Local Scrotes Break Into My 211

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toolman1954

MB Enthusiast
SUPPORTER
Joined
Sep 16, 2004
Messages
1,145
Location
Leven, Fife / Northampton
Car
2006 320 CDI Avantgarde . 1997 312d Sprinter
Hi,
Friday morning, I walked out the front door with the dog, only to see my front passenger window smashed, and glass all over the pavement.
You get that sinking feeling of, "what's been stolen" and how do I deal with this. Not only but also, I was going back up Scotland on Sunday, "was" now being the operative word.
My first glance showed that the glovebox was open and papers strewed on the seat, the centre console was open, my little DAB radio that sits in the ashtray was dangling in thin air. The car was still locked, so I doubt that they actually open the door. I took the dog for his walk round the park, he had been patiently waiting, gave me some time to chill and the BP to come down.
Did the alarm go off, it probably did, and I think they had a quick search and made off before anyone came. It is some time since I heard my alarm, and despite it being a replaced unit a few years ago, it never seemed loud when I last heard it .
Phoned the Police, 1/2 an hour on the phone, they wouldnt be coming out as it is a minor crime, if there was blood, (they would have attended), they gave me a crime number. Would it be such a minor crime if I had caught the bast@rd and he was laying unconcious??
A few weeks ago, my neighbour had his car broken into, my van was broken into 2 weeks ago and now this. The place is becoming scumbag city. Only last week the Police were door to door knocking about the increase in drug dealing in the area.
I phoned my Insurance company, who had a direct line to Autoglass, which was very usefui. The lassie on the other end of the phone was very helpful. Because of the blue tinted glass, they could not get a panel until Monday, so earliest appointment for fitting was Tuesday. I asked about vehicle security, and she arranged for a technician to come out and sort out a perspex temporary window. I must admit, I did not know this service was available. The tech guy came out and helped vac up the glass and made a good job of putting a piece of perspex into the missing window hole, apart from the colour, you wouldn't spot anything different. When he examined the frame, he found a mark in the rubber, where he said a screwdriver had been used to apply pressure to the window glass and causing it to shatter. He said it was a common cause of break ins .
So, missing, is a bunch of keys, this is going to cause me some problems, but I have reported the loss on the Police website, I can just hope the keys get chucked and someone hands them in. There was probably £10 in the glovebox, spare cash for an emergency, and I think, an old Sat nav in the armrest. I take some consolation, that they did not open the change draw, as stupidly I had left a spare key there, and also in the wee cubby hole behind the gear lever they missed the cash I had left for fuel to go back up to Scotland, which now of course is on hold.
Note to self to check the loudness of the alam, but does anyone take any notice of a car alarm these days.?
Aged 64 with 2 arthritic knees, would I have used the baseball bat, that sits in my hallway?? TFR I would have. It seems that there is no punishment to deter these scrotes from breaking into peoples cars, best to break both their hands, so they have to find someone to wipe thir @rses.
Yes i am annoyed.!
Just now have to wait till Tuesday and see if the glass has arrived.

Steve.
 

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I’m gutted for you Steve :(
 
Not the best start to a day. Worst thing is the police attitude to crime! Nothing to do with us Govnr !!
 
Mate im so sorry to have heard this , And yes that's the usual response ive always had from the police, not interested.

At least you and none of your family were hurt mate.
 
Little bastards!
 
Don't knock the police; when you don't have the resources to do everything you want to, you have to prioritise, and these days, the reality is that most no-injury car crime, other than a roadside pull, simply won't be investigated, because there's no-one available to investigate it.
 
Sorry to hear this.

The wife's car was broken-into on 3 occasions - once someone tried to prise-out the radio (I didn't know they still steal these things?), on another occasion they thieves made away with a realistic-looking toy mobile phone belonging to one of the kids, and on the third they stole a Bluetooth hands-free kit that was strapped to the sun visor.

(The wife got fed-up with cleaning broken glass bits so started simply leaving the car unlocked, saying let them take what they won't just don't break the window again; until one morning we found a homeless person sleeping in it....)

It seems that leaving absolutely nothing in plain sight and also leaving all storage compartments open helps reduce the risk.

Anyway, consider yourself lucky it wasn't raining... just get Autoglass to fit a new MB glass and hoover the broken glass bits, then put it all behind you... I say original MB because I like to see the same MB logo on all windows (OCD), but if you are not fussed then any glass will do.
 
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Man, I'm sorry to hear this mate.. I make myself readily available up here if you need to pop by for any repairs etc.. even a Sainsbury's breakfast lols! ;)

Seriously, you need a hand gimme a PM.. hope Jack was alright mate..;) :thumb:
 
Sorry to hear this.
(The wife got fed-up with cleaning broken glass bits so started simply leaving the car unlocked, saying let them take what they won't just don't break the window again; until one morning we found a homeless person sleeping in it....)

Oh...My Gawd!! Did he operate squatters rights? How did that work out .. I've only ever found that once in a flat I stayed in.. the homeless person was hard up against my front door and when I left early in the morning, I opened the door and he fell in... I don't know who got the bigger fright him or me..must have got in the block when the intercom/security was broke...
 
I appreciate it's no consolation, but when our house got vandalised (little sh!ts where throwing rocks at windows) I ran the non-emergency police number and they told me I should have called 999 because there was a chance they could have caught them if they were still nearby.

So no, the police are not particularly interested if they don't think they'll be able to catch anyone, but rest assured they would have been there in a flash if you'd seen the barstewards running away.

The corollary to this story is that I did get a call from a community support officer a month or so later to say they were pretty sure they knew who was responsible, and that they'd had a conversation with their parents. - So there is a chance you'll get a call to say "caught them" at a later date, and maybe asking you to press charges.
 
Really sorry to hear this, sadly becoming all too common now and as pointed out the police just don't have the resources to follow this up.

As mad as this makes you, if it happens let the scum take what they want and don't confront them, it's all to common to hear tragic stories when the owner has tried to intervene or even stories where the victim ends up being prosecuted.
 
Oh...My Gawd!! Did he operate squatters rights? How did that work out .. I've only ever found that once in a flat I stayed in.. the homeless person was hard up against my front door and when I left early in the morning, I opened the door and he fell in... I don't know who got the bigger fright him or me..must have got in the block when the intercom/security was broke...
He was a young Irish lad who somehow ended-up sleeping rough in London. He had a mobile phone on his person... we had a chat, I gave him a £5 note and he went on his way. The car was a Toyota Previa so quite spacious.
 
Don't knock the police; when you don't have the resources to do everything you want to, you have to prioritise, and these days, the reality is that most no-injury car crime, other than a roadside pull, simply won't be investigated, because there's no-one available to investigate it.

As a general rule, I would knock the police because the last time I phoned them to report a crime they spent the whole length of the call "persuading" me not to report it. Apparently reporting a crime they are unlikely to resolve is not good for their crime figures, so best all round to forget it ever happened.
 
Sorry to hear this toolman, not much you can do unfortunately, the police do not have the resources to chase “minor” crime.

Only thing you can do is catch them in the act and beat the sh1t out of them and leave them in a heap, do not report it to the police and claim you never saw a thing.

Nowadays it seems the aggressor has more rights than the person on who the crime is committed, long gone are the days when the local Bobbie fitted his boot up the ar$e of these scroats.
 
Only thing you can do is catch them in the act and beat the sh1t out of them and leave them in a heap

Whats the point, insurance will pay for it. Not worth possibly risking your life over, who knows they may have a weapon...
 
As a general rule, I would knock the police because the last time I phoned them to report a crime they spent the whole length of the call "persuading" me not to report it. Apparently reporting a crime they are unlikely to resolve is not good for their crime figures, so best all round to forget it ever happened.

If you are the victim of a fraud, but the fraud attempt failed, or the bank or credit card provider will reimburse you, then ActionFraud will insist that your call is classified as 'Incident Report' and not 'Crime Report', for this very reason. They will only accept it as a Crime Report if you have actually lost money.

I did try to argue with them that if someone opened several bank accounts in my name, and managed to obtain considerable credit facilities and bank cards, but didn't actually get any money because I intercepted the letters with the PIN codes in the last minute and only by sheer luck, has a crime not been committed?

Well a crime may have been committed, but it can't be reported as a 'crime', not according to ActionFraud anyway. Keeps the crime figures down...

They did try and explain that once I reported it to the bank, they will have reported it to ActionFraud as a matter of course, and the reason ActionFraud won't accept a Crime Report from me is that it will then count as two crimes...

Rant over.
 
He was a young Irish lad who somehow ended-up sleeping rough in London. He had a mobile phone on his person... we had a chat, I gave him a £5 note and he went on his way. The car was a Toyota Previa so quite spacious.

I wouldn't be surprised if he went down to the Dilly to check out the scene, and soon ended up on the old main drag....
 
Hi,
I just would like to say " Thank You " to everyone for your kind messages of support.
I had a chat with my mate last night, and as he said, "Its only a car and no one got hurt ". ( He always leaves his car open so the windows don't get smashed ! )
Once I get the window fixed and get back up Fife, I will feel happier. The keys issue I will resolve at a later date.

Steve.
 
As a general rule, I would knock the police because the last time I phoned them to report a crime they spent the whole length of the call "persuading" me not to report it. Apparently reporting a crime they are unlikely to resolve is not good for their crime figures, so best all round to forget it ever happened.

So you report it, it is included in the crime stats, and it will still not be investigated due to lack of resources. Then what? You gain nothing, and the funding source (HM Govt) from which the lack of resources stems takes no notice. Irritating, but that's the way it is. Don't blame the police for a situation which is not of their making and which they cannot change.
 

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