interesting 24 hours

[Mark Hix]

Yesterday was April Fools. I got to work at 715am like normal, parked in the normal place and did my normal job. Walked outside at 4:45 and no truck. Called the wife just to check...nope, no joke. Called the police and filed the report. They asked if it was a joke. Talked to the insurance company (I work for them) and made the report. They asked if it was a joke. LOML came an picked me up, she asked if it was a joke. At 1am (yes, 1AM) the police department for Farmer's Branch called to say that Dallas PD had found the truck and was towing it in. No idea where it was found or what the damage was. I'm awake now, called Dallas-nope, not in the impound yet, call back later. Now I can't go back to sleep. Called back at 6, on hold for 45 minutes and gave up. Ten am and the impound person tells me is is listed as no damage....(sure)

One long interview and a 4 page notarized document later the repair folks call to say they have the truck. They say no tires, no rims, steering column is damaged. I will go see it tomorrow.

Building security watches the video and sees the thief pull into a space 2 down from my truck, get out, go straight to the truck and slim jim the door and drive off. Looks like they did their homework. Total time to drive in and out....less than 45 seconds. Everyone who knows about it says "I am so sorry." and then kind of laughs or smiles. Even the police. What are you going to do? I would probably smile too if someone told me their vehicle got stolen on April Fools day.

Could be worse, it was not burned. Thanks for listening.

[Joe Pelonio]

Wow, sorry to hear that. Did you have especially valuable wheels on it so they just stole it for those?

[Mark Hix]

Plain vanilla factory rims. 20" tires. It was really all they were after. There is a big market for them. I had those locking lug nuts....if you think about it, they do no good if the entire truck is gone. You have to keep the key in the truck in case you have a flat.

[Scott Shepherd]

Wow Mark, that is a good story for the future. Not so funny now, I'm sure.

Years ago I put a car on a car lot on consignment. The agreement was that no one was to drive the car. If someone wanted to drive it, I'd come meet them. Decided to stop by there on a Friday night to look at it. Wasn't there. Everyone was gone home as well. Called Saturday morning and it they said "We thought YOU took it".

Nope, not me. Stolen. The rule was after 30 days, I'd get the claim for a replacement from the insurance company. 28 days later I get a call. Apparently it was involved in a high speed chase that involved lots of police, a helicopter, and police dogs. After he wrecked it, he bailed into the river and tried to float away (all at night). They fished him out the river and locked him up. Got the car back, full of wigs and all sorts of freaky things, and wrecked.

Hopefully you'll get your truck back up to speed with not too much hassle.

[Jim O'Dell]

For a tip on maybe getting some replacement rims and tires a little cheaper than new, go to a dealership for that type of truck and ask if they have any factory take offs. We sell trucks that people want bigger wheels and tires, so the new ones are taken off, and sold. There are also some businesses that buy these from truck conversion companies, and resell to the public. Much cheaper for factory stuff than new.
Sorry to hear of the loss. Just glad no one was in the truck when they decided to take it!!! Jim.

[Phil Thien]

That's not funny, I don't care if it DID happen on April 1st.

[Bob Rufener]

Major bummer. I had an apartment and it was broken into many years ago. . Nothing stolen. My roommate and I didn't have much but I sure felt violated that someone was creeping around my stuff. Nothing funny about your story-just a major headache for you. I hope they catch the robber soon.

[Chris Padilla]

I thought this was gonna be a thread about my favorite TV show, 24!! :D

Sorry about your troubles. These criminals need hung up by their privates.

Well, I think you were lucky to even get your vehicle back. I had a bicycle stolen right out of my garage. This bike is my commuter bike (I bike to work 5 days/week, 140 miles/week) and it had EVERYTHING on it: wallet, car/truck/house keys, upteem dollars in upgraded bike gear, panniers. It was a real headache getting the house, truck, and car rekeyed (and home owners would not cover it...neither would vehicle insurance).

[Rod Sheridan]

Mark, sorry to hear about your vehicle theft.

A few years ago my wife took our minivan to her Girl Guides meeting at a local school.

When she left the meeting, our van was gone, she assumed that I had to go to work on an emergency callout.

Diann gets home and says to me "Where's the van?"

Being the silver tongued character I am I reply" Are you daft? You took the van to Guides".

Not one of my better comments................Rod.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I hope he is caught and sentanced on April Fools day. First tell him he got 15 days, and when he gets to his cell, tell him he really got 15 years.

-Jeff :)

[Matt Meiser]

Saw something on the Dallas news about a lot of thefts of GM truck and SUV wheels in the Plano area. Is that what you have?

[Mark Hix]

Saw it this afternoon...not too bad. 2002 dodge truck, 4 door. they punched a hole under the door handle, messed up the steering column and the front valance. While I was looking at it, my wife was purchasing an alarm system. They took it for the tires/rims. even took the jack. No chance of ever catching them but I can dream. It will be fixed by Wed or Thur.

Since I work for my own insurance carrier, I am getting lots of "helpful" comments.

Thanks for the friendly ear, now I can relax and get my mind back on my turning.

[Karl Brogger]

Note to self: "When stealing a car, do so on April 1.":D

Bummer dude, when I hear about things like this I always hope I'd be the one to catch the guy stealing my truck. I wouldn't bother with the police.

[Dennis Peacock]

Diann gets home and says to me "Where's the van?"

Being the silver tongued character I am I reply" Are you daft? You took the van to Guides".

Not one of my better comments................Rod.

Hey Rod,
Around here? That'd get you a frying pan up-side the head!!! Here's to hoping that your pans are still flat bottomed. :D :p

[Paul Greathouse]

Mark, sorry to hear about your vehicle theft.

A few years ago my wife took our minivan to her Girl Guides meeting at a local school.

When she left the meeting, our van was gone, she assumed that I had to go to work on an emergency callout.

Diann gets home and says to me "Where's the van?"

Being the silver tongued character I am I reply" Are you daft? You took the van to Guides".

Not one of my better comments................Rod.


Now there's your April Fools Joke, no self respecting thief is going to steal a minivan.:D Sorry Rod, I just couldn't resist.

[Jim Becker]

Now there's your April Fools Joke, no self respecting thief is going to steal a minivan.

You would think, but...

Back when my ex and I were involved with Tupperware, our company mini-van was stolen right from in front of the distributor's home in NJ during a holiday party. When we walked back to the parking spot, there was just broken glass on the ground. We were fortunate that the distributor had an older one that had just been turned in so we could drive the hour and a half home that night. The stolen one (a blue Lumina with the pointy snout) was found a week later in Newark NJ. All our stuff was still in it, too. Ironically, there was a religious music tape in the player...apparently the thief forgot some of his/her Sunday School lessons or something...

[John Shuk]

Funny you say that Jim. A friend had his Lumina minivan stolen as well in NY some years back. Must have been a demand on parts for them in those days.

[Paul Greathouse]

My Mother-in-Law had one of those rediculous looking vehicles several years back. My Father-in-Law called it the "Spoonbill", referencing an ugly and worthless duck that goes by the same nickname.

They asked my wife and I to drive them to New Orleans in it one time for a doctors appointment. Driving that thing was one of the most demasculating experiences of my life.



Funny you say that Jim. A friend had his Lumina minivan stolen as well in NY some years back. Must have been a demand on parts for them in those days.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I wouldn't have told this on myself: A guy I know was working long long hours on his pHD and at the time was living in an apartment complex in a not too "upscale" part of Dallas. He was taking a break at about 2:00 in the morning and walked out on the 2nd story balcony of the apartment complex where he lived. He looked down and saw a guy working on a vehicle and thought to himself..."At this time of night?" Preoccupied, he went back to working on his presentation and the next morning when he went down to go to school realized he had been watching somebody steal his tires and rims.

[Dick Strauss]

I'm glad you got your car back. It could have been much worse!

I once had my Datsun stolen for the nice rims and tires. A friend of mine found the car and reported it to me. I called the police to let them know to help them with their "investigation". All they did was have the car towed...they didn't take fingerprints even though the rims/tires were worth about $1000 at the time (so it was a grand theft case). To add insult to injury, I didn't have full coverage and had a bill for towing. Thankfully the car had replacement front tires that the crooks installed. I almost laughed when I first saw the car because the tires were so skinny, they would have looked at home on the front of a dragster or a motorcycle.

FYI-One of the tricks car thieves used to use was to trigger the car alarm and hide. They did this mulitple times until the owner suspected an alarm malfunction and shut the alarm off. Then the car was easy pickings for the crooks.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hey Rod,
Around here? That'd get you a frying pan up-side the head!!! Here's to hoping that your pans are still flat bottomed. :D :p

The pan is fine, still flat, apparently it's harder than my head....:D

[James Jaragosky]

I lived in Chicago for a long time and have had many things stolen.
One cold winter night I had to go visit a friend at a hospital near the lake front. I could not believe my good fortune at finding free parking spot within 15 feet of the front door. When I exited the hospital 1 hr later my car was gone.
Walking a short distance I spot a police car in a fast food drive through.
I tap on the window and attempt to tell the female officers that my car was just stolen; they tell me to get lost and if I do not move quickly that they will arrest me. Later that night I report the car stolen with another officer.

My friends tell me to call the pound often because they charge by the day and are notorious for not notifying people of the recovery of their Vehicle for weeks; sometimes resulting huge fees. I call twice a day for 3 weeks and finely I am told that they have had the car for 7 days.
The car is found windows broke and steering collar damaged.

The next month I get a letter from the city that the car has 11 parking tickets that I need to pay for. You guessed it; all from the time it was stolen. So I call down to the city arbitrator and tell him that I got a police report to show that the car was stolen during the time the tickets were issued. he tells me that he will waive all the tickets and fines but one; I will have to pay at least one. When I ask why he tells me someone has to pay something!
I find out later that the thief got caught driving the car and the prosecutor decided not to press charges.

So I really got robed three times once by the car thief and twice by the city.