Walked out this morning in our parking lot (apartment complex) to find about 7-8 vehicles had been broken into overnight. All four of my doors were open, there was a pair of my gloves and a bottle of Afrin on the ground and the contents of my glove box and center console were strewn about the cabin. But nothing was broken and nothing appeared to be missing. It’s really odd, because I had a bluetooth speaker, a pair of bluetooth headphones, two pretty decent knives, and a few other small things of decent value, but they left it all there. Why would someone go to the trouble of doing all of that and leave what I would think should be decent little pawn shop items?
Disclaimer, my doors were left unlocked, so shame on me for not locking them. As Gunny Hartman proclaimed in Full Metal Jacket, “If it wasn’t for dickheads like you, there wouldn’t be any thievery in this world, would there?” Yeah, that’s me. The vehicles with locked doors were left alone.
I only have two theories. 1 - They were only looking for highly valuable items (guns, computers, phones, etc.). 2 - They did it as some type of gang initiation to prove their loyalty as some type of jump in ritual. Doors left open and things in disarray to prove they did it. Other than that, I guess it could be some jackass kids getting their kicks, but I have no other explanations. Or am I thinking about this too much?
Any ideas, or has anyone had a similar experience?
Saw a movie once about a kid who would break into people’s apartments, but never steal anything. He would take a shower, fix himself a sandwich, maybe rearrange the furniture, but he’d never take anything valuable even if there was a literal pile of cash lying on the table. Maybe it was him?
The other option is a neighbor came home, or went to walk their dog before bed & scared 'em off. IF I were a criminal, I’d rather get away with a little less than have a huge haul when the cops cuff me.
Agreed with the “quick cash” answer. I’ve had my car broken into and the spare change bin emptied and the rest rifled through but otherwise left intact. Quite possibly teens or someone who isn’t going to try and pawn a bunch of Bluetooth speakers, flashlights and GPS devices.
Back when I lived in Chicago there was a homeless guy who’d break into cars to sleep during bad weather. So far as I know he never took anything and never left anything and never made a mess. We only knew he used our car because we went out early one morning and he was still asleep in the back seat.
Although “break in” was a bit of a misnomer in his case - in addition to using unlocked cars, he took advantage of economy car makers using only a limited number of keys for their door locks. Among his collection was one that opened a lot of Ford Festivas, including ours.
But it doesn’t sound like that would apply to the OP’s situation.
I had my car ‘broken into’ (I, too, made the mistake of not locking the door :smack:) while it was parked behind my house. It was pretty off-putting to realize someone had been sneaking around our house without anyone knowing.
They only got away with a pair of headphones. Headphones I had bought at Walgreen’s for something like $7. I can’t imagine there’s a big resale value for those… I guess they just take whatever their eyes pass over that they register as valuable.
If they were strictly looking for cash or didn’t recognize your devices, maybe they just decided to pass them over in favor of the next car, which might have money or something more obvious for resale.
Someone keeps breaking into my house and stealing things I was sure I just had in my hand. They usually return them two or three weeks later hiding them under a pile of magazines or something. It’s really weird.
I have a junkie relative and she does this frequently. Loots open cars for cash and drugs only, never takes pawn-able items. But she usually leaves the cars as she found them because she tends to hit the same parking decks over and over.
It’s impossible to know for sure, which I’m sure is eating away at you :(. But I think “scared away in mid-act” or “looking for cash or drugs only” are the likely explanations. Just make sure you keep your car locked, and maybe look into getting motion-activated floodlights for the parking area — if that’s feasible.
Adding: the “gang initiation” theory seems really unlikely to me. Gang members want “g-rides,” stolen cars that you can joyride around in; just leaving the doors open and the interior ransacked would be small beer for any respectable gangbanger.
Your perp was likely an addict and/or homeless, I’d wager.
