Monday, July 9, 2007

Huh?

So I was sitting at work today, sans air conditioner, and I suddenly heard my car alarm go off. Thinking it was odd, I stood up to look out the window, and saw a young man with his hand on the door of my Suburban. He paused a moment, then took off running. He ran across the parking lot, and jumped into the passenger side of an older minivan (I think it was a Mazda MPV, but I couldn't tell for sure). The passenger-side door of the minivan was open: he managed to get in and the minivan took off very quickly.

Sadly, I was slow on the draw on my cell-phone camera (which may not have been very relevant: my phone is obnoxious with the camera, making me explicitly save between every picture), so I never got any pictures of the young man. I did manage to write down the license plate number of the minivan: North Carolina # WPF-8886.

Of course, I called the police, but they didn't seem too interested in my story. It went something like this:
"Did anyone get hurt?"
"No"
"Is there damage on the car?"
"No, he never got in, the alarm scared him off"
"Oh"
"I have the license plate number of the car he took off in"
"Oh"
"Do you want it?"
"Well, I guess I could circulate it"
"North Carolina WPF-8886"
"Thank you"

I guess just touching someone's door and setting off the alarm isn't a crime. But I would have expected with all the car break-ins that have been happening in the area, they would have liked to at least know the license plate number.

So I don't want to slander or libel anyone, but someone who was touching my car was very upset when the alarm went off, and hot-footed it into a running, waiting minivan with a North Carolina license plate WPF-8886. If you see it, you might want to be careful.

It would have been better to get pictures, of course, but alas! such was not to be this time.

4 comments:

Gwen said...

Bugger it. Haven't you already gone through all this?

Here in Terrace we leave our bikes sitting out in the carport... just something to think about.

clumsy ox said...

Well, I was mistaken. Apparently the guy did get into the car.

I got a call from HR at this company (I'm not an employee, I'm a contractor; but HR handles a lot of this stuff). Apparently quite a few cars have been broken into, and the guy always breaks out the lock. I went outside to look, and sure enough, the lock's been forced. I never noticed yesterday, because I always use the keyless entry feature (my thumper).

That explains the console: it was standing open, apparently the guy actually went through it. I had been in there too, and thought I must just have forgotten to close it.

Well, there was nothing of value in the car, but if it's the same guy who's hit here already; then at least I got the license plate#. I can't do much with it, but the company might be a different story.

Chuck Hicks said...

Gwen,

When I was a knee-baby in Alabama my folks left the doors unlocked day and night. Neighbors watched out for each other back then.

Ox -- I'm sorry and disturbed that Charlotte's "finest" weren't more concerned about your situation. As gang activity in this area increases, "petty" crimes like this will become increasingly ignored.

If we weren't Christians, we should've been vigilantes...

The Family Jewels said...

The police have not been very helpful with the situation that my foster kids are creating, so I sympathize with you. At least the company might be able to help you. I was told that in my case they didn't want to be painted as the bad guys, so until I want to file charges against them they can't do anything for me. I just want to stop them from graduating to what has happened to you and your car.