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You guys have a very unrealistic view of how long it takes things to wind through the insurance process and the courts. None of it happens fast, and time is measured in months and years. Dwayne can't say anything nor should he, until it's wrapped up. I wouldn't expect an update until the fall, at the earliest.
So glad the car was recovered.
Unfortunately all I've heard about car theft is slap on wrist and free to go - They hardly prosecute these cases especially in Liberal Cop Hating Oregon, California and Washington State.
Glad the car is back home safe.
Hello Everyone,
I've spoken to the Trooper heading up my case and asked him if I could share anything since folks were curious about how to avoid such an event like this. He said it would be ok to share some information relating to how things were broken into and steps to take that would aid in recovery.
So, I have an update....First, how would someone have known I had a shop with lots of gear including a 928? Well, since I never drove the 928 locally (straight from the u-haul auto transport into the shop), and I never advertise the 928 is there, someone saw it there and news travelled and eventually landed in the hands of nefarious characters. I don't have visitors on the property but I did have to use a handful of contractors to do some of the really big jobs while I was building the shop. The contractors weren't directly involved, but people talk and news travels in a small town. That's all I can say on that topic. My lesson learned here is keep valuable items out of site as much as possible even if I trust the person that has to be on the property- they may unwittingly talk to others that I don't know. But I can't hide everything all the time so I need to either have a candid conversation with anyone visiting that what they see on the property needs to stay confidential or simply expect that someone will eventually hear or find out about what was seen and I need to take precautions to thwart an evil doers plans.
Second, once on the property, the perpetrators went to the electrical main panel outside the shop, opened it up and shut off the main power breaker to the shop. A precaution, I assume, in case there was an alarm system and to turn off all external lights. The burglary took place at night over several nights. My lesson learned here is not much can be done to secure the panel since it and the meter need to be accessible by the power company. I will contact the power company and see if they can offer any ideas for securing power that they will accept.
Next was breaking into the outbuildings. These were broken into by simply using bolt cutters on the locks. Where I had a lock that could not be cut by bolt cutters, the burglars simply broke the latch the lock was attached to. This was something I had not anticipated! I thought having a lock that was immune to bolt cutters was sufficient. Here's a picture of one of the latches they broke on one of the sea vans:
Once they were in the sea van, they had access to more tools to break into the Shop. They used a high lift jeep jack I had in the sea van and placed it between the personnel door jambs of one of the doors and simply cranked up the jack to try and spread the jamb apart enough to break in the door. Fortunately, I installed extra 2x6 studs in all the door framing when I framed the shop so the jack could not spread the jambs apart enough to clear the dead bolt. However, the burglars, were able to kick down the door and break out the portion of the door jamb that housed the dead bolt. Lesson learned here for me is don't underestimate the creativity and ingenuity of a criminal mind. I should have taken additional precautions to secure the sea vans with more than just one latch lock. Also, install a surveillance system with real-time notification with battery back up if power is cut. Given the amount of time required to break in to the sea vans and the shop, there would have been time to respond. Lastly, I should have installed the heavy duty security latch receiver plates in the door jamb. These are plates about 8"+ long with cutouts for deadbolt and door latch that screw into the studs through the jamb. They would have made it much more difficult to kick out the deadbolt part of the jamb. They are installed now, of course!
Once in the shop, the burglars went through everything. I mean EVERYTHING! Not a container was left unopened and checked. The 928 was operational except that the battery was disconnected. The burglars found the key that was stashed away, connected the battery and simply drove it out of there. My lesson learned here is either do a better job of hiding the key or disable the 928 so that it can't be driven. Better yet, disable it so it can not be towed out of the shop and trailered out. Another lesson learned, I need to assume that a determined burglar will find anything that is stashed or hidden away. Other lessons learned include possibly getting some sort of GPS tracker for large ticket items (like a 928). When I spoke with the Trooper, he said best thing to aid in recovery is to record all serial numbers of items important to you and engrave those items (like tools) that don't have serial numbers. It will significantly help in recovery when they need to prove something is mine. I am recording serial numbers and will be engraving soon.
So, that's about all I can share at this point. We did recover about half of what was stolen from the shop but the other half is still out there including my large mechanics tool cabinet with about $4K of tools in it including several specialty 928 tools (like the custom tap I had made for the oil pressure sensor threads - who would have a use for that? wish they would have left that behind!), a 5.5KW generator and a 14" concrete wet saw among other items. I'm still optimistic we might recover some of the remaining items.
That's about it for now....THANKS again for all your support and interest!! You all have been Awesome!!!
Thanks for the follow-up Dwayne and glad things worked out better than they could've under the circumstances. There's not really any good way to make a house or shop alarm totally foolproof. If the monitoring is done through a land line connection, thieves will often just cut those wires and if monitored via a cellular connection, there are cellular jammers they use to block the system from being able to notify the monitoring company. Cutting the house power also takes down the WiFi that connects most newer monitoring systems, but if that's on a a battery backup may get you an initial notification. Having cameras on a battery backup system that not only work via the internet but also record onto a resident micro SD card will at least allow review of footage after the fact to make catching the culprits more likely.
About the best thing you can do is make sure your insurance policies cover actual replacement value, have photos of valuable items like expensive tools and machines (compressors, welders, etc), and make it more difficult to steal the vehicles by keeping the keys in a hidden key safe - preferably one with a biometric lock that only you and your wife, kids, etc can open.
Glad to hear of some positive in this for you in the recovery of your priceless 928 and some of your belongings. And your positive attitude in what you've learned and are sharing with the rest of us. You are correct in being careful of who sees or knows about your personal belongings; and of the creativity of those with evil intent on gaining possession of them. I know of a couple of situations where someone trustworthy shared info which was passed on to others down the line that didn't end well for the original party. Your plan to have a quality video system and backup power would likely be a step well taken. Keep us posted as you can! And I cannot ever address you Sir without always saying a Big Thank You for all of your helpful threads and pics of 928 repairs, simply The Best!!
Accountability is the only (possible) way to deter others from the "benefits" of crime. . I don't know which laws are currently enforced in this country.??? We can agree that the barbarism in other parts of the world is not civilized, but loosing a finger or a hand has got to be an effective deterrent.
Dwayne, happy to hear you recovered a good portion, but in addition, i really hope that the perps get more than the usual slap on the wrist.
Your situation is not uncommon in todays world where people feel entitled to the fruits of others labors. I have been the victim of thievery and stalking and it is truly a difficult situation to be in. Your attitude is great and I am hopeful that you will be made whole.
Thank you for the update Dwayne, I am sorry this happened to you. Of all the things you mention it's the loss of that oil pressure sender adapter tap really galls me. I was absolutely dead in the water thinking I had to replace my block when you came to my aid and shipped that to me. You went to great expense and thought to have that made. Here I am three years later and leak free thanks to your generosity and graciousness, and we have never even met! You are truly one of the all time great people I have had the pleasure to know on this forum and an incredible asset to all of us.
We can agree that the barbarism in other parts of the world is not civilized, but loosing a finger or a hand has got to be an effective deterrent.
Don't cut off a hand... take a thumb.... and the middle finger ..... on both hands... then every time they look at their hand they think FU but can't show it.
Don't cut off a hand... take a thumb.... and the middle finger ..... on both hands... then every time they look at their hand they think FU but can't show it.
Originally Posted by merchauser
Accountability is the only (possible) way to deter others from the "benefits" of crime. . I don't know which laws are currently enforced in this country.??? We can agree that the barbarism in other parts of the world is not civilized, but loosing a finger or a hand has got to be an effective deterrent.
If you scour the Internet you will actually find videos of vigilantes cutting off, or most cases chopping off (numerous chops are applied) the fingers or the hands of “thieves,” it truly is barbaric and it is relegated to ancient times and today 3rd world countries.
The most cruel, if that is possible to say, that I ever saw was a man getting his fingers chopped off of his left hand, this after they had already chopped of his right hand some time long ago as it had healed.
agreed....however, there has got to be a balance between the system we currently have where punishment is non existent. my solution is a minimum
of 18 months mandatory military service for all post high school. that might inject some much needed respect of others and love of country that is not only
lacking today, but often ridiculed...….but I digress.....
I'd somehow missed the original post, as I no longer visit this site daily, but more like weekly or even longer interludes. SO Sorry for the stress of having Virginia et al disappear, and SO GLAD that you've recovered both the car and some irreplaceable items. Hope the rest are found soon.
THANK YOU for giving all of us the detailed description of the 'how' regarding the heist. It is most helpful for those of us who may have valuable or sentimental cars/tools stored. It's especially important if the storage facility is away from our residence, or if we travel for extended periods of time. I know I'm going to relocate a key that I have hidden as a result of your experience and your excellent description of their acts.
Since we seem to be spouting a bit here and the thread is not locked yet...
My grandpappy drove steam locomotives for Union Pacific and lived there in Oakridge for ...I don't know...50 years or so. I don't know the full history of the place but everyone I ever met there were retired railroad men. My impression is that between changes in the railroad industry and changes in the timber industry the town pretty much died and, last I was there, it was more undead than alive. At some point in the past I looked into employment statistics about the place and it was really horrific. Its been a long time but my recollection was it was something like 3 our of 5 homes had had nobody employed in the last 5 years. It may have gotten better since then, but other than Dwayne moving there, I don't know why it would have. Its true that its hard to keep a good man down, but its also hard to keep a down man good.
Eugene is a whole different deal. I went to Jr high and high school there. Its an odd mixture of different elements. You have the logging influence. Very redneck and not always in a very endearing way. You have some academic influence from the UofO. But UofO is kinda the Justin Beiber of west coast colleges, so, with a few exceptions, its more about the social influence than the academic ones. You have lots of Greek party animals (animal house was filmed there, I think), who are mainly gonna get a drinking problem from their college years, and then you have the folks who really wanted to go to Berkley, or wanted the go to a Berkley of 40 years ago, and are intent on living an anachronistic hippy experience. Always trying to more politically and socially extreme than Berkley just to prove something. And then you have sort of clueless suburban middle America mixed in. Think Bill and Ted's excellent adventure. Sometimes diverse social mixtures work pretty well, but in Eugene I think it works poorly. In the 80s Eugene had the highest percentage of Heroin addiction in the country, and that was before Purdue Pharma and Giuliani unleashed the current opioid epidemic on us. My understanding is that it is just a horrible problem there. And Eugene had a certain amount of homeless even before Reagan decided the save a buck by closing all the mental hospitals, ushering in the current homeless era. So, lots of crime, drugs, homeless, and other problems there all without any of that pesky racial diversity. Think Bill S Preston, Esquire strung out on Crack or Heroin stealing an unattended 928 that he heard about so that he can afford his next score. Stashing it in his mom's garage, and not having a clue that it is a 928, not a 911 and will be hard to liquidate.
So. Yeah. Now, how would chopping off body parts help?
03-11-2020, 02:07 PM
