Vigilantism

[AngryPistols]

Need some advice on Vigilantism

Last Saturday, my wife and I went to a local furniture store to pick out some new mattresses, cause it took us only a year to wear the old ones! Ok, back to reality, they(mattresses) are under warranty and are defective.

We decide to take my six day old truck still with paper tags. We get into the parking lot and I notice that the spots closest to the front are taken, so we move around to the other side of the store. It’s crowded as SH*T and while I am still only 50 feet from the door and decide that the ‘Mrs’ needs to walk after our big assed enchilada lunch. Not to mention that I was being particular about parking to avoid ‘dings’. It’s about 1:30pm.

We enter the store and we are in there about 1.5 hours. Fast forward, we come out of the store and I walk around to unlock/open the door for the little lady and WTF I notice that there is screwdriver marks all over the door and the lock. I go around to the driver’s side and open the door and my muthaFU**ing back pack is gone from the floor. (It’s a regular cab and did I mention it’s SIX days old?) Inside my pack was my F*ckin’ wallet, a GPS, MP3 player, leatherman, Gerber paraframe knife and some weightlifting shit(gloves, straps, belt, towel and the like). I forgot it was in there, call me a dumbass, but shit ain’t this America?

Called the cops, filled a report, cancelled my cards, got new accounts from our bank.(luckily, they are open on the weekends and until 9:00pm to boot) Our account numbers were in my wallet and we had to get the accounts closed, my wife cashed in a retirement account and the money was in our savings until we figured out(investment wise) what to do with it.

I get finished and get to bed about 11:30pm, cannot sleep, toss and turn replaying all kinds of shit in my mind. Did I get everything? What was I missing?

Sunday morning, the ‘Fraud Investigator’ from one of the cards calls and asks if I have been charging gasoline and I say no, not on that card. He says that someone was successful 2 out of 3 times at charging gas and they (the credit card company) “lockedâ€

[Bugsy]

Man, first thing AP I gotta say I'm sorry that you had/have to go through that bullshit.

Now after having ranted and raved about not gettin off a airplane with suspected terrorists I know this is gonna come as a shock to some of the brothers on the board but here goes.

You're pissed off, them assholes got away and your wallet is long long gone bro. If you do "lie in wait" and something goes wrong, you're gonna find yourself in big trouble. The fact that you are in fact PISSED OFF, the odds of you gettin emotional if some asshole is stupid enough to break into a car while your there waiting you could take him or her down. But even still you won't have your wallet, you won't know for sure if the perp is the same guy/girl who ripped you off to begin with, AND IF HE'S ARMED somebody innocent could get hurt if there was an exchange of gunfire.

Most criminals aren't known for their ability to shoot very well, especially when they're in pannick mode.

My advise is call the insurance company and see if you're covered (which I'm sure you've already done). Count yourself lucky that you caught it before they emptyed your bank accounts, also don't forget to call all 3 of the credit card agencies. Go home, go fishin or something that will take your mind off of it cause you're playing with fire. I would also make a written complaint against the officer that you spoke to for unprofessionalism (not that it will do much in your case but maybe next time he'll treat a crime victim with a little more respect). Just my 2cents Brother.

[ertdoc222]

AP,
If I was you, I would log a complaint with the officer / detetcive who blew you off. Unsure about Texas, but in GA it's a felony. This case is a no brainer and the lazy ass officer could at least pull some video tape to possibly ID a POS that used your card. Lastly, don't try to exact revenge, it could more damage than it's worth.

[AngryPistols]

Thank you for your wise words Ranger BeadleBug and ertdoc222. You guys are definately the voice of reason and I know my hair-brained scheme is because I am still reeling and pissed off because of my own naivity and their lack of respect. I am 40 next week and definately don't need to end up dead or in jail.

In my (somewhat feeble) mind, I demand retribution and feel that the local PD's apathy is part of the problem with the rise in property crimes.

Our fair city needs to do more to put 'school aged' thugs to work during the summer or at least go to 'year round' school. They have way to much time on their hands.

Thanks again.

Angry

[FireFinder]

Hey AP,

I don't know if this applies to your community, but here our LEO's are pretty overworked, short-staffed, and swamped with all kinds of calls. Property crimes and traffic enforcement are the last two things to be dealt with. Our town PD RARELY has the time or resources to run traffic enforcement during daylight hours. That still doesn't excuse them blowing you off. Sometimes you have to push the issue, go down to the station and "help them help you."

Ranger BeadleBug's advice is worth gold. If something went down, and you ended up using your CCW, chances are (even in Texas) you are going down for a non-righteous shooting.

Being ripped off sucks. We had a guy here who left his very expensive Cannondale Super-V mountain bike locked up outside our building overnight, and he was surprised that it got stolen. I sympathize with his loss, but you can't give them the opportunity to commit crimes. I don't leave shit in my vehicle. Hell, when I had a Jeep Wrangler with a soft top, you could just unzip the windows to get in the damn thing, but some scumbag who wasn't smart enough to work a zipper had to cut the soft top to break into it.

Another guy here at work has the older square-body style Jeep Cherokee with the vent-wing windows. He had left his wallet and a cheap CD player in his rig, and someone forced the vent windows open, got in, and stole his wallet and CD player in broad daylight. Too bad for him that 2 of our employees that smoke were taking a smoke break and saw the whole thing go down. Cops were called, caught the guy, coworker got his shit back all within 20 minutes. I still had to point out that he shouldn't have left his wallet in the car.

Bottom line, there are too many people who will rob you blind if you give them opportunities. Best to not give them an opportunity to rip you off.

I hope you get some better support from your PD in this case, and they catch that worthless fuck.

[smokn38]

Angry Pistols:

Ranger BeadleBug is dead nuts on. Don't put yourself in a position that will cause you grief at a later date. I was in a similar situation several years back when my truck was stolen while I was in Desert Storm. The thought of that wonderful sound of aluminum bat meeting the knee cap of the turd crossed my mind several times.

Push the police harder. Credit card companies will usually work with you, and your insurance company should be of help as well.

Is it gratifying kicking the fuck out of the shitbag for doing this?? yeah. Is it worth you freedom at a later time?? no.

[Rgr_MindRiot]

AP everything said and this....how could you claim self defense if you armed yourself and waited in ambush for a "property crime" ? As much as we would like to exact some street justice on the punks there is no way you could defend against accuasation of premeditation in a worst case scenario.

[Horned Toad]

another thing is that the cops wont drop the donut to go after the theives but when you smack those guys with a bat and they file asualt charges on you, you can bet the cops will persue that

[Squigly]

Just an idea have the inside of your pick up dusted for prints, If they have been picked up before for these types of things or get caught in the future they can be charged with the crime. Yes it’s a long shot but it may work out in the long run.

[Liquid Confusion]

Just an idea have the inside of your pick up dusted for prints, If they have been picked up before for these types of things or get caught in the future they can be charged with the crime. Yes it’s a long shot but it may work out in the long run.

lol, do not mean to laugh at you so much as laughing at the frustration I experienced in a similar situation. There is about zero chance at having your car dusted for fingerprints; short of a federal crime or a murder having happened in your car.

I had a couple of morons try to steal my car, long story short, they were caught soon after trying to steal it. One of the morons left their entire set of keys in my drivers seat, was like 20 keys at least. Witnesses saw them hence why they were caught, but cops would do nothing more then take the witnesses statements and expect them to do all the work. So one of the witnesses did not show up at court and these 2 idiot car thief's were set free.

I can understand how frustrating this whole process is, shit the guys who tried to steal my car where caught and I could easily find out who they are. But after a week or so of planing revenge I realized that it was better left alone, I am not a criminal and decided risking a shitload of charges just for revenge did not balance out.

Once you step into these guys world you will break your neck trying to look back and figure out how the whole world just got so fucked up. Just my 2 cents. btw 3 or 4 months later I don't even think about those morons anymore, sure I learned a lesson or 2 about the world but I no longer have any stress about the ordeal.

[ChipOnShoulder]

Don't do anything with witnesses around. At least let the perp steal agian---Then follow him/her/it to a place with nobody around then unleash the revenge/pain. If you are going to do shit, do it smart and in a calculating manner. Oh yeah --- DON'T GET CAUGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

PS: I am a Doc but I am first a Ranger so don't let the tittle fool ya!

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[RGR_Dan]

Its a shot in the dark but..... You may consider going back and finding your serial numbers. Its gonna be a pain in the ass! Then I'm sure you have a friend of a friend of a friend that might be a cop. Have them list the items as stolen on NCIC (nationwide database) Its a long shot but they may locate them later. Alot of times we catch these guys in the act and they still have stuff from long ago. If its not on NCIC they'll let old boy keep it or it sits in an evidence room. Check your local pawn shops, they don't want your stuff they want crack or meth money.But now i'm gonna piss ya off. Don't put your shit where it can be seen. Make it look like you don't have anything in there. They won't bother and move on. Hide cellphone cords. Cords=phones. Be especially vigilant at the gym and malls. It costs people money to go to the gym. Money = Nice trucks which = good targets.

[lawdog]

A few issues that I might be able to shed light on..

1) Fingerprints - First off any textured surface makes it extremely difficult to pull latent prints for identification. If anything is found, the thugs have to have prints on file after an arrest for them to even be viable for comparisons. Don't count on this happening. Unlike somepeople believe, it is not only how serious the crime but how likely prints are to be located that determines if prints are checked for.

2) The cop that told you is was the credit card companies problem needs to get his ass chewed. It is his fucking job, as it is mine when report to me, to follow up on and take care of this. Yes, we are mostly overworked but something small to me is something big to someone else so I attack them all with the same vigor. As he should have done.

3) NCIC - NCIC has strick guidelines on what can and cannot be entered into the database. Nothing that I saw that you had could be placed into NCIC. The GPS or MP3 player would be the closest but they each have a minimum dollar value for them to be entered.

4) Videotape or identification from the gas station. I thought you said there was no video tape or did I miss that? Even if there was, if the system even works the quality is usually so piss poor that any form of identification is next to impossible. The officer who took your report should still check, but not a likely avenue. With the ability to pay at the pumps the company should have record of time and date which would narrow the search down on the tape, if it exists.

5) Setting the assholes up. Shit, most of us would love to see that but it's not worth it. Everyone would make you out to be the bad guy and the police would have no choice but to hold you accountable. Bad Idea.

-I know it sucks. I had a pistol stolen from the trunk of my car in 98. Fuckers took my badge, extra mags, a set of Hiatt handcuffs, and my shoulder rig along with it. I fucking wanted to puke. Gook luck Bro. If you do find them, get a jab in for me.

[AngryPistols]

Gentlemen and Deppers,

Thanks to all who responded with words of kindness and wisdom. Following commiting my thoughts to paper(so to speak) and following Ranger BeadleBug’s advice about fishing, I actually settled down this weekend and actually got my mind off of this BS.

Sometimes you have to push the issue, go down to the station and "help them help you."

Excellent idea and I'll take donuts to sweeten the deal. No seriously, I think this is very good advice.

Angry Pistols:
Push the police harder. Credit card companies will usually work with you, and your insurance company should be of help as well.

The theft ‘detective’ told me that it was up to the CC company to pursue and not me!! He didn’t even want the info.

....how could you claim self defense if you armed yourself and waited in ambush for a "property crime" ?

Good point Rgr Mindriot!

another thing is that the cops wont drop the donut to go after the theives but when you smack those guys with a bat and they file asualt charges on you, you can bet the cops will persue that

Amen, tell it to the people Ranger Horned Toad.

…have the inside of your pick up dusted for prints, If they have been picked up before for these types of things or get caught in the future they can be charged with the crime.

Thanks for the ‘well-intended’ advice, however, the beat cop told me that a detective would have to lift the prints and he was an 1.5 hours away on another call.

That reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry gets his TV stolen and the cop tells him that he will contact him if anything ‘turns up’. Jerry then asks him it anything ever ‘turn up’?

...You may consider going back and finding your serial numbers. Its gonna be a pain in the ass! Don't put your shit where it can be seen. Make it look like you don't have anything in there.

Roger that RGR Dan and no the advice doesn’t piss me off. I know you speaketh the truth Ranger. Thanks.

…it's a wallet and some other bullshit, bottom line. Minor material things. If the cop that you spoke to was a real dickhead, file a complaint, Hope it all works out brother.

DS

Yes, you are right on the money Ranger Desert Sloth. It’s just minor material possessions.

Angry