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Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

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Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#51

Post by tempnow987 »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #29
tempnow987 wrote: post #22

One note, in some cities the parking folks don't talk to police, so if your car is stolen you can start checking for tickets. This used to result in pretty quick hits. I had my car stolen 3 times and recovered it each time, unfortunately in progressively worse condition. Once I found folks in it. Cops said basically nothing would happen to them if I tried to pursue anything so I didn't do anything because they were i…

"I had my car stolen 3 times" I'm curious: does the above make you think the car will be stolen again pretty soon? If so, does that cause you ongoing stress?

No, it was an older car (so easy to steal). After it had been trashed (radio ripped out, trunk wouldn't close properly) it had no real value anymore.

The thieves would normally steal it and kill battery (because of damage you had to really fiddle with it to get trunk light off etc). So I'd find it in a parking spot.

They did seem to sometimes use it to hang out in, which is how I ran into them in it. I think in some cases they used these stolen cars to store stuff so I'd do a quick search before taking it back.

Only really annoying thing was that it would have been trivial for cops to a) recover these given the citation data was already in a city system and b) void out the citations given car was reported stolen.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#52

Post by inetknght »

awb wrote: post #49
abyssin wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if the car is used to store valuable and illegal goods? And a big amount of them? Now you’re the target of both the criminals and the police.

Probably just the criminals. It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. However, if you’re mixed up in illegal activity then yeah it might look bad.

> It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods.

I see you haven't had much experience with American police.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#53

Post by comrh »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #46
jsqu99 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are you allowed to show up armed, in case they are waiting for you? If you end up in a shootout, will you be considered the aggressor? Seems dangerous to me

In America? Yes. I can't speak for other countries. If you do get in a shootout, well, that's likely self defense. Many will wring their hands over taking direct action, but I can speak from experience, the police and legal system don't give a damn about you or your possessions. I would absolutely be willing to risk it rather than go through the hassle of buying a new car right now.

Buying a new car is more of a hassle than risking getting into a shootout over property?

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#54

Post by [deleted] »

inetknght wrote: post #52
awb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably just the criminals. It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. However, if you’re mixed up in illegal activity then yeah it might look bad.

> It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. I see you haven't had much experience with American police.

[deleted]

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#55

Post by kingcharles »

I was in jail with a guy who robbed a 7-11. This is how he got caught:

Goes into store, masked up, with gun. Sticks up cashier. Walks cashier back to manager's office and sticks up manager. Cashier takes moment of distraction to try to call 911 on her iPhone. Robber sees and snatches phone off her and puts in his pocket. Takes all money from store, exits out back to waiting car, takes off. Clean getaway. 15 mins later pulled over at intersection by cops swarming from all directions.

Immediately after robbery, manager called cops. Turned up two mins later. Showed them Find My iPhone on the store PC. Cop radios everyone in area and directs their movements. Game over.

Funny thing with jail is that you get to really like guys even if their crimes were bogus. He was a funny guy and I felt bad for him because the previous two times he'd been locked up for armed robbery he had got out to find his wife pregnant. He'd adopted both kids and was very sweet to them on the phone when I overheard him, but honestly, his wife is probably pregnant again now.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#56

Post by awb »

inetknght wrote: post #52
awb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably just the criminals. It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. However, if you’re mixed up in illegal activity then yeah it might look bad.

> It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. I see you haven't had much experience with American police.

True, I’ve only had 6 or 7 interactions with police and they’ve all been quick and easy, but I am an educated middle age white male family man from the Bay Area so I get that other people have very different experiences from mine and yeah I could see how “just explain it to the police” wouldn’t work for everyone.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#57

Post by warmwaffles »

gnicholas wrote: post #13
nostromo wrote: post #3

Some people don't know that you absolutely are allowed to take back your stolen property. You don't need to involve the police unless you want to. Repo folks do this all the time. Keep an extra key for your car at home and put an Airtag in your car. If it's stolen, just go get it back when it's safe to do so. Calling the police in most American cities won't get you far. They usually can't pursue a speeding car anymor…

Question: someone steals your car and you go to take it back. When you drive off with it, the thief's backpack/laptop/etc. are in the back seat. Can you now be prosecuted for theft? Obviously most people wouldn't want to hang around long enough to fully inspect the vehicle to make sure they're not taking anything that doesn't belong to them! My inkling, as a former lawyer, is that this would not be theft if you didn'…

I'm sure if a DA tried to pull this, a grand jury or judge would no bill this.

Personally, if found stuff that wasn't mine, it'd get pitched to a dumpster.

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#58

Post by kingcharles »

awb wrote: post #6
nostromo wrote: post #3

Some people don't know that you absolutely are allowed to take back your stolen property. You don't need to involve the police unless you want to. Repo folks do this all the time. Keep an extra key for your car at home and put an Airtag in your car. If it's stolen, just go get it back when it's safe to do so. Calling the police in most American cities won't get you far. They usually can't pursue a speeding car anymor…

Walking into an unfamiliar situation without training and potentially being confronted by known criminals does not sound like a great idea to me. Sorry, but my property just isn’t worth the risk. It’s replaceable, I’m not.

Having been in jail (in the USA) with dozens of carjackers and car thieves, all of them were packing all of the time, because of rival gangs. They will NOT think at all before shooting. They will just shoot you and run. The kids who do this stuff are ingrained now to just shoot at any threat. Fist-fighting is long gone. I am not exaggerating here. They will shoot.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/police-believe-carjack...

Re: Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

#59

Post by kingcharles »

gnicholas wrote: post #13
nostromo wrote: post #3

Some people don't know that you absolutely are allowed to take back your stolen property. You don't need to involve the police unless you want to. Repo folks do this all the time. Keep an extra key for your car at home and put an Airtag in your car. If it's stolen, just go get it back when it's safe to do so. Calling the police in most American cities won't get you far. They usually can't pursue a speeding car anymor…

Question: someone steals your car and you go to take it back. When you drive off with it, the thief's backpack/laptop/etc. are in the back seat. Can you now be prosecuted for theft? Obviously most people wouldn't want to hang around long enough to fully inspect the vehicle to make sure they're not taking anything that doesn't belong to them! My inkling, as a former lawyer, is that this would not be theft if you didn'…

The definition of theft is to take something with the intent to not return it.

Once you found the backpack, you would have to return it to the thief for it not to be theft.

Hopefully you wouldn't get prosecuted, but you are then at the whim of the prosecutor. If the thief calls it in you've created a bad situation. I was in jail and saw weird crimes like this. A guy bought some dope for $40 from a dealer, but only handed him $20 and ran off with the dope. The dealer called 911 and reported the stolen merch. The buyer was in jail with me. WTF.

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