).

A day after the burglary, a civilian anti-crime specialist from the local 
sheriff's office called, then came by to offer us tips to avoid burglaries. 
Mostly, it means locking up the place and making the house otherwise difficult to 
enter (e.g., installing strong deadbolt locks and putting big prickly potted 
plants beneath windows). This led to a Neighborhood Watch meeting for neighbors 
a couple of weeks later.  

Our home owner's insurance covered almost none of our losses, only about 
$1,000, because we had failed to get a rider protecting the jewelry into our 
policy. We've added coverage for our PCs and my business stuff (I work at home), 
but haven't yet documented the remaining jewelry with photos and appraisals, as 
the insurance company requires. Well, we have the house sold now, and will do 
all that when we get into our new one (won't we?). 

So, two conclusions: Our experience with the local sheriff's office was very 
good. And I'm sorry your local police didn't act the same way. You might try 
putting pressure on them by going up the chain of command, talking to local 
politicians, and contacting local media to put the glare of publicity on the 
situation. 

--Tom B in Bonsall, Calif.

*** 

In a message dated 5/20/2005 12:23:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time, ronh at owt.com 
writes: 
> 
> 
> It does show how law enforcement couldn't care less about theft.  This was 
> also shown when a friends house was burgularized while he was away. 
> Thousands of dollars of stuff was taken including some irreplaceable '28 
> Buick parts, the local Sheriff's department yawned.  Keep your 357 handy!
> RonH
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tony Underwood" <tonyu at roava.net>
> To: "penneyracer1" <penneyracer1 at earthlink.net>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 12:17 PM
> Subject: Re: <VV> Re: stolen 'vair
> 
> 
> >At 07:39 hours 05/20/2005, penneyracer1 wrote:
> >>   sounds like you should pay him a visit and go to work on him with a 
> >>pair of pliers and a blowtorch
> >>  _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> >Nahh, all he needs is a three foot section of good hard broomstick.
> >
> >
> >tony..