Car Thefts

Yesterday my neighbor had her Dodge Caravan van stolen around 1:00 - 1:30 P.M. Today it was recovered in the Robles Park public housing project a mile or so away. A rough area.

Last week another neighbor was the victim of an attempted cat theft. They tried to punch out his car door lock but were not successful.

I previously posted about the car stolen at Target Testing a block or so away on July 21.

Car thefts are a fact of life in an urban neighborhood.

My wife's Toyota Camry was stolen several years ago. My van was broken into a year or so. The side window smashed and 2 briefcases stolen. A couple of years ago another neighbor had two vehicles broken into. One car had the person checks in it and the other had her wallet. 4 years ago, one block away another neighbor had his truck stolen. He had just gone inside to his house to get something and when he came out it was stolen.

The question is not if you will be a crime victim but when, unless you take simple steps to prevent it. Especially if your car is one of the ones thieves like to steal. Like Toyota Camrys and Dodge Caravans!

1. Lock the doors, roll up the windows and take the keys out of the car.
2. Don't leave valuable items in your vehicles, especially in plain sight!. My van was broken into for that reason as was my neighbor with the 2 cars. Stupid!
3. Get an auto immobilizing device such as The Club and always use it. My wife's car came with a Club, because it had been stolen once while in the care of the prior owner. We stopped using it, because we parked her vehicle inside our chain link fence. However we also had stopped locking the gate. That night her car was stolen we had talked about not needing The Club on her car any more and instead using it on my van as it was parked outside the fence.
4. Don't keep original copies of registration and title in the car. When my wife's car was stolen, I could not remember what her tag was. Fortunately they thieves tossed the papers out of the window and a neighbor found them. I was then able to give police the necessary info.

Tampa Police Department has more Auto Theft and Auto Burglary Prevention tips

Life in an urban neighborhood is a matter of crime management.