tjangi

I have enjoyed reading the rennlist forums for a while now, especially as I finally pulled the trigger on a blue 1995 993 Carerra. It always has been my dream to own one. I have since then had a lot of great experiences driving the car but also a bad one.

One sunny sunday afternoon on June 12 2004 I went to my local home depot to buy an a/c filter (which turned out to be the most expensive filter I ever bought)

As I pulled into the parking lot, a 2004 745 il bmw driver let me pass at the parking lot intersection. I then continued to find a parking spot away from the crowd and parked the car a bit further to avoid heavy traffic. As I exited the car I noticed the same BMW passing me.

About 3 0minutes later I came out and could not find my car. Fearing the worst my heart skipped a beat. About 50 yards ahead I saw a crowd and a police car and my car...

I approached the police that was taking eye witness statements, which were the following:

A black male entered the car by busting the lock

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/busted_lock.jpg

He then proceeded to bust the ignition lock

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/bu...ition_lock.jpg

By this time the alarm was going crazy, thanks to the kill switch they could not start the car.

They then tried to jump start the porsche by pushing it with the new BMW,
by this time an eye witness figured something must be wrong and yelled a them and called the police. The thieves then took off leaving the porsche behind.

The right rear bumber was damaged due to the jump start action

http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/dent.jpg

The total damage was ard usd 5,000 (new lock set and body work). It has been at my local porsche dealer for almost a month now (waiting for lock ordered from germany) and was told that I could hopefully get it back this weekend


I am now very paranoid leaving the car in a parkin glot in the future and was wondering what else I could do to deter would be thieves...

I hope that this little experience helps remind us that we are driving cars that are desired by car thieves.

GratefulJED

Well, they did not get the car so that's good - we don't here much around here about our cars getting stolen, I guess the drive block works and the smart thieves know it. You just happened to meet some real dumb thieves. As far as deterring it maybe you should consider moving or not taking the car everywhere you go...

swftiii

Tgangi,

Sorry to hear about the incident, but luckily they weren't actually able to steal the car. I understand your apprehension, but honestly you just need to move on from the problem and enjoy the car.

-Skip

Chuck A.

I see you are from NJ. Which Home Depot was this?

tjangi

chuck- the home depot in springfield right off I-78. Appearently it is notorious for car thefts, inluding the parking lot of home expo right next to it. do you know which one i am talking about?

tjangi

kim- i agree with you. One more pice of info, the thieves left clear finger prints on the freshly polished hood and the police could not be bothered to take finger prints... their comment was "that the car was not stolen so no need to dust for finger prints." So i replied, if it was succesfully stolen how are you going to finger print it?" .. duh

Chuck A.

I know the area. That is also a "hot zone" for stolen Audi S4's (my other car).

The key with that area is that it is close to 78 and ultimately Newark and surrounding areas.

garychios

Ghetto f-ing fabulos is what those punks were in the BMW. Cant afford it.. So we steal it. But the number one reason they steal is because the cops dont give a **** anyway. Especially NY, CT and NJ. I f-ing hate the tri state area!!!

OldGuy

There is one good thing about our society.
1. Most smart people do not commit crimes.
2. A large majority of criminals are down right stupid as yours proved they were.

I think as soon as a person commits a crime they should be nuetered/Spayed. How many generations would it take to clean these arguments against Darwinists out??

chris walrod

This is typical isnt it? This is what makes me so mad with situations like this. Now say they took the time to call the crime lab van, they come out and dust for prints They find a usable print, locate the person (P.O.S.) and possbly prevent many more attempted or successful car thefts. Imagine that!!

Many years ago my truck was broken into and the POS (piece of sheit) left a nice thumbprint on the winshield. Crime lab wasnt really that interested in that, although they did dust for it. Never heard anything back from it...

Sorry to hear about your recent experience.

Arrwin

Sorry to hear about this and thanks for sharing. Gives us here a jolt of reality that there are scum out there and not everyone are upstanding citizens like us.

Us Tri-state ppl need to protect our babies!

Terry Adams

I think I have the math of the justice system figured out now. tjangi gets $5K damage, but they're gone. The drunk driver that hit kary993 a while ago in a separate thread, was also gone. Cops pursued neither. Too much forensic work and paperwork. OTOH, guy steals a soda from a convenience store with no violence involved, is caught in flagrante delictu. DA asks for life behind bars. Defendant plea bargains, gets 12 months at a cost to society of about $40K. Meanwhile the car thieves and drunk drivers are still out there, and all of our insurance rates keep going up.

Rezal

I believe that theft of HID lights are also popular at that mall.

As for the S4's, story is that they were used for gang initiations - the member to be would steal it and take it for a joyride.

Sorry to hear about your story. Glad the car wasn't loss. Time to consider a nasty beater truck for your grocery/home depot runs. Even the A6 might be too nice of a car to leave it at the mall.

I remember watching on tv where cops in some towns (I think the one they featured was Dayton, OH) have been rigging cars as bait cars complete with cameras, microphone, GPS, etc. When the thieves get nailed, the doors automatically lock, the engine shuts down, and get this...the radio plays the theme from Cops "Bad boys, Bad boys,..." Perhaps the NJ cops should get their act together and start a similar program especially given the notoriety of car thefts in the Newark and surround area (and NJ'ers wonder why the state gets a bad rep?)

garychios

I can be the most violent person when someone messes with anything of mine, especially cars. I dont like people looking at my cars. Little kids know me, but are scared to look at my cars when I have them parked in the driveway or street. I have had "issues" with many low lives as well. I make it clear I am a maniac. Seems to be working for me, but honestly, I am pretty insane (I have been told), and have a look that comes across clearly. I also have personal insurance (Weapon) should things get out of hand.

Frank 993 C4S

Sorry to hear. Only dumb thieves try to steal Porsches. I am much more concerned about my S4 (factory alarm is a joke) so I had a similar alarm system installed in that car. I also use the "Club" (wide prong) that can't just be deactivated by cutting the steering wheel. I used to only use it in the Audi - now I also use it in the Porsche. In the worst case, it's just a further deterrent. If someone REALLY wants to steal your car, they'll get it - fact of life.