Living through my truck break-ins, that happened last night.

treeguy64

treeguy64

Hari Om, y'all!
Location
Austin, TX.
It's never a pleasant experience when you are violated. Last night, a thief apparently opened both of my trucks, using a black box device, and helped him/herself to a few things in both trucks. Truth is, he/she took less than $100 worth of stuff, leaving very expensive tree gear and truck maintenance gear. Interestingly, this person took only my good right-hand work glove, leaving the left. I'm left-handed so, oh boy, right? I think this person was a pro because everything left behind was undisturbed, or looked it. I guess the glove grab was to prevent leaving fingerprints while he/she did the dirty work. Stolen were my sunglasses that, although very pricey, I got for free, and my inner console tray that had about two dollars worth of change and some hand sanitizer. Odd, I know. Now, I'm hesitant to leave anything in my trucks. I guess I'll spend two hours, tonight, rearranging my garage so I can move the contents of my two trucks inside. This will be a very big hassle, to be sure. This is the third time, in thirty years, here, that my vehicle(s) experienced a break-in, while parked in my driveway, a good distance from the street. In all three cases, the work was professional, as there was no gratuitous vandalism. In one case, the thief even unscrewed my security light to provide the cover of darkness. If this has happened to you, then you know what I'm feeling, right now. Not only would I condone the taking of this thief's right hand, I would be happy to swing the sword!
 

Sorry that happened. Did you file a police report? (yes, sounds like they were looking for cash, credit cards, checkbook - which surprisingly some people keep in their vehicle.)
 
Some of what they do is weird. They went into the trunk of one car that I had years ago and took a ratty tool box, but left the almost new shotgun which was lying next to it. They also left my electric drill.
 
I've had it happen three times in my life and each time I felt it was my fault for leaving items of minor value in plain sight.

I also had one vehicle stolen and returned in rough condition that had to be repaired at my own expense.

My best defense these days is keeping my vehicle in a good sized parking garage surrounded by much more desirable targets.
 
When things have been stolen from cars at our complex, its always been because the vehicles have not been locked. Change and cds are the main things taken. I am very careful to lock my car and not leave any packages in my car. Never understood people not locking their cars. Sorry, your things were taken, treeguy!
 
I am very careful to always lock my trucks. In this case, both were unlocked when I went out, this morning, to drive one of them, so I know it wasn't on me. A black box, in this instance, is a device that opens vehicles exactly like a key fob unit.
 
I know the feeling of being violated.

in another forum I posted the title was. A world of thieves. That's what we have now. Two seconds unlocked and it's gone.

In my apartment block my landlord has had six bikes stolen and I have three so far.

No way o sto it. Battery operated tools that cut cables in seconds.

The police don't care because they have too much on their plate.
 
Bad news Treeguy........I hate friggin' thieves !

Probably a little off topic but....

A couple of weeks ago it was on local news that the big thing at the moment is at night thieves are looking in vehicles to see if they can see a garage door opener and if they see one they break in the vehicle, open the garage door and steal things out of the garage.

Mama has a remote on her visor and parks inside but my Suburban and Silverado sit outside and both had garage door openers in them.....I pulled them both and I now use the keypad entry on the outside of the garage.
 
Wasn't there a tv show about stupid criminals? I mean, he only took less than $100 worth of stuff and yet risked having a criminal record for a lifetime that would ruin so many opportunities forever. Everyone has access on the internet to background checks so who wants to hire a thief?

It's a horrible feeling to be the victim. But sometimes, when it's a small loss compared to the possibilities, then I believe it's a wake up call to us to be more cautious. You were cautious before but now even moreso.

Is a black box or key fob unit legal? What else would they be for than to break in...(rhetorical question)
 
I had my car stolen in 2011 from in front of the house and although I got it back 1 1/2 days later unharmed (he had even detailed it and completely cleaned the inside), the teenage thief took EVERYTHING from the car, including $214 worth of library books that were in a box in the trunk to be returned the next day.

Insurance didn't cover the library books, unfortunately, or anything else he took. I guess I could have wrestled my coat off his mother, who wore it to the trial (not that I actually wanted it back at that point). There was no use going after the thief as he came from an "indigent" family.
 
The little black box is known as a "Code Grabber", but it's real name is a "Roll Jam." The thief will place the code grabber near your vehicle in the grass or somewhere out of sight and the next time you use your key fob to unlock your door, the Roll Jam will grab the code (radio signals are transmitted). Then, at night, when you are all tucked away in your bed, he will retrieve his code grabber and open your door by pushing the button on the little black box that will send out a radio signal with your code on it and viola! The door is unlocked.

There are other devices, but none as sophisticated as the Roll Jam.
 
911 said:
The little black box is known as a "Code Grabber", but it's real name is a "Roll Jam." The thief will place the code grabber near your vehicle in the grass or somewhere out of sight and the next time you use your key fob to unlock your door, the Roll Jam will grab the code (radio signals are transmitted). Then, at night, when you are all tucked away in your bed, he will retrieve his code grabber and open your door by pushing the button on the little black box that will send out a radio signal with your code on it and viola! The door is unlocked.

There are other devices, but none as sophisticated as the Roll Jam.
Click to expand...

So you have to be pre-targeted by someone, so as to place the gadget nearby. They have to be able to "grab" the code at some point before the actual stealing process. Have I got it right?
 
Happened 3 times at our previous place in 17 years. 1. Broke in, probably unlocked, took my ashtray & about $3 in change, wish they had left the tray. 2. Stole my rear license plate soon to expire anyway. Took the time to replace my plate cover & screws, thanks. 3. Stole a small utility trailer full of weeds, garbage & wasp nests, tire was flat. If they had stopped & asked I would have given it to them.
 
DaveA said:
So you have to be pre-targeted by someone, so as to place the gadget nearby. They have to be able to "grab" the code at some point before the actual stealing process. Have I got it right?
Click to expand...

You got it!
 
Sorry you had to deal with this treeguy
Ive never had a car broken into in all my life. I leave my car parked in our driveway unlocked all the time.
We also leave our house door unlocked often. Thugs and thieves don’t live around these areas I guess or we are just plain lucky.
 
When living in town, a neighbor kid broke in to (opened the door of) my old truck.
Yanked out the stereo
brought it back
said it didn't work
gutsy little turd
I mentioned the nice truck and stereo next door

...failed to mention the shotgun

Out here?
Thieves get buried...probably
 
I just bought a Nissan Titan truck for several reasons over Ford, Chevy and Dodge. Ford is the number one most stolen truck in Texas followed by Chevy. I had a Dodge for 14 years before the Titan. I had my Buick LeSabre stolen in New Orleans back in the 80s. I parked it and walked about 3/4 of a block when I decided I was too tired to party so I headed back to my car which was gone. It was recovered a couple days later and apparently stolen by a thief that had master keys to all vehicles according to the cops.
 

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