No offense to anyone who has had things stolen from their vehicle. I have had my car broken into three times in Seattle and lost anywhere from 400 to 1000 dollars worth of stuff each time. If my entire paddling kit was stolen, that would probably only amount to 3000 dollars worth of loss. Given the wide breadth of crimes perpetrated every day, particularly violent ones, I would rather the police focus on these instead of worrying about small thefts such as this. Does it suck when it happens to you? Yes. Does it deserve the same attention as all crime? No. Its called triage and it happens everywhere. Hell, the last time my car was broken into was a month ago in Everett, and I had to file the report myself online.

Last piece of advice: get renters insurance. Costs next to nothing and will cover this kind of theft in most cases.

I hate Mosquitos. They steal my blood and leave me with an itchy red bump. If I ever catch them in the act, I murder them!

SOPBOATER I know you are not a redneck, uneducated, or an asshole. I also know you are not trying to take a jab at me. If what I said came across as an attack on you personally I am sorry. Your post could be construed as a suggestion. What I was trying to point out was the foolishness of taking such actions.

Being a victim and sticking up for yourself is one thing. Handling the situation and then deciding to make an example of someone, or going out looking for trouble is another.

I have no doubt that thieves have been scared off by a good beatdown. I also know of a lot of them who have not blinked twice about stealing from Bandidos, Nortenos, cops, loggers, soldiers, etc (we don't get many surfers where I work!) after they were caught stealing from them the first time and taken a good thumping for it.

The examples I gave are not extreme or off the mark. All of the people involved were normal citizens who just got carried away in the heat of the moment and are not at all atypical once people decide they have the moral high ground. A couple of better known examples of the same type of behavior are the Teyvon Martin shooting debacle, the Rodney King beating, and the Seattle cop who decided that kicking a handcuff suspect while using racially inflammatory language was appropriate (just to show that cops aren't immune!). Moral outrage, pack mentality, or just being flat out sick of dealing with crap seems to supplant reason in these situations. When that happens all bets are off.

I get frustrated by the "bigger fish" syndrome as much as anyone. I have handed off some rock solid felony cases to other agencies who just could not be bothered to file the charges. For the record I have the time to do the follow up on vehicle prowls and many minor thefts. If I couldn't be bothered to pick up video evidence or follow a obvious lead I would get my ass chewed out by my sgt. Every day my email is filled with video stills of shoplifters in the stores in the local towns, gas and go suspects, people using stolen credit cards, etc from other cop's cases from all the agencies in Skagit County. What a lot of people have experienced is not the norm everywhere.

Charles Bronson kicks ass!

Kyle

I think we can all suffer from a little too much bravado at times. Right after I posted I saw some flaws in my knee jerk reaction. However, dismissing the whole thing and calling it stupid is... not appropriate.
It's easy to take a person and throw them in a group of ill fated people who made poor choices.
Before I go much further, I'd like to say I have respect for the law and people who chose to serve it.. These public servants I'm going to use as examples of "public servants" I hope are the exception

Public servant #1 and #2. My friends neighbor was an officer. I'd parked legally on the street in front of his house to visit my friend. He approached me very gruffly and threatened trouble if I didn't move my car. I told him to F off. I went to my friends and pounded a couple beers waiting to see what happened. An on duty police man showed up and told me to move my car. I informed him I'd been drinking and would not be responsible for moving my car if I was made to. In my head I was worried I might lose control and drive through the front of the neighbors house. The on duty officer may have read my thoughts, he decided I could move it on my own time.
As a teen I was with a group of friends and two officers showed up saying that we'd harassed a woman that walked by. No woman had walked by. They told us to disperse. I told them I believed this was harassment, and public servant 3 started to draw out his night stick saying you want to see harassment?
Public servants #4 and on ... can't be bothered with theft and give websites to report things on.
Oh, in the mix .. I live in Hilltop in Tacoma. I crossed the vacant street against the light. On the cross street a motorcycle cop used his p.a. to announce that the light was red and it was illegal to cross it. I was wrong, however with the crack dealers on the corner down the block I felt my crime should have been the least of his concerns. It did give me a great idea though.. I'm getting a pa for my car so when an officer drives by with a cell to his ear I can inform him it is illegal in Washington to drive that way. I see this on a regular basis and it seems like blatant disregard of the law from the ones we trust to uphold it.
Also, I drive a wagon. It's impossible to have all items stowed out of sight. I've had cars broken into that just had junk visible... As kayakers it's pretty hard to leave your car immaculate and free from anything that might appear to be of value. A pair of pants might hold a wallet..
So, let me lay it out for you. Police may have better things to take care of, like violent crimes. Yet, if the car prowlers go un checked, as you know, they will get more and more brazen and continue un checked.
Thus, If the address is able to be discovered I would still be willing to go say "hi!."   I would not use a shuttle vehicle that might end up in the same area. With a valid concealed weapons permit I would carry a gun.. perhaps without I might just strap one to my side.. If I wanted to play it "safe," I might call the local authorities and let them know what I'm doing. I would knock on the door and ask about the vehicle and inform them of the information I had.
It's not quite as satisfying as clubbing them or torching their car.. but it lets them know they are being watched and perhaps they should figure out a softer target. I'm not really sure there is a blog for criminals where they share info. For a good beat down to work it would have to get into the news and have it be attributed to a reason and group.
I'd also approach the house knowing it's a strangers house and I could be walking into anything, like officers and Avon sellers do on a daily basis.
I'd like to see a group of 20 or 30 people just come up to the house to see what the story was, it's hard for me to imagine that just that sight wouldn't detour the culprits from... breaking into cars, or perhaps letting someone use the car who might be enrolling them in those kind of situations.. Hell, it might even be news worthy.
Without an address, what I will do is be very vigilant and not be afraid to stop and talk to folks who hang about the put in, especially if they seem suspicious.
Wiggins, I generally like your posts and you seem like a good guy. It's just if the problem is too big for the authorities to handle, then citizens without training and perhaps not always being rational will lash out and try to do something. I really don't see any good reason police wouldn't follow a lead as easy as video tape.
Oh, and about your comment on people with paddles and skirts.. Perhaps it's not the paddles they have to worry about, it's what's under the skirt. lol :) I actually just thought that was funny. A friend who probably has very few trespassers has this on a sign on his gate; Trespassers will be shot! survivors will be violated. He makes me look liberal.
Also, why wouldn't the authorities follow up on crimes under 10,000 dollars. It seems like a person stealing over 10,000 dollars of worth is far less likely to be threatening peoples life and limb. Isn't it the petty criminals that tend to resort to force? Remember all: if your going to rob a woman on a bus at knife point, you might as well rob a bank with a shotgun. They are both armed robbery. I'm wasting river time on this, so I'll jumble up some last thoughts and get gone.
Evil succeeds when good men stand by and do nothing.
and... A person who gives up freedom for security will get neither..   (hopefully those counter each other a bit to come up with the right answer.) Not attributed because they are not exact, just know they came from minds much better than my own.

Bronsen was a big blogger in deathwish.. lol

Cross posted an alert about car break-ins on the upper Sky at the local fly fishing message board and this info cropped up:

"Released one lost one, then lost my lure near Cable Hole. Decided to head to the mouth of the Wallce for Kings. When I got there. There were two cars with the windows busted. Blanking aholes.

Please Read this & Beware of Thieves! This is not exactly a 5 fishing day! But a 5 to make all fishermen aware of the thief at Reiter pond are back. 8/5/12 between 6:30 - 7:00 PM, about 3 or 4 theif driving a red dodge diesel get away truck, one was a girl (they did not fish but came to break into people's cars)...these people broke into someone's truck and stole their wader. Total of two vehicles had their belonging broken in and/or stolen. They even got guts driving pass the gate all the way down to the rearing pond stairway! Come on who is running the Reiter pond facility? To make things worst, they practically ensure no fisherman was coming to the parking lot while two guys broke the truck's window, and make a clean get away. I can't believe the facility guy running the pond did not even see these yahoos racing down the pond restricted grounds. The break in sound "Bang" could be heard from the river & the revving of the truck's engine to get away. The red dodge truck revved engine roared back to the parking lot to pick up the two thieves and they drove off. Fish n Game faility can't even enforce that place...they're hopeless, they don't even install cameras or lights on the parking lot. You have to call 911. I apologize for this long story, but long story short, you need to be aware of a couple of thieves roaming at Reiter. If they not fishing they should not be in the parking lot loitering. I don't want you to be in the same situation. Pass the word to your fellow fisherman friends - these idiots are back stealing sh*t again. If you see the red dodge truck (older model diesel w/ big wheels hi lifted), call 911 if you're suspecious. It is a real SHAME! If you see a skinny tall white male driving a red dodge, he and his buddy & a girl are the culprit thieves. They have no business fishing around Reiter. Thank You"

Sounds like Washington is in need a of a new group of vigilante superheros.

The total loss was nearly $10K, so this is not a small break-in, and in fact would be a felony if the sheriff manages to use the information we gave him about transactions, etc. against video footage.

Also, we have renters insurance, and specific insurance for items stolen, and it isn't covering it all. Just an FYI that insurance companies have negotiated rates with specific vendors, but if you choose to use the vendor of your choice, they may only reimburse you for half the value you insured your items for.

Ben what ever came of the Security Camera Footage, were you able to get a copy for yourself, what about the police?

Makes me mad to hear about those crooks.. and the ones that broke into your car. Too bad you can't call the police on the insurance company.
@ James... good job chasing down stuff without violating the law. Man, sounded like a bunch of work. I applaud your perseverance.

Ok, ok, once again another good thread that has taken me awhile to get the time to catch up on. I like this thread and the detailed examples EVERYONE has provided about their experiences.

I like your spirit, Thad.
Sopboater, who are you kidding? Sure, you are not an uneducated asshole by any means, and your phone most certainly is. But, you ARE a kayaking, fishing, redneck ninja. Be proud. And you can't watch some Charles Bronsen without being inspired to see some good 'ol vigilante justice.

And while I felt like Kyle's "numbered hero" examples didn't quite fit into the puzzle, I have to admit I agree with the bottom line of his point. This I can relate by briefly touching on the example I have of my most recent vigilante experience:

Many of my freinds round here know of the time I chased down a thief who broke into my house mate's car one night. During the heat of the chase I was exhilerated by it, and spurred forth with a feeling of having the moral highground Kyle mentioned. Yes it occurred to me I could be making a mistake (did this guy have a knife, a gun, or fighting skills? What if I was being lead toward his waiting accomplices? Ect.).
Again concerns arose when I caught him, grappelled with him, ect. But they went away when I realized I had the upper hand, and that his fear was greater than mine. So I took my upper hand and started beating him with it.

This is where I can say things had a potential to go baddly. No longer concerned about the consequences of the encounter since I was on top kicking his ass, I could feel a sense of satisfaction as I put all of the frustration I'd had in the past from being thieved into inflicting pain. I nearly broke his fingers, kneed him in the ribs, got several blows to his head, ect. WOW- I confess it felt great, and I felt vindicated for the times I'd been stolen from in the past even though this guy hadn't directly stolen from me. And later my housemate was grateful for the vigilante justice.

But as this experience went on for a few minutes, I started (fortunately) to realize what thin ice I was on. I started to call 911 until I realized that by now I had done more harm to this guy than he had done to my housemate's car. Then it occured to me that a nieghbor could potentially call police after seeing me randomly beating the guy on their lawn in the middle of the night, that I would then be the bad guy. But what finally made me back off was the realization just before I punched him hard in the nose that I didn't know enough about what I was doing. That I was dangerously close to pushing this thing over the edge in a very, very bad way.

All this occured in a matter of minutes during this skirmish, and I'm glad I had the sense to know when to stop and to pull myself back. The testosterone, adrenaline, or whatever chemical cocktail that took hold of me had quickly taken me to the edge of rational behavior.

So for that reason, I'm inclined to agree w/ Kyle's post. You gotta safeguard against the onset of blind aggression, and thats why these situations are dicey and could get out of control.

Still, I think there is a lot of creative room for sting opperations as some have suggested. But they need to be extremely well thought out and clever.

James, as always, I admire your approach and your perseverence.
Ellingeferd, I agree its a form of triage, but that's small consolation when its your finger that gets cut off.

I don't have a conclusion or moral here. I'm just glad I was able to learn something from my own experience, and from all of your accounts. Hopefully I can apply it all next time something happens, and make the right choices, no matter what they are.

As for Cable Drop, I bet a sting operation could be used to get the perps busted properlly, now or in the future. Just gotta be smart and safe about it...