Car Vandalized a Second time.

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dxkj21

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Long story...

I was working from home a month or so ago and I saw movement outside my office window on the first floor. I couldnt see who it was so I went around front thinking it was the electric meter man trying to find ours (hidden up next to the front of the house). As I open the front door I see two kids running out between my house across the road into another house. One had a handgun in one hand and a long green case in the other, and the other had a handgun as well.

I called the police and after 45 minutes they got out there, and knocked on the door of that house. No response... they left and came back and talked to another kid that was near that house, and then me again. Really they got no where, other than finding a shotgun in the alley behind that house. Fast forward to the next day. Our extra car that we park back near our alley has been spray painted... Police come out and say nothing we can do and no proof it is related (even though they did it the day after).

Fast forward another month... This morning my wife wakes me up (I work the later shift) as she has found that now someone broke a window out of that same car. I'm about to leave on a trip for a week and she will be here by herself now.

What options do I have here? The police will just say they have no clue who did it and file yet another report, and these jackasses that are screwing with my property will either keep getting braver, or stupider, and try something like breaking into my garage to screw with my nice cars, or painting my garage/breaking into the house.

I live in a city in Wisconsin, its not a bad area of town (at least it wasnt).... not sure what to do...
 
That sucks man....Shoot First then ask questions!!! LOL. But seriously, the police are doing nothing? That really sucks. What about one of those little wireless cameras? You could place it some place close but hidden so that the perps can't see it.Then get them on tape. If you feel the need to confront them, be careful. You don't want to escalate the situation and get yourself or someone else injured. If you do confront them, have witnesses (video camera). That way you will have something that will hold up in court.

You said they have handguns? How old are they? I'm assuming that they are not old enough to legally possess one. Obviously they have no real firearms training. Just be careful and you've done right so far in getting the paperwork started. Good job there.

This is all I've got. Sorry if it doesn't help. Just keep yourself safe and keep the paperwork flowing.
 
exoduster18 said:
That sucks man....Shoot First then ask questions!!! LOL. But seriously, the police are doing nothing? That really sucks. What about one of those little wireless cameras? You could place it some place close but hidden so that the perps can't see it.Then get them on tape. If you feel the need to confront them, be careful. You don't want to escalate the situation and get yourself or someone else injured. If you do confront them, have witnesses (video camera). That way you will have something that will hold up in court.

You said they have handguns? How old are they? I'm assuming that they are not old enough to legally possess one. Obviously they have no real firearms training. Just be careful and you've done right so far in getting the paperwork started. Good job there.

This is all I've got. Sorry if it doesn't help. Just keep yourself safe and keep the paperwork flowing.
Click to expand...


In reality I have no true way of tying these two events together..... it just looked suspicious that the day after I turn some kids in, my car gets spray paitned
 
Yeah I see where you are coming from then. That usually ends up being the problem that you can't link the two events. This is why I suggested the use of the hidden wireless camera. They aren't cheap, but niether is repairing you car. They can take a pretty good picture, but you have to watch your state laws on surveillance. You can get yourself in some trouble even though you were trying to prevent trouble to yourself. I don't really know waht else to tell you. Just try to keep the paperwork flowing and keep your eyes open.
 
The only correlation I can see between these events is you live in bad place.
Move.
 
The car is an old beater... it did look nice though, pristine condition, 1990 Oldsmobile... it just ran bad so we parked it...

But with spraypaint + broken window it = junker now


Im just wondering what are the odds of them deciding to spray paint my garage next, or go into my yard, break into my garage/house
 
rick_reno said:
The only correlation I can see between these events is you live in bad place.
Move.
Click to expand...


I just moved here... and Im not someone who "runs away" because a few bad things happened. This is my house, my land, my property and I'll be damned if I let a few punks "scare" me away.

As far as "bad place".... I've heard nothing but positives from some of the neighbors who have been there for years... obviously these are 2 bad things that have happened.... but Im still trying to sort out of it is just me being targeted rather than the entire neighborhood being an issue.

As far as the kids and the guns, it looks like they stole them from someones father and dumped them next to my house thinking it was empty (at the time we hadnt been in for long), and then picked them up the next morning
 
So you just moved there? Ask your neighbors if they are having problems. just keep your eyes open and gather what ever little evidence there may be. Have you seen these kids faces? Can you recognize them or describe them in a way that people will know who you are talking about? Keep people informed and stay safe.
 
Talk to the parents of the kids. You don't have to be confrontational. You saw what house they ran into. Talk to the neighbors about who lives in it. Ask them if you could come over and talk. They may be horrified that their little "Johnny" might be getting into this sort of trouble. If they don't care then at least explain about the "security cameras" and the "recordings" and that if they show up again the "tape" will go to the cops so they would be better off having their fun somewhere else.
 
File the report anyway. It never hurts to have a paper trail, and you may need it later.

If you & your wife haven't talked home defense scenarios, do it now. What should she do if someone breaks into the back room while you aren't there? What would you do if someone broke in while you were there?

Do you keep the phone in your bedroom, and charge the cell phone in there at night? What kind of locks are on the doors & windows -- and can you beef them up? How's the exterior lighting?

Do you have a fence, or can you build one? If you do have a fence, can you keep the gate locked? (Kids can jump fences, but it looks better if you've made an attempt to keep 'em out.)

If you think the Olds is a junker now, consider getting rid of it. A ratty old car is a tempting plaything ...

Since you've just moved in, be sure to introduce yourself to the neighbors. Ask about getting a neighborhood watch program going. Might help, couldn't hurt.

pax
 
+ 1 to tallpine. The police up my way aren't the best, but they aren't the worse. My LEOs are nice guys really. It's the state police you have to worry about. Those guys can be real jackasses. The local LEOs are more likely to solve a crime and figure it all out BEFORE the state police even arrive (they're half an hour away). Also the one local cop, WOW!! can that man ever shoot. Perfect score on their training course everytime!! He doesn't look like much (kind of smallish/scrawny) but I've seen him take people down so fast that I had whiplash!!

As for your situation, you have my thoughts and I can't really offer anything else. Sorry man.
 
We have talked a bit, but I was hoping I wouldnt have to go to any extremes... looks like we will probably be installing motion sensitive floodlights in several places, i know that used to freak me out as a kid when I was playing tag in the neighborhood...

Yes we have a fence, and apparently kids used to climb it all the time to go smoke in the playhouse out back (which we are also getting rid of).

No phones upstairs, I think we need to work on that :) same with the cell... Our bedroom door doesnt latch, but its solid wood door, so im thinking of getting a good latch/lock on it so worse case scenario my wife, if im not home, could lock it and call the police, and if she heard someone trying to get in, inform them that she does have a gun and that she called the police alerady, etc


I just dont like being paranoid, but i guess being prepared isnt exactly paranoid

thanks for the tips guys.
 
this is going to sound stupid but....

we were jsut talking about this in the hunting venue and a person was stealing tree stands go to wally world and abuy a game camera they are motion activateed and set it up anyone goes near the car you have your proof in the form of a picture which is worth a thousand words lol
 
Being prepared isn't paranoid, it's smart. I get laughed at for the stuff I carry on me a daily basis. I carry my cell phone, my Gerber Paraframe II knife, my Surefire G2 flashlight. In my bag i carry a screwdriver (for computer repair, the tools I was handed on the first day suck, so I bring my own), a flatpack of dust tape (it has saved me more than once), my flash drive. Well I basically carry a bug out bag everywhere I go. I'm away from home and if something happens to my mother, then I'm gonna be there in a hurry. God help the poor soul that crosses my mother. She knows how to handle a gun better than most men, and she's always got me or her boyfriend (a former marine) around. Sorry about all of that. Just thought you might like my thoughts on being prepared.
 
The game camera sounds like a pretty slick idea, actually, maybe along with a set of motion-activated lights. It wouldn't be terribly expensive, and it ain't much to pay to get concrete evidence of those hooligans disputing your property rights.

Other people have better suggestions for securing your home than I can offer.

Hope things go well,

~GnSx
 
that motion activated light is a good idea io should have thought of it we have one set up right on our front door. lol they are really easy to set up just hook it up to a extenion cord and plug it in so simple liek 20 dollars if that at wal*mart
 
have a camcorder? Set it up to run on the logest setting possible and record it in the direction of the car, this way you have something to show the police.
 
The automatic camera is a great idea, My dad has one on the back of his house to get pics of the deer coming in to eat, and as was mentioned their cheap enough, probably 1/10 the cost of the window they already broke.

Oh another thing Get a dog.. if you havent got one already, perhaps something big and protective... would make the wife more comfortable while shes home alone.. of course she should be packing a gun at all times, even though they dont issue CCW permits in WI, theres no laws against carrying in the home.
 
Another vote for the game camera. If possible, get one that uses infrared rather than a flash so the little darlin's won't know they've been had until the cops knock on the door with a fistful of 8x10 glossies.

Or if you have an old VCR around, get a cheap (sorry, "inexpensive") security camera and power it from an outlet activated by a motion sensor.
 
you gotta be careful about this.
dont "over-react" or seem like your a senstive person. teenage boys will capitalize on that for the purpose of fun.
i had some friends growing up who took a disliking to a rather grumpy older man, and egged/TP/shot fireworks at his house on a random basis for 8 years. 8 years. he would give chase and react hardcore, so they just ate it up.

Dont make it fun for them... make it risky (get the police involved as often as needed). then theyll find someone else to torture.
 
+1 motion-activated camera

Catch the little hooligans in the act. Then police arrests them, finds drugs and guns in their possession, and it is a downslide from there. If you want to stay in your community, there is nothing wrong with some legal mop-up.
 
Here's an idea. It worked ok for me but your circumstances may be different.

The kid across the street from my old address was a terror. Not really horrible or unpleasant, just totally undisciplined. Also, he was one of only a couple of kids in the area and pretty much was left to roam and do as he pleased.

So when windows started being broken out while folks were at work, it wasn't a tough call. No one had evidence so there wasn't anything done in terms of calling the cops, etc.

Next time I saw him, I called him over.

"Hey, someone's been breaking out windows in the area, I know you spend a lot of time out here and I wonder if you would help me by watching to see who's doing it. A lot of the neighbors are trying to catch the person, and I figure you could be a big help."

That was the end of it...
 
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