smash and grab

Man that sucks. It really pisses me off when that happens. Normally I am more upset that I have to deal with replacing a broken window then anything else but it sounds like you got hit pretty hard.

I really hate to say this but I can't help but wonder why a wallet, cash, credit cards, laptop and breif case where all sitting in your Jeep?

It looks like you have a hard top and other vehicles where hit on your bloack but I know there is a saying in the Jeep community, "don't leave anything in your rig you can't live without!"

It is all good, few years ago I left about $5000 in tools in my vehicle overnight in downtown Portland. Well, if anybody sees any homeless or crackheads walking around downtown Portland with power tools can you please get them back for me?

Neadless to say I no longer leave ANYTHING in my vehicle, or at least in view...

Easy to pop the window quietly. All you need is a spring loaded punch from the hardware store. Just put it in the lower corner of the window and press the punch in till it snaps “POOF” out goes the window. Best part is if the glass isn't colored and you have tint film on the window it's even quieter. Also with the center punch you can do it with out the shock sensor picking it up most of the time. Unless the sensor is set so touchy that every time the wind blows it goes off. In my case they worked me. Someone kept setting off my alarm in the apartment parking lot until I was tiered of hearing the stupid thing and turned it off. As for your neighborhood. Thugs like to shop in the better neighborhoods. Nicer stuff less chance of being shot at. Sorry to here about what happened. Best thing to do is leave nothing in your vehicle of value, have a good starter kill and leave the doors unlocked (less damage). If they want in your jeep the door locks do you no good, you’ll just have a broken window.

And even if the alarm goes off, who checks anymore? Two stories: I had a Radio Shack remote alarm installed in my wife's car (circa 1982!) and carried the pager. Someone did the smash and grab on her car while WE were out visiting. The alarm (pager AND siren) went off and I casually sauntered out to check the vehicle and just missed the perp. We didn't have a thing in the car so all we lost was the window and the time to get it repaired (covered under comprehensive with $0 for glass). The casualness of it was, the alarm had triggered before because of trucks, parking on hills, and having the old mechanical tilt sensor.

The second happened years later to my son. Parked directly in front of the house, his car was hit by a smash and grab. What the idiot grabbed was the faceplate off his stereo (security type keyed to a particular unit.) The alarm went off which caused them to bolt, overlooking the glove compartment with the CD's and two FRS radios which would have been more fenceable. One consolation (according to the investigating officer) is they hit like 50 some other cars in the city that night.

That one cost me a lot over time. It was a comprehensive loss, so I was hit for the deductible, plus my rates went up for a couple of years. The insurance company got all their money back and then some. I changed insurance companies later when I finally woke up. So who lost there?

So, how is that all jeep related? To reiterate: Never keep anything in your jeep that you can't afford to lose. Its too easy to slash a window and steal, or as above, quietly break a window and grab. (I lock all the important, expensive stuff in TUFFY compartments)

Alarms only notify you AFTER a crime has been committed. And most people ignore the alarms anyway. BUT, they provide that important extra discount for insurance purposes, they keep the casual thief honest, and for the more serious thief usually it causes them to at least hurry and possible overlook stuff hidden.

BTW: I'm still looking for an adjustable add on area motion detector for mine (probably two so I can set their sensitivity lower so that they won't be triggered by motion outside the vehicle). Suggestions and experience?