What’s up with that shit? Goddamn.
OK, I got this from a Dean Koontz novel so it’s probably not be worth much, but don’t guys who steal cars sometimes steal a licence plate off another car so the plates don’t match the stolen car report? In the novel, he said people were much less likely to report plates stolen. Anyway, just thought I’d throw that in…
They probably stole it because they have no license plate or no insurance and your car resembles the one they want to drive around. So they stole it because a cursory look by police generally won’t ring any bells unless you reported it stolen whereas no license plate is a definate pull over thing.
(Yeah I knew some people who did this… nearly killed them when the police pulled us over for stolen plates and no license or insurance)
Or they plan to do something heinous, and if anyone sees the plate, they’ll come and interogate you.
Opportunity/convieniance is the motive for the rear plate snatch.
Or you have a cool vanity plate that someone else wanted to hang in thier garage.
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Wow … SOMEBODY knows a lot about stealing license plates.
Whatever the reason, it wasn’t because it was a cool vanity plate – it’s just your basic ol’ license plate. The letters don’t spell anything particularly significant, and neither do the numbers.
I feel with you on this one. I have never had my plates stolen but had the year tab stolen off the rear license plate…along with the radio antenna. At least they left my antenna ball. Still wishing very bad karma on the stupid ass that did it too. And no one, repeat, no one will ever be able to ever get the year tab off any of my cars again…
Here in California, lots of people steal plates or stickers because they can’t register their cars for some reason—they don’t have insurance or can’t pass the smog test.
That little sticker on your rear plate can be a pain in the ass to get.
So far I have lost 2—one plate and one sticker. Fifteen bucks for a replacement plate and sticker, last time I checked.
gatopescado, do NOT post instructions on how to commit a crime on the SDMB.
Lynn
For the Straight Dope
Growing up in the suburbs I always thought this was true too but I can’t drive for 5 minutes in a big city without seeing a car with no license plate. What’s up with that?
When I moved my car from California to Massachusetts ten years ago, I had the California plate stolen while I was in the RMV parking lot. They had taken the screws that attach the plate, so I had to drive to the auto parts store to get some more. On the way, it occurred to me that I should report the theft, so I called the police station from the store. As near as I remember, the conversation went like this:
ENugent: I’d like to report a stolen license plate.
Policeman: OK, ma’am, you need to come to the station to fill out a report, and we’ll give you a form to take to the RMV so you can get a new plate.
ENugent: I don’t actually need a new plate - the old one was stolen while I was in the RMV getting a new one.
Policeman: Your plate was stolen while you were in the RMV?
ENugent: That’s right. I brought the car from California and I reregistered it in Massachusetts.
Policeman: Are you sure the RMV didn’t remove the plate as a service for you?
ENugent: The RMV doesn’t take the plates off cars parked in their lot!
Policeman: It just seems like an awful coincidence, ma’am, your plate being taken while you were getting a new one.
ENugent: It’s not a coincicence - the thief must have hoped I wouldn’t report it, since I would have the replacement plate already.
Policeman: But how would a thief know you were getting new plates?
ENugent: I assume he figured there was a good chance that a car parked in the RMV lot with out-of-state plates was getting new ones. Besides, no one would look twice at someone taking off plates in the lot there.
Policeman: There are lots of reason that people park in the RMV lot, ma’am; I don’t see how he could have been sure you were getting new plates. Before you fire a report, you need to check with the RMV to see if they have the plate.
ENugent: You want me to go back to the RMV to see if they took the license plate off my car?
Policeman: Yes, ma’am, I need you to do that before you can make a report. After you do that, you can come down to the station; we don’t take stolen-plate reports over the phone.
So I went back to the RMV and talked to the policeman guarding the lot, who rolled his eyes and assured me that no, the RMV does not remove plates from random vehicles parked in their lot. Finally, I went to the station and reported the missing plate, patiently explaining that I understood that they couldn’t get me a new California plate - I’d have to go to the California DMV for that. I didn’t need a new plate; I had a Massachusetts plate. All I wanted to do was let them know the old plate number so they’d have it listed as stolen. It was a lot of hassle to make me go through, especially since there was really no benefit to me in reporting the stolen plate.
It’s annoying how some of the stupidest people you’ll ever encounter are the ones that automatically think you’re stupid.
But my big city is smaller than yours, I’ve never seen a car driving without plates up here. And that’s part of the reson my ex-friends were stealing plates. Like I said because the cars were of similar make, model and colour to theirs. That way as long as the police don’t look too close if they happen to run it they’ll be able to just slip away.
Like I said, if the police hadn’t have been there I might have killed my ‘friends’ for putting me in that situation (never have before, or after had the police asking me questions and stuuf. At least I honestly hadn’t done anything and they let me walk home). It’s not like you ask your buddies if they have up to date insurance and non-stolen plates on their car when you go to the store for beer right?
One of my friends here in California recently had her back license plate stolen by a thief who replaced it with a plate from a stolen car! Luckily, she noticed before the police did.
Sorry to hear about that Snooooopy. I had my rear license plate stolen less than a year ago.
By all means file a police report–the CA DMV wouldn’t even issue me a new plate until I had a copy of the police report to present them. I was able to file it over the phone, so there shouldn’t be much of a hassle.
If you still have the front plate, move it to the back (temporarily). In the meantime, until you get the new plate, you may get pulled over and issued a ticket, so don’t delay (although the ticket is typically a Fix-It, it’s still more of a hassle since you do need to go to a police station to get that signed off).
In CA, the replacement fee was only $10, so it’s not so bad overall if you don’t procrastinate.
Holy Cow, Snooooop, I just noticed you live in Oakland. So do I! Maybe ours was the same thief, eh?
Ugh, this same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. What a nuisance. Sure, it’s only 10 bucks or so, but then there’s the time I had to spend going to the DMV to get it replaced. And there was the slight worry that although I’d taken my front place off and put it on the back in the interim, that some cop would be on my case in the 2 days between the crime and my appointment.
Not to mention having to memorize yet another number. Of course I remember my first plate number much easier than the replacement number. :rolleyes:
This happens all the time in my neighborhood in St. Louis. It’s always done for the registration tags. Although here, if the tags can’t be peeled off, instead of stealing the whole plate, whoever’s doing the stealing usually just saws the license plate in half and takes the half with the tags.
I know of a quite a few people who have had their plates stolen. It happens a lot here in Las Vegas.
A girl my mom works with had her rear license plate stolen off her car a couple of months ago. She filed a police report and moved her front plate to the rear (in Nevada only a rear plate is required). She notified the DMV and was waitng for the new registration sticker. She got pulled over for having a “stolen tag”. She told the police her story, showed them the copy of the police report, showed them her registration proving that it was the plate for her car… They arrested her!! She was booked and everything, impounded her car :eek: Eventually it got worked out, but still
Also a friend of mine, who is doing her med school rotation had her plates stolen- both of them. She was on a 36 hour shift at the hospital and she only had a time frame of when her plates were stolen. The police gave her a hard time when she was filing the report because “how do you not notice your plates were stolen” she told them blah blah 36 hour shift etc etc. She said they treated her like she was a moron.
A guy my husband works with, somebody stole the rear plate off his truck, he was irked becase he had to take time off work to go to the DMV go get new plates (tey won’t do it thru the mail here) and a trip to the DMV takes a min of 2 hours if you are extremely lucky!
Thankfully this hasn’t happened to me ::knocks on wood:: Sorry to hear of your situation Snooooopy. Hopefully it gets resolved quickly.
D’oh!
:smack:
Man, what a dummy! I was thinking I was explaining the thought process behind the action, but it kinda came out , well, wrong! See what I get for posting at home while drinking homebrew. I won’t do it again, honest!
A thousand pardons, please!