car break-in last night in davis

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

Hello neighbors,

I don't know if it is useful to post this here so feel free to delete, but I thought it might be helpful to warn some folks -

My (notably very crappy and not-worth-breaking-into) car was broken into sometime between 7 pm last night and 8 am this morning; it was parked on Park Avenue between College Ave and Chandler just a couple of blocks up College Ave from Davis Square. They quite thoroughly smashed in the passenger-side front window and took my pink gym bag. $200 of damage, all for my dirty workout clothes and a 4-year old ipod shuffle that is maybe worth $30.

It looks like another car parked a few cars up had its windshield smashed too, it wasn't broken but there was a very big crack going across it. Did this happen to anybody else last night?

Comments

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

You must be new to the area.

It's called a smashengrab, and it is the most prevalent crime around Boston. Anything worth more than $15 dollars can prompt one. Don't leave your valuables in your car.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

I park there all the time!

*nervous*

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

actually I've been living here for 2 years, and only one of my friends before this has had this happen to them - for a GPS unit worth significantly more than my shitty ipod which wasn't even visible....

It just seems so retarded... the person who did it must have gotten glass all over themselves, it was everywhere even across the street.

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

It was in the spot directly in front of 11 park ave, watch out for the glass :(

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

ps i wouldn't consider that ipod a valuable lol, but i am pissed that i have to get new gym sneaks now.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend's car was smashed like that and they didn't even take anything, although it looks like they were going for his airbags. They didn't want his radio, CDs...there wasn't a lot in there so the only thing we can think of is they wanted the airbags.

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Airbags?! WTF, indeed...

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

:( Sorry to hear! Why would someone want to go for the airbags, do you know?

Hehe, my car doesn't even HAVE airbags

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Way to make it sound like it was somehow the OP's fault, though I'm assuming you didn't mean to. OP, I'm really sorry this happened to you. It really does defy logic.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Airbags are expensive, small, and easy to re-sell. My car was stolen once in Philly and they found it, I kid you not, less than 24 hours later, still running. The stereo and airbags were gone and the dash ripped up; it was totaled but still totally functional.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

Did you move some townie's lawn chair when you parked there? I got my windshield smashed in on Morrison my first winter here because I parked in some Rocco O'Seamus "reserved spot."

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

It is extremely retarded, but it happens very, very quickly, and is thus hard to investigate and catch the people doing it. These guys put a hat against the window, smash it with a hammer, reach, grab, and run. No time for anyone to even get a glimpse of the perp. The hat keeps them from getting cut, and safety glass is not much worse than sand if you get it on your clothes.

The perps are mostly local drug addicts. They do this a lot. When you walk around town, keep an eye out for piles of car glass by the curb. That's their handiwork.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Rocco O'Seamus.. that's gold!

[ladytatiana.livejournal.com]

shite...that's right near where i live. sorry to hear about it :(

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

thanks :) I have lived in New York City for 8 years before living here so I am not exactly naive about leaving things in my car - the stuff had very little value.

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

I didn't, but I did notice a very large (we're talking superduty) dark-colored pickup truck hovering/waiting behind the car while I pulled groceries out of it. Maybe he got mad because he thought I was moving when I was just pulling groceries out.

Airbags are made of gold

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

And not just metaphorically.

There is apparently enough gold in them to warrant theft.

The electircal contacts are made of gold so there is now ay they will erode over time and fail.

Smash and Grab Tips

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Folks, I implore you to please never leave anything in your car, even if it looks completely worthless.

This includes bags, backpacks, spare change, anything. I leave my ice scraper and that's it. If you need to keep stuff like gym clothes in your car, please stash them in your trunk.

The cost for them to smash your window is $0. If they can pawn what they have in your car for 1¢, there's no reason for them to not do it.

I saw a gentleman who looked decidedly out of place scoping out cars on Kidder a few days ago. They're out there.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

"Rocco O'Seamus" sounds like just a bit of an ethnic slur to me.
I don't think it would be acceptable if someone had said that the car window was smashed by "young african-american males (fill in your own applicable slur)".

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

You must be thinking of Paddy Sambo

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=61197373

Re: Airbags are made of gold

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I believe on some models they're also valuable parts.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry. I was SO drunk, and I love pink.

[barodar.livejournal.com]

Yup. My window was smashed in....I don't think they took anything, though. Cops said there were a bunch last night.

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

That's the thing about the pink bag, maybe a woman did it!!?? Wouldn't a guy look kind of weird walking around davis carrying a stolen woman's pink gym bag????

[ron_newman]

Hi. I'm one of the mods here, and this post is fine. It is always good for us to know when this kind of criminal activity is occurring in our neighborhood.

I'll once again plug the city's WRAP (Web-based Registry Anti-theft Program) for iPods, laptops, GPS, and the like.

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

Could be a bunch of kids on the way home feeling untouchable because the law is just not tough enough against petty crime. When I lived in Newton, we had a bunch of cars on our street with smashed side windows and nothing in general taken. In Davis, so far, so good.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

Sorry for your loss, that stinks! Please be sure that you report it to the police, though there isn't anything much they can do about it, it is good for them to be able to keep track of these things.

[metagnat.livejournal.com]

I haven't had my window smashed, but my passenger side lock was demolished and nothing was stolen from my car. It was pretty full of trash at the time, and my gym bag was in it, but the gym bag, the trash and my cds and portable cd player were all still there.

It was annoying and a pain in the ass to get fixed. I don't really make a habit out of leaving things in my car, but some times I am tired or I forget.

-E

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

when and where?

Re: Smash and Grab Tips

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Did you give a description of him to the SPD?

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Don't be ridiculous. Everyone knows Boston has absolutely no history of anti-Irish sentiment. It's the Irish who are all racists! /sarcasm

[mihmo.livejournal.com]

Hi Ron, thanks for the reply! Also thanks for the tip about WRAP, I hadn't heard about it before and it looks like a great idea, I will register my laptop with them.