Lock your car doors II

[Jeff White]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...E7FA610D53FD92F586257394005A3168?OpenDocument

School bus carjacked in Centreville
By Denise Hollinshed
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/15/2007

CENTREVILLE -- A gunman carjacked a school bus, robbed the driver of her jewelry and forced her to drive him to an East St. Louis daycare center this mornig.

Her 7-year-old son was the only passenger, and no one was injured.

The bus driver - a 37-year-old Centreville woman - was getting ready to take her son to school in a bus she drove home from work. The gunman hid on the bus while the driver left it running outside as it was was warming up, police said. The driver told police that the culprit put a gun to her head as she and her son boarded the bus.

The gunman ordered her to drive to a day care center called the Kiddy Kamp Academy, 6106 State St., East St. Louis. While she was driving, the gunman robbed her of her gold rings and a necklace, said Centreville Police detective Kiwan Guyton.

Just before they arrived, the driver stopped the bus and jumped out with her son. She ran screaming into the day care center, where they called the police at about 7:15 a.m. East St. Louis police later found the bus in the 800 block of North 75th St. in East St. Louis.

"She was very lucky," Guyton said. "I think he had other intentions."

Police are asking anyone with information on the crime to call the Centreville Police Department at 618-332-1184 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-371-8477.

As the weather gets colder, people will leave their cars running to warm them up. If you can't afford one of the lock out switches that allows you to take your keys and leave the vehicle running, at least get a second key and put it in your wallet. Every winter we have cars that are left running stolen from people's driveways, gas stations and convenience stores. A year or two ago, a high ranking St Louis Police official had his unmarked city car stolen from his driveway.

It's most often the little nitnoid details that make people easy targets.

Jeff

 

[BullfrogKen]

Wow . . .

There's probably no answer to this question, but . . . How does one lock a school bus?

 

[Green Lantern]

How does one lock a school bus?

Beat me to it.

I give myself a well-deserved mental butt-kicking when I sometimes forget to lock my car door at night.

I (almost) NEVER leave it running, after my sister-in-law's sister had hers stolen that way. Though I do warm it up sometimes at home. At work, never. "Unauthorized use of company time." Well, if it keeps people from being put at risk of carjacking, works for me.

 

[Soybomb]

It seems someone forcing a schoolbus to a day care center perhaps has some other kid related crimes in mind, although 7:15am seems to be an odd time for that.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Good Advice.
Fall and winter are the only times I leave my motorcycle without the fork locked when I park it. No one ever seems to want to steal a bike in the winter. But, my car? Always locked. Never left running.
But, I live in the South and don't have to warm it up that long.

 

[jpwilly]

Crooks go for the easiest or most opportune target...don't be the esiest or most opportune! I don't think you can lock a school bus.

 

[308win]

Not leaving your keys in your car and locking your car is common sense 101. Anyone who ignores his rule in today's world deserves the consequences - unfortunately the rest of us pay for their stupidity with higher insurance rates. With the capability of today's black boxes any claim for property loss should be denied if the car was running, unoccupied, and unlocked.

Edited to add: Although if someone opened the door and drug you out that would fit the same profile so I guess my suggestion won't work.

 

[sm]

Leaving a vehicle unattended while running here, gets one a ticket.

Re: Locks and School Buses.
Only ones I have seen that "could" be locked, were the smaller buses I call "Shuttle" or "Physically Limited" buses; looks like a regular Van converted, with wheelchair lifts.

Bus Mfg in State, and Specialty Buses are / can be equipped

i.e.
Correction Facility Buses have screens , bars, and a different door installed.

 

[sixgunner455]

"But we're in Podunk town, al/ak/az... Why do you always lock your car/house? I never do, and it's just not a problem here. Are you paranoid?"

I just shake my head and keep locking stuff up. Somehow, I tend to keep my stuff.

 

[brighamr]

I use a Viper alarm with auto start. It starts\warms up the car, but keeps the doors locked and alarm activated. You press auxiliary again to unlock the doors.

 

[Avenger29]

I've got a grandmother...hated, evil croon, but I digress...

She simply doesn't believe in locking stuff up. Her house door, car door, it's all unlocked. And she has had someone walk in her home before...she calls us paranoid because we lock everything, and keep guns loaded and accessible...

I went on a three week roadtrip with that side of the family to take care of my grandfather, who is handicapped as a result of a stroke...she refused to deadbolt the doors on motel rooms or use the peepholes...

 

[JohnKSa]

She simply doesn't believe in locking stuff up.

I believe this is a form of denial. "If I keep acting like it's 1950 it will BE 1950." She actually feels better not locking things because locking up would be an admission that things have changed and the world is not the way she wants to believe it is.

My parents went through the same sort of thing when I tried to get them to lock their doors. They were angry at me for even bringing it up, it made them think about things they didn't want to acknowledge.

 

[lee n. field]

East St. Louis -- why am I not surprised?

 

[sm]

OP: still pretty scary to think with all that is going on with folks.
Folks are liable to do all sorts of things, just a few years ago would not have been the things to do.

Nobody messed with a school bus driver, unless some parent at a stop had a thermos and offered coffee to driver picking up their and other kids.

City bus drivers left bus running, door opened, used restroom at gas station, got a coffee or soda, and then back to route. Folks got onto the bus, dropped fare into machine and took a seat and waited for driver to return.

Times have changed for sure!

 

[foghornl]

My car, inside my [attached to house] locked garage, is locked with alarm set.

 

[wulfbyte]

308Win>

Not leaving your keys in your car and locking your car is common sense 101. Anyone who ignores his rule in today's world deserves the consequences -

Isn't that kind of like saying "she was dressed in a provocative way and she deserved the consequences..."?

Rather silly when you change the nouns around a bit. I'm sure that you didn't mean what you said to apply to every case of criminal behavior but it would be easy to make that extension.

I agree that some actions are an open invitation to trouble, but that is not the fault of the prey, but rather of the predator. I believe it is a slippery slope to start blaming the actions of the predator on the actions of the prey.

Granted, the world is not as safe as it once was (or so one would think) and that greater participation in the world is something we all need to do in order to maintain our own levels of safety. I will pass this incident on to my friends and family and hopefully we will all be reminded to keep doing the things that we need to to keep us safe, but I will not blame the victim for losing sight of the fact that the predators are becoming bolder and our safe areas are ever shrinking or possibly gone altogether.

 

[Zach S]

If you can't afford one of the lock out switches that allows you to take your keys and leave the vehicle running...

I've got a good bit of time and money invested in my keyless entry and remote starter. Time and money well spent IMO.

 

[kungfuhippie]

the school buses here can be locked, as can the city buses. there is a key in the side that operates the hydraulic door. That being said, it's too bad that we live in a society where a school bus is targeted. I don't warm up my truck. Don't need to, it's rarely below freezing here.

 

[308win]

I don't have any empathy for a person who in this age doesn't take common sense measures to protect his car, house, possessions, family, self. Failure to do so is not the same as contributory negligance and shouldn't be available to the criminal as an affirmative mitigation or defense; but, failure to do so is just plain stupid/careless/or whatever name you want to put on it.