Car stolen from driveway whilst we were sleeping :(

jfp · 20 Mar 2011 at 15:45

I would prefer they took the keys from downstairs then come up to the bedroom, dont know what they would do if they saw your wife/partner and decided they wanted some of that as well (thinking of just general ***** rather than pro theives)

The guys that tried to do my old uni house over took one of our best kitchen knives and went into the downstairs bedroom and knicked a phone of the persons bed!

DRZ · 20 Mar 2011 at 16:09

Moeks said:
Snip.

I guess what I mean by my post is that I feel it is "right" to take all reasonable measures to prevent my cars from being stolen. To that end, my cars are locked and alarmed/immobilised and the keys are somewhere inside my locked and alarmed house.

It is my view (and that of an insurance company, I have no doubt) that steps such as those are very reasonable indeed. If anyone were to take measures that overcame my reasonable precautions then they would likely be determined enough that I would rather not test just how far they wish to go to steal my property!

A life cannot be replaced but a car can - and I insure my vehicle with a policy sufficient that I am compensated for my loss should I need to replace it. This relieves me of the need to worry about fighting to the death for a lump of metal...

cheets64 · 20 Mar 2011 at 19:02

Bloke I use to work with saw a figure near his car on the drive, sneaked out the back door, went round, confronted the guy couple of feet away, he turned around and stuck a screwdriver in him.

jigger · 20 Mar 2011 at 19:16

I'm 100% with Moeks. If they want to take the car from a garage or drive while I'm unaware fine. I would actually have a little respect for them if they managed it, but no way in hell would I be handing over my cars in person to some random toe rag. I'm not He-man and obviously I would asses the situation, but it would have to be a very intimidating situation for me to just let them walk out or I would feel like I was encouraging them in some way. I would struggle with the thought I that I had wimped out if I did nothing.

SpeedFreak · 20 Mar 2011 at 19:27

cheets64 said:
Bloke I use to work with saw a figure near his car on the drive, sneaked out the back door, went round, confronted the guy couple of feet away, he turned around and stuck a screwdriver in him.

exactly, I'll put myself in danger to protect my family but if a thief is determined they can take what they want, that's what insurance is for. In the situation above I would have called the police immediately and sat back and waited for them to show up.

mufc802 · 20 Mar 2011 at 19:31

Sorry to hear. I keep my keys with me all the time not like anyone would want to steel my car though.

Kenai · 20 Mar 2011 at 20:17

I think what a lot of people forget in such 'fight them off' situations is that you'd be dumped into the confrontation straight from a deep sleep. The first you'd know about it (unless you're a very light sleeper) is probably some lunatic grabbing you by the throat, tearing you out of bed and shouting 'WHERE ARE THE KEYS' in your face.

I really don't think many people would be in a fit state to fight someone off if that happened, let alone reach for their tree felling axe and start hacking away at people.

Real life is not a movie, I think some people forget this from time to time.

Delboy · 20 Mar 2011 at 20:24

I knew someone who had a break in for the very same reason, they said to the police that they would start sleeping with a baseball bat - according to the police officer that attended he said that would be classed as 'intent' to do harm and they could be prosecuted themselves!!! Better to buy a 4D or 6D maglite and put that next to your bed, if anything ever happened you could whack them with that - that way you can argue you were using the torch to see what was going on and someone jumped you so you defended yourself with the only thing to hand.

As mentioned though, being awoken at 3am with someone screaming in your face you may not be awake enough to even consider it.

NathWraith · 20 Mar 2011 at 20:26

My keys are kept downstairs. Last thing I want is some crackhead threatening me for em. But if I heard em downstair, different ball game completely. House in the country with no one around for miles = win.

Foiled · 20 Mar 2011 at 20:45

cheets64 said:
Bloke I use to work with saw a figure near his car on the drive, sneaked out the back door, went round, confronted the guy couple of feet away, he turned around and stuck a screwdriver in him.

I thought people from Wigan were salt of the earth types?

:shrug:
*nods*

Ultim8 · 20 Mar 2011 at 20:59

unlucky mate i feel for you, just be thankful nothing happend to little one or the misses.

If it was me and i awoke i would kill them, i wouldnt ask any questions i would just kill them. My misses and little ones are the main priority and if it means going to prison then so be it but im not gonna wait to find out there intent or wait for there first move.

As they say an English mans home is his castle.

Gibbo · 20 Mar 2011 at 21:07

Easy option, get a dog or couple of dogs and attached your car keys to the dogs collar. Then if any thief brakes in they are welcome to try and take the keys from the dog.

Though note its advisable its a big angry fearful dog and not some softy.

cheets64 · 20 Mar 2011 at 21:15

Foiled said:
I thought people from Wigan were salt of the earth types?

:shrug:
*nods*

Funnily enough he didn't live in Wigan.

Its only a piece of metal, every can be replaced, your life cant.

hurfdurf · 20 Mar 2011 at 21:27

Moeks said:
My instinct, my gut reaction says fight them ...to the death if necessary.

Holy lol, considering I met you at the RR day, you were one of the last people I expected to say something along these lines.

Buchanan0204 · 20 Mar 2011 at 21:55

A lot of keyboard cagefighters and gentleman here. I don't think anyone knows for sure how they would react if confronted by a person in their bedroom. The fight or flight response would definitely kick in and it would be a spontaneous decision made on the spot what you would do.

I personally don't have a wife or kids and have trained in martial arts all my days. I'd still assess the situation, if they had a knife for example, I would be happy to hand over the keys and whatever else they wanted. If they were unarmed, then i'd be slightly more inclined to do something about it.

I don't have a set place for my keys, usually leave them lying wherever... usually downstairs however. After reading similar stories, I think I'll start hiding them.

Podmonkey · 20 Mar 2011 at 22:05

Really puzzled by the 'well hes gone to all the trouble of getting in here, Wouldnt want to miff him off so he can have my car' approach. Honestly dont know how how I would react myself but I would hope this is the last thing in my head. Like the above guy says, its about the looking at the situation. If hes unnarmed I would hope id be fairly happy confronting him, if hes got a knife then its wait a little, grap my bo staff and gauntlets and chase the git with my tackle flailing about doing its own war dance. Obviously theoretical but honestly couldnt see me just standing by.

2-step · 20 Mar 2011 at 22:31

IF someone wants your car that THAT badly they will take it no matter what you do to try and stop em

Podmonkey · 20 Mar 2011 at 22:36

Thieves are not to be confused with Terminators. Its not a case of car or death for them. The few thieves I have come across have been nothing more than opportunistic cowards. They see an opening (open window, easy door, people on holiday) and they go for it, they get disturbed and they leg it. If you have a bat or a plank of wood etc, they wont engage shields and charge at you. They grab whatevers closest and run. Something is 10 times better than nothing and being caught. Weve lost 2 hoovers through this idiocy. They think the house is empty, so break in, Mom walks out of bedroom, they grab hoover and run. Same happened when my dad was on lates, another hoover. Ive disturbed a guy trying for my sisters old car, I opened the front door and he was legging it down the hill, and this was when I was 12.

Im not saying its always the case. But id rather grab a weapon and confront some gimp than bend over for him and encourage him to carry on. I guess its just a different mentality towards it.

Edit: Realised this is gone a bit into GD talk. To the OP, It is a horrible feeling when stuff like this happens. Ive had a car broken into (aswell as the other times listed) and it just fills you full of anger. It takes away your feeling of security in your property and stays with you for a long long time. Wouldnt wish it upon any decent person. Hope you get something sorted.

daveydave · 20 Mar 2011 at 22:48

Kenai said:
I think what a lot of people forget in such 'fight them off' situations is that you'd be dumped into the confrontation straight from a deep sleep. The first you'd know about it (unless you're a very light sleeper) is probably some lunatic grabbing you by the throat, tearing you out of bed and shouting 'WHERE ARE THE KEYS' in your face.

I really don't think many people would be in a fit state to fight someone off if that happened, let alone reach for their tree felling axe and start hacking away at people.

Real life is not a movie, I think some people forget this from time to time.

Quoted for truth - my spare key lives downstairs. Not visible to the outside, but easily found if you're inside.

Cristian · 20 Mar 2011 at 23:59

Moeks said:
My instinct, my gut reaction says fight them ...to the death if necessary.

if you had kids, what kind of legacy do you want to leave them ? ...the story you tell them yourself about how Daddy hid under the bed when the criminals came to take his belongings ...or have their mother tell them about how you heroically fought and died in an effort to defend what is right and true.

I keep my car keys on my desk next to my bed. If they want to have it they'll have to ask me nicely. I'll then grab my breaker bar (I keep some of my tools in my room as I don't have a garage) and have a conversation with them.
It's not like all thieves are 20 stone 6ft 7 rugby players wielding a knife with a 1ft blade ready to kill you for your car now is it? And if they are, (or are carrying firearms) you just hand over they keys and bid them farewell.

Because no awesome story is going to compensate for growing up without a dad. I'm nowhere near even considering to become a dad, but after seeing people growing up without a parent I can assure you that no story will compensate for that. But that doesn't mean that you should leave your keys easily accesible for every opportunistic piece of **** to help himself.