# Texas car thieves try to steal vehicle with police detective sitting inside

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 20, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142 "2014-11-20T08:23:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/1 "2014-11-20T08:23:40Z")

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😃 They deserve the prize for stupidest criminals yet. 😃

This story brightened up my entire week. 😛

> **[Texas car thieves try to steal vehicle with police detective sitting inside](https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/11/19/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/)**
>
> Bungling would-be Texas car thieves picked the wrong vehicle to jack after they failed to spot a police officer sitting in the front seat. The hapless duo allegedly tried to steal the unmarked cop …

> [@](#):
>
> Bungling would-be Texas car thieves picked the wrong vehicle to jack after they failed to spot a police officer sitting in the front seat.
> 
> The hapless duo allegedly tried to steal the unmarked cop car from outside a Haltom City property early Tuesday morning, reports the Star-Telegram.
> 
> But they didn’t see Det. Tony Miller sitting inside the vehicle. He was warming up the car in the freezing weather, but was not visible from the outside due to the tinted and frosted-over windows.

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**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/2 "2014-11-20T12:31:15Z")

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Texas has freezing weather? Really?

Frost on the windows? Really?

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**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/3 "2014-11-20T12:53:24Z")

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> [@elbows](#):
>
> Texas has freezing weather? Really?
> 
> Frost on the windows? Really?

Yes, really. It was 22 F. in Fort Worth, Texas Tuesday morning.

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/4 "2014-11-20T13:56:02Z")

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I believe there were freezing temps in all fifty states, including Texas, Florida and Hawaii, this week. Fairly rare occurrence even in hard winters, I believe.

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**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/5 "2014-11-20T14:11:30Z")

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In _most_ cities the cops have to _look_ for criminals. In Haltom City, they have drive-thru service; you can pick them up from the comfort of your car.

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**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/6 "2014-11-20T14:17:01Z")

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> [@elbows](#):
>
> Texas has freezing weather? Really?
> 
> Frost on the windows? Really?

I live in one of Houston’s northern suburbs, and we’ve had hard freezes twice this week.

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**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/7 "2014-11-20T14:28:58Z")

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> [@El\_Kabong](#):
>
> I live in one of Houston’s northern suburbs, and we’ve had hard freezes twice this week.

_ducks out to play the lottery_

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**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/8 "2014-11-20T14:58:21Z")

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Thanks for the learning, always appreciated! But this Canadians image of Texas (never been!) is a tad tarnished now, I’m not going to lie!😃

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**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/9 "2014-11-20T15:05:05Z")

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Here in San Antonio, we actually had freezes this week. Well… close to it, with temps getting down to 34-degrees F. I couldn’t grill outdoors _once_, and it’s not even December!

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/10 "2014-11-20T15:13:49Z")

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> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> In _most_ cities the cops have to _look_ for criminals. In Haltom City, they have drive-thru service; you can pick them up from the comfort of your car.

“In Texas, criminals look for you.” …nah, doesn’t work.

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**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/11 "2014-11-20T15:15:16Z")

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Here in Chicago, 34 degrees means we might put shoes on when walking out to the grill. I sure didn’t put a coat on to make a steak Tuesday night. I prefer charcoal but times like that make the Weber gas shine.

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/12 "2014-11-20T16:10:04Z")

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> [@El\_Kabong](#):
>
> I live in one of Houston’s northern suburbs, and we’ve had hard freezes twice this week.

Enjoy them… you probably won’t see them again until 2017.

(Houston is so warm that my Dad grows citrus trees in his backyard. Not in pots, mind you, but just in the ground. And they’re something like 7-8 years old now and thriving- he just harvested fifty some-odd lemons off his two dinky Meyer Lemon trees, and usually has that many or more Mandarins each year, and his calamansi lime (Phillipine lime) tree just produces fruit non-stop around the calendar.)

Seriously though… the average winter low in DFW is around freezing, and we usually get a couple of cold snaps where the temp is in the mid-low teens or even lower each year, along with a few days of ice and/or snow each year. Granted, the week of sub-freezing temps that coincided with the Super Bowl a few years ago was really out of the ordinary, and that’s why we were so unprepared. Usually it’s like that for a day or two, not 9 days straight.

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**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/13 "2014-11-20T16:23:29Z")

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I saw this on the local online paper. I don’t know TX law (& am too lazy to look it up) but in some/many/most states it is illegal to have the front door windows tinted over x% because it hampers the driver’s vision. The biggest offender of this locally; undercover cop cars. :smack:  
I’d laugh to see a good lawyer get them off/reduced because it wasn’t a street-legal car because of the tinted windows.

> [@JohnT](#):
>
> Here in San Antonio, we actually had freezes this week. Well… close to it, with temps getting down to 34-degrees F. I couldn’t grill outdoors _once_, and it’s not even December!

Stand close to the grill, it’s a good heater; you don’t even need a jacket on.

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**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/14 "2014-11-20T17:13:41Z")

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> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> In _most_ cities the cops have to _look_ for criminals. In Haltom City, they have drive-thru service; you can pick them up from the comfort of your car.

Cops with a degree in Economics don’t hunt criminals, but they believe that criminals would turn themselves in if they were paid enough.

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**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/15 "2014-11-20T17:41:58Z")

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Those guys need to look for another line of work…  
Yes,it freezes in Texas… I’m east of Austin and we’ve had cold weather for too long and freeze warnings 2 nights. However,it’ll be 70ish tomorrow

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**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/16 "2014-11-21T03:09:45Z")

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> [@elbows](#):
>
> Thanks for the learning, always appreciated! But this Canadians image of Texas (never been!) is a tad tarnished now, I’m not going to lie!😃

If tarnish is all it’s got on it, it’s still unrealistic. 😛

As to weather–yes, we do get winter weather down here. We tend to get ice-storms rather than snowstorms. The precipitation is liquid during the fall, then freezes when it spreads out on impact, and makes thick, mostly clear coatings of ice on stuff. Makes the roads even more dangerous.

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**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/17 "2014-11-21T03:46:57Z")

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Somehow, this surprises me not at all. People are stupid all over, but it seems like there is a whole bunch of stupid in Texas.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-car-thieves-try-to-steal-vehicle-with-police-detective-sitting-inside/705142/18 "2014-11-21T13:01:41Z")

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> [@bump](#):
>
> Enjoy them… you probably won’t see them again until 2017.
> 
> (Houston is so warm that my Dad grows citrus trees in his backyard. Not in pots, mind you, but just in the ground.

Houston actually gets several instances of \<32F every winter on average. leading to panicky announcements on the local media about the need to protect “plants, pets and pipes” (leading me to wonder about the extent of shoddy housing where pipes are not insulated against a common occurrence). And hard freezes outside the immediate downtown heat core are not unusual.

Growing citrus is risky around Houston unless you grow hardy varieties like satsuma oranges that can handle temps well down into the 20s.

I just got back from a trip to Dallas, where I “enjoyed” several days of high temps in the upper 30s-40s and even a light dusting of snow (not out of the ordinary for a Dallas winter, but not expected in mid-November when average highs are in the 60s).\*

\*it is well to remember that there are no real “average” weather days in Texas, but instead a wild vacillation between extremes.