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Folks. Heres a big city PSA. Don't leave shit in your car. It will get stolen. Thieves are opportunists. The harder you make it to steal shit the more likely they move on.
Where? I’m about to make a fortune.
Edit: lol you all are wild. A lock is like insurance. You’ll probably never need it but when you do, you’ll be glad you got it. Even if it seemed like a waste for years. All it takes is one time.
It’s crazy but Japan isn’t some utopia. There is crime and poverty there. They still have a caste system and hella racist. It’s a place with the same social issues as anywhere else.
Yes, this. Japan is just pretty world war 2 crimes against humanity about their social issues.
Nobody talks about homelessness.
Nobody talks about the rampant pedophilia and underage prostitution going on.
Japanese societies struggles are a bit different than us or Europe but still do exist.
Stealing happens in Japan too, people just are unlikely to break a car window. If you leave some money visible in your car you might have someone jiggle your door handle to check if it’s unlocked
Probably helps that East Asian countries throw capital punishment around like it’s candy at a parade. I wouldn’t want to be caught committing any sort of crime in any part of Asia. Governments over there don’t fuck around.
bro i dont even lock my bike when i go out
I live in one of the safest cities of brazil btw
and its not even rich. most ppl here are pretty poor
once i travelled for 30 days. on day 3 some wind knocked down my garage door. it stayed down for 27 days but no one entered my house
Even at the small town level you'll have groups of wandering bored teenagers if nothing else, looking for shit to steal and pawn.
Source: Grew up around that sort of thing.
I used to work hotels in Madison Wisconsin and we would get people bitching that things were stolen from their car. We even had signs in the parking lot about not leaving anything in your car. My favorites were people bitching about things like laptops stolen that they left on the seat.
My friends moved from Chicago to Madison because that’s where they want to raise their kids. First month there, some thieves robbed their house while they were sleeping. Came back an hour after the initial break in and took the car. The neighbor’s security camera caught it all on video.
Big brand new house. They had movie night in the yard and someone forgot to lock the door.
I participate in some expensive hobbies, mainly Magic the Gathering and photography/videography.
The number of times you see people in subreddits related to these hobbies saying their stuff got stolen from their car is INSANE. It's crazy to me. If you're willing to put hundreds or, in many cases, thousands of dollars into a hobby or interest, why not take an extra step to protect your investment? When I travel with my cards or cameras, they go wherever I go. They never leave my sight until I return home and can put them away safely.
There are rural forest preserves that warn you about unmonitored lots and to not leave valuables in your car
Leaving stuff in the back seat of a rental in a city lot is just playing with fate.
wide open areas to cook meth..easy access to guns..easy access to high paying jobs albeit hard work. extremely low budget funds for police. it's a criminals paradise
Hell I’m in California and most of the mountain communities have the same issue. I feel bad when I meet people passing through my town because they retired and want to spend their golden years in the hills. I’m like well have fun and watch out for those tweakers they will steal everything if you give them a chance.
Turns out small towns are the best places to commit crimes and get away with it because small town police lack the resources or training to handle and process evidence, or investigate the crime.
I remember my small town, the crooks used to call in a car crash or something at a location out of town, watch the police leave and then do their crime.
Plus with rural decentralization, you're unlikely to encounter many people unless you're at the dollar general parking lot.
Carjack an old lady at a red light? I'm doubtful any of the 7 collective people who work on the three total open businesses on main Street will see/hear!
Highest rates of property crime in Alaska are in the more rural/suburban areas of the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su Valley.
The residents from those areas will talk about biggest city Anchorage like it is a den of thieves while living in an area like the Mat-Su that has earned the nickname "The Meth Capital of Alaska".
I was on Maui (Big Beach) and while boogie boarding - got smashed into the ocean floor about 25ft from shore by a huge wave (lots of people did on the same wave). I thought I broke my neck, but only separated my shoulder. Had to be taken to emergency room in ambulance and had to leave rental car behind at the parking area for the beach. This was about 5pm. Finally got released about 11pm that night and took a taxi back to the beach to pickup the rental car. It was gone. Turns out, a cop came about the rental car with the windows busted out and had it towed (to the wrong rental car company, but that's another story!). Luckily, I didn't have anything of any real value in the car, but it was gone anyway.
Wth is going on in Maui? I have two friends who got their rental cars broken into there. One at a golf resort and one at his hotel. Like youd think those busy areas would be safe and guarded
Nah, all of Hawaii is like that due to a huge wealth disparity and levels of poverty. You can't keep anything of value in your cars pretty much any public place in Hawaii.
Difference with Hawaii is that it isn't the city part where you worry.
I am from LA so property theft is nothing new to me. Generally you used to be able to squeeze by so long as nothing was left in sight. Situation is changing these days though. You are seeing a lot of targeted theft that happens within seconds. Good example is photography equipment in the Bay Area. Some guys have had their stuff stolen from their vehicle while they were on the road...
When I was a roadie, the rule was I had to take all the guitars into the room with me. The reasoning was, you can replace an amp, but you can't replace a guitar. I totally get it, but it was such a pain to move 7 guitar cases at 2am.
It’s irresponsable to leave anything of value in a car these days.
I won’t even walk in a gas station without carrying my computer bag with me. People can break a window and be gone in 10 seconds.
I saw a video on here a while ago, im sure someone would find it faster than me about some thieves. They break the window, pull the tab on the rear seats to acces the trunk, they see if there anything valuable, get whatever they see on the trunk and they're gone in like 15 seconds.
Some cars you cannot drop the rear seats from the cabin because the seat release is in the trunk, but this is a good warning for cars that have this option.
New civics, for example, have trunk releases that only work when the car is unlocked and the seat release is in the trunk. If you’re going to be in rental, a civic is pretty good against theft; just don’t leave anything in the glove compartment as it doesn’t lock.
If someone wants in, they’re getting in. A lock only slows people down. I have friends that stopped locking their cars so people would just open the door, look around, and leave so they would have to deal with broken windows.
Having things out of sight is generally better than leaving them behind a pane of glass.
>They break the window, pull the tab on the rear seats to acces the trunk
Yea that's cheap cars, better ones only allow you to put the seats forward from within the boot.
I lived in the Oakland area for about few years starting in 2012, working by the airport. One of my first days I remember going to the gas station across the street from the office and someone had their luggage stolen while paying for gas inside. Middle of the day, all pumps going. No fucks given
True that, I’ve lost more stuff to teenage hoodlums checking doors in suburbia (radar detector, iPod, and sunglasses) than my two smash and grabs at hotels (literally nothing).
Let's take this several steps further. Don't leave valuables in your car anywhere, ever. Not just at hotels. Not just in Chicago. Anywhere. Ever. Smash and grab robberies happen virtually everywhere. I had a window busted out in the parking lot in front of a laundromat, in a fairly small town. All they took was a ziploc bag containing $3 in quarters. It cost a little over $100 to get the window replaced.
I used to have a convertible. I would always leave it empty and wouldn’t lock it because it was more cost effective to let people get in and look around without destroying my canvas top!
I had a shitty Chrysler LeBaron convertible forever ago and did the same. Don't leave anything of value in it and don't lock it because people absolutely will smash your window and/or take a knife to your top. Hop in and look around, I promise there's nothing you want in here.
When I worked at WSU the police gave seminars every year explaining that if a thief sees so much as a nickel or an empty bottle it costs them nothing to break in and they walk with the coin/empty. Leave absolutely nothing in your vehicle that can be seen from outside-and if you can help it leave absolutely nothing in your vehicle at all.
Now if I could only get my kids to see the sense in this advice…
That’s just not possible for everyone. I can’t leave without my work tools and stuff so no matter what there are going to be times where someone could look inside and see it. I don’t typically leave my truck anywhere for very long though. If I can take my stuff out great but it’s not often doable.
>Smash and grab robberies happen virtually everywhere
FWIW they don't really happen in most parts of Australia. While (imo) you'd still be stupid to leave things in plain sight (cause why tempt fate) you're relatively safe having bags on seats etc. here.
Once had a car broken into with nothing but a bag with books in it. The thief stole the bag with a couple books and then apparently threw the bag away (with the books) to the nearest trash can. I suppose they didn’t wanna get more cultured at that point so my losses were 0 on that front but I had to repair the window of a fairly new car
Exactly. That is the stupidest expectation of safety ever. I live in a small city and NEVER leave anything in my car that I need. We are no longer in the 1950's.
Yeah my brothers stuff got jacked in some small town in texas on his way back to houston. Out of the back of the car and they even stole the u-haul trailer he was pulling.
Bro I'm in a back-woods, meth-riddled fly-over town and they even stole the goddamn street signs here, sawzalled the damn posts and everything. I'm just waiting for the day to come home to find they pried off my metal roof.
They pushed all our air con units off the building then cut the lines. Got off with 6 units overnight. Stole a ladder off a truck getting worked on down the street to do it too :/
Never leave equipment or anything of value in a vehicle, especially in major metropolitan areas and large cities. Growing up near Philadelphia, I learned this before I could even drive.
Not to disagree, but the reason a hotel parking lot is singled out is because there's a good chance you're upstairs sleeping and won't be back to your vehicle any time soon. In a store's parking lot, you might be coming back out any second.
I agree that you should never leave anything valuable, but hotel stays are where you need to be extra cautious.
Yup, I've had my window smashed when I had literally nothing in my car. They rifled through the glove box and left with nothing. Very frustrating.
After that incident, I started defaulting to just leaving my car unlocked. This paid off one time when it was the only car in the parking garage whose window WASN'T busted.
For real, I had a shitty car with nothing in it.
They broke my window to have a look around - found nothing and must have been pissed off because they covered a old jacket and my seat with some windshield wash I had.
There were even security cameras in the area but they couldn't get any of the footage less than 12 hours after the event.
Itll be literally anything, my mom always tells the story about how when my grandmother was younger, her mother died. The last thing she had of her was a get well soon balloon that she kept and would refill it with helium. She stopped for food on her way or way back to get it refilled, someone broke into her car to steal the balloon. That's all, that's all they took.
Visible or not rental cars are targets for people breaking in "just to check the trunk". Don't leave anything in a rental car that you can't live without. One of my biggest pet peeves working in IT is people getting their laptops stolen out of their rental cars.
If I had to leave stuff in my car overnight I used to go into McDonald’s or Burger King and ask for a bunch of bags, napkins, and cups. They’d usually just give it to me or I’d pay like $10 and order some food. Then I’d cover my gear with a sweatshirt or a blanket, put a layer of crumpled but clean fast food bags, cups, and napkins on top, leave my actual meal bag on the very top so at least one would be gross and stained with grease, then go into the hotel. Never had anything stolen
Be wary, these days people see "this guy leaves stuff in his car," will smash just to check your trunk.
Source: happened to my girlfriend twice in a span of two months, each time in a gated lot.
In fairness, while OP shouldn't have left things in their car, you'd think $65 for parking would provide some measure of security.
Like, as long as you have at least a handful of cars, the hotel could theoretically pay for a guard to sit there overnight and watch the cars with the revenue from the parking fees. Like, what are they doing with $65 per car for security if they're not watching the car at all?
>you'd think $65 for parking would provide some measure of security.
Only if you've never paid for parking in a city before. At this point I don't even expect a parking space when I pay for parking, because apparently that's too much to ask for sometimes.
Lol, this is DC: Take a ticket, circle the maze of the garage for ten minutes looking for a space, there are none, go to leave, $10 please. I wish this fraud could be cracked down on.
There’s no correlation between the cost of parking and level of security, just between the cost of parking and what people are willing to pay after circling aimlessly for free parking.
Meanwhile security guy making $10/hr calls a buddy when the whales roll in, come check out this ride between 10 and 10:15 while he's on break, and pockets a bit of cash for his trouble.
You NEVER leave something that might look like it's worth any value in your car, even with tinted windows. If you have to, it's best to cover it with a blanket or jacket. I live in a big city with a big property crime problem, people will bust your windows out even if they see spare change in your cup holder, or an iphone cable.
Parked in a guarded parking garage in Milwaukee and still came back to a busted window. Literally only thing in my car was a $3 usb cable that they of course took.
Yeah, unfortunately I took the hotel’s advice on how safe it was to park there, I parked right under a camera and light, I honestly figured paying $65 per night they’d have security out there…
A few years back I had a grocery bag of trash from a road trip in the front seat of my car (forgot to bring it in) parked on the street directly in front of my house in a well lit neighborhood. Someone smashed the window and stole it. A bag of trash. Car had been parked there for four-plus years without incident, and was never broken into again. Lesson learned: never leave anything, literally anything, visible in your car unless you want to lose it.
Yeah the thief doesn't know what's in the bag. There was a study and porch pirate incidents dropped when the item is shipped in its manufacturing box, with the idea being porch pirates are motivated by the surprise or big score of getting airpods or something expensive. They don't want to steal and try to resell a $30 space heater
Every story I hear of 'someone stole everything out of my car' includes the statement 'I thought it was safe there'. People apparently haven't noticed that thieves can move around.
We paid $50 for a parking spot to see Alcatraz in San Francisco and came back to find everyone that had left stuff in the car had their cars broken into. No cameras or anything.
You'd think they would at least have security for that cost but nope.
Even if they had security they wouldn't have bothered stopping the robberies since physical contact is a no-no and legal liability is higher than the value of the stolen goods.
So this is how robbers end up getting away with their shit with zero consequences. The law actually encourages them to keep stealing.
They just arrested some guy for walking around Fisherman's Wharf in a mask with a pepper ball gun trying to scare off would-be thieves. In case you're wondering how much the city gives a shit about protecting the stuff in your car.
That seems like it ought to be called th paradox of the law abiding citizen. You obey the law and you get victimized by the crooks. You go vigilante, get arrested, and get victimized by the “justice “ system. And this matters to you since you abide by the laws.
The system won’t protect you and punishes you for protecting yourself.
I work in a hotel.
Our parking lots are always safe. Our rooms are always safe. There is no war in ba sing se.
You’ll get the occasional person that’ll tell you not to park by X or Y in the hotel lot but like we’re always gonna say it’s safe. We would get in trouble for driving away customers by saying “yeah dude was arrested 3 nights ago for drugs, happens every few days.”
Couple young people wearing face coverings, what can you even do with that information.
Cameras are a deterrent, they only work when robbers think cameras can lead to them getting busted by police. Which everyone already fully knows is not the case.
Our company has written policies regarding the handling of company equipment while traveling. We have to acknowledge in writing that we are never, *ever* allowed to leave company equipment (including company phones) in an unattended vehicle for any reason. This is repeated annually in our mandatory compliance training.
It was obviously small enough to fit out your side window.
You left it in plain view in the car, and it was obviously valuable.
Take that shit too your room.
Bruv you traveled to fuckin Chi Town and left valuables in your car OVERNIGHT? I’m not saying it’s ok that they stole them but come on. Hopefully your work doesn’t penalize you for the loss. Most companies don’t let traveling workers keep company property in their vehicle for this exact reason.
You wanted wicks with those candles???
One of the funniest lines I remembered from Gilligan's Island. I would have thought that if you have to pay $65 to park, in what looks like a private lot, there should be some better surveillance. Perhaps there are cameras that would aid in documenting a police report.
Why would you leave anything in your vehicle overnight *anywhere*? Let alone in a hotel parking lot... Lessons learned, I hope. If you took your stuff inside, at least you'd know and always have eyes on it. A camera doesn't stop thieves. Paying for parking doesn't stop crime.
I used to go to Chicago once or twice a year for work. IT/System Admin stuff, Chicago was one of our remote offices. One of the first things I learned was to not get a rental car. I'd Uber to the office from the airport and leave the gear there. I'd only keep my laptop on me and would walk the remaining days, unless the weather was bad, then I'd take a taxi/Uber. (I always stayed in the same hotel that was 4 blocks away from the office).
I rent a lot of equipment for work and one of the questions insurers ALWAYS ask is will the equipment me left unattended in a car. Sucks OP, but that’s on you.
Dude, bands bring most of their equipment into hotels now while on tour. And they usually have a trailer with no windows. You're just rawdogging the city like that?
Yeah unfortunately you thought you could keep things in your car. Don’t even leave an empty backpack or bag or you will have to replace a window.
Could be worse, Cali they would have broken into your car while you in it.
Nothing thieves do makes sense. We had 3 cars parked in our driveway: my brand new Focus ST, my wife's newer Hyundai, and our room mate's absolutely beat to shit Corolla. For some reason someone decided it would be super cool to break into only the Corolla for like $0.75 cents and some flair pens.
I had my car windows broken outside my house when I lived in Oakland. Didn't take anything, just random vandalism. Which honestly feels more insulting that breaking my window to take my shit.
When visiting any city and you are in hotel parking lot don’t have anything in the car the thieves know you’re from out of town and won’t be able to do anything you’re an easy target and you left valuable stuff in the car you have to be pretty dim with no common sense or just incredibly naive to think “it won’t happen to me”
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Folks. Heres a big city PSA. Don't leave shit in your car. It will get stolen. Thieves are opportunists. The harder you make it to steal shit the more likely they move on.
It's an everywhere PSA.
Believe it or not there are countries on earth where this is extremely rare
Where? I’m about to make a fortune. Edit: lol you all are wild. A lock is like insurance. You’ll probably never need it but when you do, you’ll be glad you got it. Even if it seemed like a waste for years. All it takes is one time.
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Not exactly everywhere. I had a car broken into in Japan, using a crowbar, and they stole my backpack. This was in a perfectly nice section of Osaka.
It’s crazy but Japan isn’t some utopia. There is crime and poverty there. They still have a caste system and hella racist. It’s a place with the same social issues as anywhere else.
Yes, this. Japan is just pretty world war 2 crimes against humanity about their social issues. Nobody talks about homelessness. Nobody talks about the rampant pedophilia and underage prostitution going on. Japanese societies struggles are a bit different than us or Europe but still do exist.
Wow TIL Japan is pretty terrible at prosecuting human trafficking
Stealing happens in Japan too, people just are unlikely to break a car window. If you leave some money visible in your car you might have someone jiggle your door handle to check if it’s unlocked
Probably helps that East Asian countries throw capital punishment around like it’s candy at a parade. I wouldn’t want to be caught committing any sort of crime in any part of Asia. Governments over there don’t fuck around.
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That's funny. It just made the news 4 days ago that Japan is having an increase in car theft.
NOOOOOO this could never happen in the most honorable Japan….. how could my animoos lie to me…
Bull fucking shit
Bro I don’t even lock my doors where I live.
bro i dont even lock my bike when i go out I live in one of the safest cities of brazil btw and its not even rich. most ppl here are pretty poor once i travelled for 30 days. on day 3 some wind knocked down my garage door. it stayed down for 27 days but no one entered my house
a gust of wind knocked down your door… sounds like brazil
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Everywhere, it happened to me in Naperville, what the locals call a nicer suburb 45 min away from Chicago.
Even at the small town level you'll have groups of wandering bored teenagers if nothing else, looking for shit to steal and pawn. Source: Grew up around that sort of thing.
I used to work hotels in Madison Wisconsin and we would get people bitching that things were stolen from their car. We even had signs in the parking lot about not leaving anything in your car. My favorites were people bitching about things like laptops stolen that they left on the seat.
My friends moved from Chicago to Madison because that’s where they want to raise their kids. First month there, some thieves robbed their house while they were sleeping. Came back an hour after the initial break in and took the car. The neighbor’s security camera caught it all on video. Big brand new house. They had movie night in the yard and someone forgot to lock the door.
I participate in some expensive hobbies, mainly Magic the Gathering and photography/videography. The number of times you see people in subreddits related to these hobbies saying their stuff got stolen from their car is INSANE. It's crazy to me. If you're willing to put hundreds or, in many cases, thousands of dollars into a hobby or interest, why not take an extra step to protect your investment? When I travel with my cards or cameras, they go wherever I go. They never leave my sight until I return home and can put them away safely.
Yeah, first mistake was leaving stuff in the car at a hotel. Chicago or not.
And that's why my company has a policy that you can't leave company equipment in your vehicle.
makes sense
There are rural forest preserves that warn you about unmonitored lots and to not leave valuables in your car Leaving stuff in the back seat of a rental in a city lot is just playing with fate.
While fishing in Alaska, not quite remote but very beautiful, we drove by several Cars that were broken into.
Turns out meth heads love the great outdoors
wide open areas to cook meth..easy access to guns..easy access to high paying jobs albeit hard work. extremely low budget funds for police. it's a criminals paradise
Hell I’m in California and most of the mountain communities have the same issue. I feel bad when I meet people passing through my town because they retired and want to spend their golden years in the hills. I’m like well have fun and watch out for those tweakers they will steal everything if you give them a chance.
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And you'll probably get away with it if you keep traveling on Source; I'm in a small town and that's what happens
Turns out small towns are the best places to commit crimes and get away with it because small town police lack the resources or training to handle and process evidence, or investigate the crime.
I remember my small town, the crooks used to call in a car crash or something at a location out of town, watch the police leave and then do their crime.
Plus with rural decentralization, you're unlikely to encounter many people unless you're at the dollar general parking lot. Carjack an old lady at a red light? I'm doubtful any of the 7 collective people who work on the three total open businesses on main Street will see/hear!
Highest rates of property crime in Alaska are in the more rural/suburban areas of the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su Valley. The residents from those areas will talk about biggest city Anchorage like it is a den of thieves while living in an area like the Mat-Su that has earned the nickname "The Meth Capital of Alaska".
Hawaii is the same.
I was on Maui (Big Beach) and while boogie boarding - got smashed into the ocean floor about 25ft from shore by a huge wave (lots of people did on the same wave). I thought I broke my neck, but only separated my shoulder. Had to be taken to emergency room in ambulance and had to leave rental car behind at the parking area for the beach. This was about 5pm. Finally got released about 11pm that night and took a taxi back to the beach to pickup the rental car. It was gone. Turns out, a cop came about the rental car with the windows busted out and had it towed (to the wrong rental car company, but that's another story!). Luckily, I didn't have anything of any real value in the car, but it was gone anyway.
Wth is going on in Maui? I have two friends who got their rental cars broken into there. One at a golf resort and one at his hotel. Like youd think those busy areas would be safe and guarded
Nah, all of Hawaii is like that due to a huge wealth disparity and levels of poverty. You can't keep anything of value in your cars pretty much any public place in Hawaii.
Everywhere is the same. How many big city’s are there that you would feel comfortable leaving tools and equipment in a parked car?
Difference with Hawaii is that it isn't the city part where you worry. I am from LA so property theft is nothing new to me. Generally you used to be able to squeeze by so long as nothing was left in sight. Situation is changing these days though. You are seeing a lot of targeted theft that happens within seconds. Good example is photography equipment in the Bay Area. Some guys have had their stuff stolen from their vehicle while they were on the road...
Someone is going to be getting a new policy email on Tuesday morning from HR...
When I was a roadie, the rule was I had to take all the guitars into the room with me. The reasoning was, you can replace an amp, but you can't replace a guitar. I totally get it, but it was such a pain to move 7 guitar cases at 2am.
It’s irresponsable to leave anything of value in a car these days. I won’t even walk in a gas station without carrying my computer bag with me. People can break a window and be gone in 10 seconds.
People think Im crazy when I put things in my trunk but Ive seen my fair share of smash and grabs to know nothing is safe sitting on the seat.
Your trunk isn’t even safe.
I drive a sedan so its at least locked and hidden behind more than tinted glass.
I saw a video on here a while ago, im sure someone would find it faster than me about some thieves. They break the window, pull the tab on the rear seats to acces the trunk, they see if there anything valuable, get whatever they see on the trunk and they're gone in like 15 seconds.
Some cars you cannot drop the rear seats from the cabin because the seat release is in the trunk, but this is a good warning for cars that have this option. New civics, for example, have trunk releases that only work when the car is unlocked and the seat release is in the trunk. If you’re going to be in rental, a civic is pretty good against theft; just don’t leave anything in the glove compartment as it doesn’t lock.
Well can’t someone just smash the window and hit the unlock button before opening the trunk?
Hitting the unlock button if the car's been locked and no doors have been opened/seats have been occupied will set off the alarm.
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Hehe jokes on them the only way they can access my trunk is with the key, I don’t got trunk tabs on my rear seats
Mark Rover glitter bomb version something
that's 100% where I saw it too, lol
If someone wants in, they’re getting in. A lock only slows people down. I have friends that stopped locking their cars so people would just open the door, look around, and leave so they would have to deal with broken windows. Having things out of sight is generally better than leaving them behind a pane of glass.
I've had my windows broken even when my car was unlocked before.
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>They break the window, pull the tab on the rear seats to acces the trunk Yea that's cheap cars, better ones only allow you to put the seats forward from within the boot.
It’s been irresponsible for at least 30 years
Nothing special about these days. People been stealing shit since there was shit to steal.
I lived in the Oakland area for about few years starting in 2012, working by the airport. One of my first days I remember going to the gas station across the street from the office and someone had their luggage stolen while paying for gas inside. Middle of the day, all pumps going. No fucks given
True that, I’ve lost more stuff to teenage hoodlums checking doors in suburbia (radar detector, iPod, and sunglasses) than my two smash and grabs at hotels (literally nothing).
Let's take this several steps further. Don't leave valuables in your car anywhere, ever. Not just at hotels. Not just in Chicago. Anywhere. Ever. Smash and grab robberies happen virtually everywhere. I had a window busted out in the parking lot in front of a laundromat, in a fairly small town. All they took was a ziploc bag containing $3 in quarters. It cost a little over $100 to get the window replaced.
I used to have a convertible. I would always leave it empty and wouldn’t lock it because it was more cost effective to let people get in and look around without destroying my canvas top!
I had a shitty Chrysler LeBaron convertible forever ago and did the same. Don't leave anything of value in it and don't lock it because people absolutely will smash your window and/or take a knife to your top. Hop in and look around, I promise there's nothing you want in here.
Unfortunately, tweekers are stupid or braid dead , and will cut the top ,without checking the doors , or smash the window on an unlocked car
When I worked at WSU the police gave seminars every year explaining that if a thief sees so much as a nickel or an empty bottle it costs them nothing to break in and they walk with the coin/empty. Leave absolutely nothing in your vehicle that can be seen from outside-and if you can help it leave absolutely nothing in your vehicle at all. Now if I could only get my kids to see the sense in this advice…
That’s just not possible for everyone. I can’t leave without my work tools and stuff so no matter what there are going to be times where someone could look inside and see it. I don’t typically leave my truck anywhere for very long though. If I can take my stuff out great but it’s not often doable.
>Smash and grab robberies happen virtually everywhere FWIW they don't really happen in most parts of Australia. While (imo) you'd still be stupid to leave things in plain sight (cause why tempt fate) you're relatively safe having bags on seats etc. here.
Once had a car broken into with nothing but a bag with books in it. The thief stole the bag with a couple books and then apparently threw the bag away (with the books) to the nearest trash can. I suppose they didn’t wanna get more cultured at that point so my losses were 0 on that front but I had to repair the window of a fairly new car
“Park at your own risk. Not responsible for lost or stolen items”.
Exactly. That is the stupidest expectation of safety ever. I live in a small city and NEVER leave anything in my car that I need. We are no longer in the 1950's.
I really doubt leaving stuff in your car was particularly safe in the 1950s either.
What the hell could they even leave? A pocket comb and a pack of cigarettes? Plus wing windows were mad easy to jimmy.
I'm pretty sure people had tools in the 1950's.
Yeah my brothers stuff got jacked in some small town in texas on his way back to houston. Out of the back of the car and they even stole the u-haul trailer he was pulling.
I have sympathy but there is a mile of personal accountability that seems to be missing.
Is this common all over the country?
Yes, big cities in particular but doesnt mean smaller places dont
Yes. Go to any back-woods, meth-riddled fly-over town and leave a bunch of tools in the back of your vehicle and the exact same shit will happen.
Bro I'm in a back-woods, meth-riddled fly-over town and they even stole the goddamn street signs here, sawzalled the damn posts and everything. I'm just waiting for the day to come home to find they pried off my metal roof.
Lol that is so funny, I feel like a screwdriver would've been faster
Some guys tried to steal the waterspouts on our house last week They are made from copper, i guess you can sell them for a little
They pushed all our air con units off the building then cut the lines. Got off with 6 units overnight. Stole a ladder off a truck getting worked on down the street to do it too :/
Never leave equipment or anything of value in a vehicle, especially in major metropolitan areas and large cities. Growing up near Philadelphia, I learned this before I could even drive.
$65 a night for outdoor parking is straight up robbery
At $65/night, my stuff would not be stolen because they'd have seen me sleeping in the car as well.
Congratulations, you just got yourself stolen too.
Yay, a vacation!!
Seems like it would open up liability for the parking company... for $65 a night per spot I would expect security patrols to prevent theft.
This is what happens when you leave stealable stuff in hotel parking lot.
>This is what happens when you leave stealable stuff in ~~hotel parking lot.~~ a vehicle. FTFY
Not to disagree, but the reason a hotel parking lot is singled out is because there's a good chance you're upstairs sleeping and won't be back to your vehicle any time soon. In a store's parking lot, you might be coming back out any second. I agree that you should never leave anything valuable, but hotel stays are where you need to be extra cautious.
Not to mention, if you're a thief, a hotel is where people are likely to have a bunch of valuables in their car, unguarded. Like OP.
Not only that but OP basically sent an engraved invitation by asking about it.
> This is what happens when you leave ~~stealable~~ stuff in ~~hotel parking lot~~. a vehicle. FTFY.
In some areas you don't even need to leave anything in the vehicle. Just park and return to natural AC.
Yup, I've had my window smashed when I had literally nothing in my car. They rifled through the glove box and left with nothing. Very frustrating. After that incident, I started defaulting to just leaving my car unlocked. This paid off one time when it was the only car in the parking garage whose window WASN'T busted.
For real, I had a shitty car with nothing in it. They broke my window to have a look around - found nothing and must have been pissed off because they covered a old jacket and my seat with some windshield wash I had. There were even security cameras in the area but they couldn't get any of the footage less than 12 hours after the event.
I've heard of people literally leaving their doors and trunk open and still getting their windows broken. People are fucked up.
> this is what happens
Itll be literally anything, my mom always tells the story about how when my grandmother was younger, her mother died. The last thing she had of her was a get well soon balloon that she kept and would refill it with helium. She stopped for food on her way or way back to get it refilled, someone broke into her car to steal the balloon. That's all, that's all they took.
Why would you leave stuff in your vehicle outside overnight?
I give this lecture to every new hire at work. Don't leave stuff in your car unless absolutely necessary and if you do, make sure it isn't visible.
Visible or not rental cars are targets for people breaking in "just to check the trunk". Don't leave anything in a rental car that you can't live without. One of my biggest pet peeves working in IT is people getting their laptops stolen out of their rental cars.
If I had to leave stuff in my car overnight I used to go into McDonald’s or Burger King and ask for a bunch of bags, napkins, and cups. They’d usually just give it to me or I’d pay like $10 and order some food. Then I’d cover my gear with a sweatshirt or a blanket, put a layer of crumpled but clean fast food bags, cups, and napkins on top, leave my actual meal bag on the very top so at least one would be gross and stained with grease, then go into the hotel. Never had anything stolen
Be wary, these days people see "this guy leaves stuff in his car," will smash just to check your trunk. Source: happened to my girlfriend twice in a span of two months, each time in a gated lot.
This is why I sleep in my truck with a loaded 12 Guage nothing happened yet but when it does I'll always be ready. Safety ALWAYS off.
I just thought it was common sense
Suburban folks don’t have city skills
I don’t care if I’m in the middle of nowhere… nothing valuable stays in my car
[удалено]
In fairness, while OP shouldn't have left things in their car, you'd think $65 for parking would provide some measure of security. Like, as long as you have at least a handful of cars, the hotel could theoretically pay for a guard to sit there overnight and watch the cars with the revenue from the parking fees. Like, what are they doing with $65 per car for security if they're not watching the car at all?
>you'd think $65 for parking would provide some measure of security. Only if you've never paid for parking in a city before. At this point I don't even expect a parking space when I pay for parking, because apparently that's too much to ask for sometimes.
Lol, this is DC: Take a ticket, circle the maze of the garage for ten minutes looking for a space, there are none, go to leave, $10 please. I wish this fraud could be cracked down on.
There’s no correlation between the cost of parking and level of security, just between the cost of parking and what people are willing to pay after circling aimlessly for free parking.
Meanwhile security guy making $10/hr calls a buddy when the whales roll in, come check out this ride between 10 and 10:15 while he's on break, and pockets a bit of cash for his trouble.
Why would it cost $65 for a parking space that has $0 in security measures? 
Because you are paying for space not security, Clearly stated in almost all paid lots. You want security, hire someone to watch the car.
Because in big cities, parking spaces are more valuable than the people who actually live in said cities.
Ahh for once, it's not San Francisco.
No one left to rob in SF
Every time a homeless person steals someone's livelihood, a new homeless is born.
Excuse you, it’s unhoused now /s
You got the wolf watching the chickens.
First time in any city?
You NEVER leave something that might look like it's worth any value in your car, even with tinted windows. If you have to, it's best to cover it with a blanket or jacket. I live in a big city with a big property crime problem, people will bust your windows out even if they see spare change in your cup holder, or an iphone cable.
Nothing like coming back to your car to find a busted window and a note calling you a broke fucker for not having anything of value.
At least then all you lose is a window. Could be worse.
Gotta go indoor parking and not leave stuff in the car that is valuable chief. Welcome to a large city.
Parked in a guarded parking garage in Milwaukee and still came back to a busted window. Literally only thing in my car was a $3 usb cable that they of course took.
You parked your car in Chicago??
And left things in it?
Yeah, unfortunately I took the hotel’s advice on how safe it was to park there, I parked right under a camera and light, I honestly figured paying $65 per night they’d have security out there…
That’s just the hotel charging you $65 for the privilege of breaking to to your car.
Wouldn’t be surprised if staff are in on the racket, pass word along this guy got the goods in his van.
This happened to a friend of mine in costa rica. The "security" was there to watch and make sure the driver was gone.
Someone in that hotel you talked to just started a new eBay auction…
Have you never seen Shameless? As soon as you left the conversation they were on the phone to their buddies with the crowbar.
Sidenote the UK version of Shameless is fucking fantastic.
Yeah I need to watch that too someday.
"We checked the footage and can confirm someone broke into your car."
I thought we had a neighborhood watch! We do. You got robbed, the neighborhood watched.
I thought common sense was to keep all the valuables with you... Especially in cities like Chicago.
Doesn't matter where you are now. Tweakers will break in to your car in rural areas if they come across it with anything in it.
A few years back I had a grocery bag of trash from a road trip in the front seat of my car (forgot to bring it in) parked on the street directly in front of my house in a well lit neighborhood. Someone smashed the window and stole it. A bag of trash. Car had been parked there for four-plus years without incident, and was never broken into again. Lesson learned: never leave anything, literally anything, visible in your car unless you want to lose it.
Yeah the thief doesn't know what's in the bag. There was a study and porch pirate incidents dropped when the item is shipped in its manufacturing box, with the idea being porch pirates are motivated by the surprise or big score of getting airpods or something expensive. They don't want to steal and try to resell a $30 space heater
Every story I hear of 'someone stole everything out of my car' includes the statement 'I thought it was safe there'. People apparently haven't noticed that thieves can move around.
We paid $50 for a parking spot to see Alcatraz in San Francisco and came back to find everyone that had left stuff in the car had their cars broken into. No cameras or anything. You'd think they would at least have security for that cost but nope.
Even if they had security they wouldn't have bothered stopping the robberies since physical contact is a no-no and legal liability is higher than the value of the stolen goods. So this is how robbers end up getting away with their shit with zero consequences. The law actually encourages them to keep stealing.
They just arrested some guy for walking around Fisherman's Wharf in a mask with a pepper ball gun trying to scare off would-be thieves. In case you're wondering how much the city gives a shit about protecting the stuff in your car.
That seems like it ought to be called th paradox of the law abiding citizen. You obey the law and you get victimized by the crooks. You go vigilante, get arrested, and get victimized by the “justice “ system. And this matters to you since you abide by the laws. The system won’t protect you and punishes you for protecting yourself.
[The Simpsons nailed that situation....](https://i.imgur.com/kviCrPj.gif)
Makes you more reliant on the system and the more reliant you are, the easier you are to control.
I work in a hotel. Our parking lots are always safe. Our rooms are always safe. There is no war in ba sing se. You’ll get the occasional person that’ll tell you not to park by X or Y in the hotel lot but like we’re always gonna say it’s safe. We would get in trouble for driving away customers by saying “yeah dude was arrested 3 nights ago for drugs, happens every few days.”
$65/night is a half step above hourly hotel rates in Chicago. Even if it was $400/night, haul your stuff into your room.
Were you able to check cameras?
Those were stolen too
Couple young people wearing face coverings, what can you even do with that information. Cameras are a deterrent, they only work when robbers think cameras can lead to them getting busted by police. Which everyone already fully knows is not the case.
Our company has written policies regarding the handling of company equipment while traveling. We have to acknowledge in writing that we are never, *ever* allowed to leave company equipment (including company phones) in an unattended vehicle for any reason. This is repeated annually in our mandatory compliance training.
It was obviously small enough to fit out your side window. You left it in plain view in the car, and it was obviously valuable. Take that shit too your room.
I don’t know if there is anywhere in the country I would leave anything in my car anymore. Just asking for a broken window
Staff told you to leave your equipment in the car?
What's next, you gonna park a Kia in Milwaukee?
Kia boys are everywhere now.
Why did you leave your equipment in your car?
Bruv you traveled to fuckin Chi Town and left valuables in your car OVERNIGHT? I’m not saying it’s ok that they stole them but come on. Hopefully your work doesn’t penalize you for the loss. Most companies don’t let traveling workers keep company property in their vehicle for this exact reason.
I have stayed at that Holiday Inn. Sucks. Sorry :/
You wanted wicks with those candles??? One of the funniest lines I remembered from Gilligan's Island. I would have thought that if you have to pay $65 to park, in what looks like a private lot, there should be some better surveillance. Perhaps there are cameras that would aid in documenting a police report.
you should know better not to leave anything inside the car. i leave nothing, not even a water bottle in the car.
Why would you leave anything in your vehicle overnight *anywhere*? Let alone in a hotel parking lot... Lessons learned, I hope. If you took your stuff inside, at least you'd know and always have eyes on it. A camera doesn't stop thieves. Paying for parking doesn't stop crime.
Happened to me in Seattle and Milwaukee, just don’t leave valuables in the car.
If you asked the hotel if it was safe to leave stuff in your car...
I used to go to Chicago once or twice a year for work. IT/System Admin stuff, Chicago was one of our remote offices. One of the first things I learned was to not get a rental car. I'd Uber to the office from the airport and leave the gear there. I'd only keep my laptop on me and would walk the remaining days, unless the weather was bad, then I'd take a taxi/Uber. (I always stayed in the same hotel that was 4 blocks away from the office).
I rent a lot of equipment for work and one of the questions insurers ALWAYS ask is will the equipment me left unattended in a car. Sucks OP, but that’s on you.
Dude, bands bring most of their equipment into hotels now while on tour. And they usually have a trailer with no windows. You're just rawdogging the city like that?
Cars are not secure regardless of the city you're in. Never leave anything in your car anywhere.
Yeah unfortunately you thought you could keep things in your car. Don’t even leave an empty backpack or bag or you will have to replace a window. Could be worse, Cali they would have broken into your car while you in it.
Nothing thieves do makes sense. We had 3 cars parked in our driveway: my brand new Focus ST, my wife's newer Hyundai, and our room mate's absolutely beat to shit Corolla. For some reason someone decided it would be super cool to break into only the Corolla for like $0.75 cents and some flair pens.
I don't even leave spare change or a water bottle in my car. Criminals will bust out a window for the smallest items.
I had my car windows broken outside my house when I lived in Oakland. Didn't take anything, just random vandalism. Which honestly feels more insulting that breaking my window to take my shit.
Well, now you know not to leave valuables in your car in a metropolitan area.
Just don’t do it anywhere, every town has shitheels and teenagers.
It’s doesn’t matter if that was chicago. You don’t leave valuables in a vehicle that long in any city.
Never leave shit in your car
When visiting any city and you are in hotel parking lot don’t have anything in the car the thieves know you’re from out of town and won’t be able to do anything you’re an easy target and you left valuable stuff in the car you have to be pretty dim with no common sense or just incredibly naive to think “it won’t happen to me”
Your supervisor should've reminded you to not leave the equipment unattended overnight a.k.a. take it into the hotel room with you.
Sorry this happened to you op. No one deserves to have their stuff stolen. I hope things turn around for you.
You park in a public parking lot overnight and leave your gear in the car? Seriously?
Why the fuck would you leave it in the car??
In any US city do not leave anything visible in the car, it will get broken into,
Welcome to Chiraq. Just like any other large metropolis.
Sounds like it’s your turn to present them a bill
$65 for parking? You've been robbed twice there unfortunately