When we moved here three years ago, it really did seem like Mayberry...
You know... a quiet, friendly, safe town. The kind where you don't have to worry if you forget to lock your car door or house. The kind were common sense tells you not to leave your GPS in the windshield mount, but where you don't think you have to remove the mount itself every night and clean the little suction cup circle off of the glass.
Well, it is still relatively quiet and friendly, but we definitely don't feel quite as safe.
Last Monday morning, Cali awakened us some time after 3:00 AM barking. We heard what sounded like a large truck - something that will often cause Cali to bark. Although it seemed a bit strange to have a large truck in the neighborhood at that hour, we thought nothing more of it and went back to sleep. Cali awakened us again barking around 4:00 AM - this time because the doorbell rang.
When I opened the front door, I was greeted by a Sheriff's deputy apologizing for awakening us and also apologizing for having to inform us that the RAV4 had been broken into.
Apparently, there had been a series of burglaries of vehicles in the area, one of which had already been reported. As the deputy was patrolling the neighborhood, he noticed our break-in.
The thief smashed the front passenger window and stole Jeanie's new GPS, along with some money she kept in the center console. Interestingly, the car alarm didn't go off. I later learned that the reason it didn't go off is that there isn't one! While the vehicle is equipped with an engine immobilizer, there is no vehicle alarm.
Fortunately, Jeanie was able to find a company that had the window in stock and would even come to the house to perform the repair. The insurance company was very nice and coordinated paying for the window repair, as well as arranging for Jeanie to meet with an adjuster to determine a settlement amount for the damage to the weather molding and to the leather on the passenger seat. Unfortunately, insurance won't cover the loss of the GPS or the cash.
A pair of detectives came by the next day to follow up, but they told us that even though we had given them the serial number of the unit, they had no leads and thought it unlikely that we would ever see our GPS again.
Moral of the story? Don't ever leave the mount affixed to the windshield, even if you are parked in your own driveway in Mayberry By The Sea...
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Posted by David at April 09, 2008 07:56 PM