Interesting call at 5AM = car stolen

[gc82000]

Gonna lock your car from now on?

Sorry, but I'm real confused. You're paranoid enough to double check the house is locked and keep a loaded pistol around, but your unconcerned enough leaving a very valuable object (filled with other valuables) unlocked and with the keys in plain sight.

Make sure you get a judgement against the thief for the value of the car. Maybe once the ingrate gets out you can recover something.

I dont think this is a worthy path to try to choose. The kid is already in a bad enviroment, and by suing the parents it will just get that much worse for the kid. I think it would a better thing to get him out of the house and away from his family. He is already showing signs of personal abandonment, driving down a dirt raod at 90 mph... and flipping a car multiple times. This kid might not just be killed before he is 20, he might do it himself.

As for you lohman you need a beer.

[BlackVCG]

A lot of you might not understand why someone would leave their keys in their car, but when you live out in the rural area, it's pretty easy to get into that habit because nothing ever happens to anyone.

Out where I lived I don't think there's any other household that locks up all their doors before they leave other than my parents. All the neighbors I use to work for would tell me to go into the house and help myself to getting a drink or use the bathroom while I was there working.

[Lohman446]

Leaving the keys in the car... well in hindsight I should not have. But you also have to understand what the neighbors I have talked to have told me - more than half of them. "If you need a car for a few weeks theres on in my yard, keys are in it" This is how it is around here, we do help each other out when we can and it is generally assumed that things are relatively safe.

As for the child and role models. Theres something about farmland - want to apply yourself, make money, and be generally taken care of its not hard to do. Any of these farmers will treat you as near family if you simply have a job... work. I mean I don't farm but these people know me from work if I wanted a dinner I need only show up at 6:00 to any of there houses and there would be more than enough food. This kid need only go to any of these neighbors, work in the fields with them, get paid for it, and get accepted. At 16 he has an attitude... sitting down and being friendly and getting attitude from him, would cause all sorts of problems for me. So I'm not a great forgiving person sometimes...

Back to locking the car - I only locked my house when I was in it before this. And perhaps that shows the difference in philosophy. Locking the house, having a loaded gun, these were nto about protection of belongings, these were about protection of my child. I appreciate the police and there efforts, and acknowledge that I have two officers that would respond very close if available. I also acknowledge that I am 15 miles from the county sheriff office and 10 from the nearest town officers. There is a good chance that matters of personal safety are going to be handled by the homeowner around here.

[oldsoldier]

Lohman, you seem to be a good guy. I personally dont agree with the turning the kid around statement. I have seen alot of my friends grow up, people extend a helping hand, and bad things came of it. I had a friend that had a Big Brother (good program, but has flaws), and, one day, he just robbed the guy. Granted, my friend was on drugs at the time, but, again, that only goes to show that some people just cant be turned. Do what you need to do. Let your concience be your guide.
As an aside, I just want to brieflyu comment on what toyotaboy said about buying a firearm, and not necessarily getting ammo. Folks, heres the deal. If you buy a gun for home protection, make sure you know how to use it. BE SAFE. Above all, PLEASE be careful of what you aim at. Today, most people breaking into houses carry some sort of weapon. If you plan on defending yourself with a firearm, MAKE SURE ITS LOADED!!!! The thief will make sure his is. Also, be prepared to be sued. Right or wrong, you are going to court. And, be prepared for emotional consequences afterwards.
Now, that said, I am a gun owner, and have had extensive training in their uses. I dont lock my doors (in my apartment). I am not concerned about bad guys here. That being said, if someone were to break in while I were here, yes, I would probably pull a gun on them. However, I am CONFIDENT I could hit him, and not anyone else. Wow, ok, I am off topic.
Lohman, keep your chin up. Hug your little girl. Take her out for ice cream, or something. That'll make you feel better.

[SlartyBartFast]

Leaving the keys in the car... well in hindsight I should not have.
...
Back to locking the car - I only locked my house when I was in it before this.
...

Thinking about it, it's really pointless paying for theft insurance and even if you were covered for the car the insurance company would understandably refuse to pay you.

Property, IMO, deserves protection too. It might not be the highest priority, but certainly doesn't take much effort.

In this case, locking the car would have protected life and property. The car wouldn't have been taken, the kid wouldn't have endangered himself, the police, or the community.

So, I guess the crooks should all head off to the country and bag themselves a few free vehicles.

[Restola]

He crashed at said speed - lived through it

That's too bad.

[joez]

Lohman, press charges. This little punk stole YOUR car that you had to PAY FOR, and not only stole it, but wrecked it. Dont offer him a helping hand, if his parents have been failing at their job for the last 16 years your not gonna change him into a goodie two shoes by making him work in a field down your street. The kid has problems and no respect for anybody elses personal belongings, he deserves to rot in jail. Collect the money he owes you for a replacement vehicle, and let him rot.

Once again on leaving keys in your vehicle, i used to leave mine in my truck. Not just in the truck, but in the ignition. People arround here just dont normally get their stuff messed with. If somebody did want to try and steal it, they wouldnt get far. If they could figure out the right switches to cycle the glow plugs and turn on the fuel, and then get it to start, it wouldnt just wake me up, it wakes the whole neighborhood up. Not to mention i could run faster than it accelerates. I have recently stopped, because suddenly peoples cars are getting bady vanalized arround here, my truck got keyed bad and my sisters car had a brick thrown through it when she was out and about.

Sorry to hear about your car being stolen, it seems like this kind of thing is getting all to comon. Between theft and vandalism, its getting harder and harder to own a nice vehicle. And what happens to the people who do this? Usually nothing, unless they kill somebody else. Like you said, he will probobally be out on probation in a month, only to end up there again. At least you know hes layed up in a hospital bed in pain, on the bright side.

[Lohman446]

[QUOTE=SlartyBartFast]Thinking about it, it's really pointless paying for theft insurance and even if you were covered for the car the insurance company would understandably refuse to pay you.[QUOTE]

Just for the record, I beleive your wrong on this. Insurance covers stupidity, it does not cover negligence. As I am not a proffessional and had the numbers on my side as to why this was not negligent they would have had to pay me. I had one of the shops I work with leave a drain plug out, and destroy an engine - there insurance company covered them as he did not do it on purpose. You can rest assured that now my house and car stay locked.

And your right property deserves protection. That cars value represented XXX amount of hours of my time in labor. Ok, only XX or X cause i bought it for nothing and had an engine laying around for it. Still... I wish I had protected it better.

On the bright side I was able to buy a new car. I zapped teh savings account to do it but picked up a 02 Taurus for a VERY good number - it had all the options I wanted. I had considered a number of cars - and the Subaru Outback was close on the list. I had also considered a Volvo S70 or 850. Bonnevilles were there but would have been more money, as were a few other cars. I would have had to go about 7 years older to buy any of these for the same amount of money. I did not want a Taurus standing at auction today (dealer only auctions are great placed to pick up your next car - Im a dealer, I know). The Taurus to me represents too much thought into a car - you get good space, good layout, good mileage for its size... and after seeing the last two Taurus I owned totalled by other people (one my ex was in was hit by a full size Chevy Van going 50MPH - t boned on the driver's side, this one of course rolled at 90MPH) and seeing them survive it in very good condition for the accident I cannot fault there safety. This one has side air bags too. Its too much of a "old" persons car... not the image I wanted. Unfortunately I had to admit to myself, there are times when what you want to get and what you should do are different. If I had unlimited funds I would have bought a diesel Excursion Maybe in the spring I'll buy a motorcycle or tune the Porsche 929 (I'm thinking a GM 3.4DOHC or 4.3 or Chrsyler 3.5 would make that thing go like mad) I have sitting around.

Having bought a sensible family sedan I think Im going to have to go get a tattoo to prove that I'm still only 26 and not 40.

[skife]

[QUOTE=Lohman446][QUOTE=SlartyBartFast]Thinking about it, it's really pointless paying for theft insurance and even if you were covered for the car the insurance company would understandably refuse to pay you.

Just for the record, I beleive your wrong on this. Insurance covers stupidity, it does not cover negligence. As I am not a proffessional and had the numbers on my side as to why this was not negligent they would have had to pay me. I had one of the shops I work with leave a drain plug out, and destroy an engine - there insurance company covered them as he did not do it on purpose. You can rest assured that now my house and car stay locked.

And your right property deserves protection. That cars value represented XXX amount of hours of my time in labor. Ok, only XX or X cause i bought it for nothing and had an engine laying around for it. Still... I wish I had protected it better.

On the bright side I was able to buy a new car. I zapped teh savings account to do it but picked up a 02 Taurus for a VERY good number - it had all the options I wanted. I had considered a number of cars - and the Subaru Outback was close on the list. I had also considered a Volvo S70 or 850. Bonnevilles were there but would have been more money, as were a few other cars. I would have had to go about 7 years older to buy any of these for the same amount of money. I did not want a Taurus standing at auction today (dealer only auctions are great placed to pick up your next car - Im a dealer, I know). The Taurus to me represents too much thought into a car - you get good space, good layout, good mileage for its size... and after seeing the last two Taurus I owned totalled by other people (one my ex was in was hit by a full size Chevy Van going 50MPH - t boned on the driver's side, this one of course rolled at 90MPH) and seeing them survive it in very good condition for the accident I cannot fault there safety. This one has side air bags too. Its too much of a "old" persons car... not the image I wanted. Unfortunately I had to admit to myself, there are times when what you want to get and what you should do are different. If I had unlimited funds I would have bought a diesel Excursion Maybe in the spring I'll buy a motorcycle or tune the Porsche 929 (I'm thinking a GM 3.4DOHC or 4.3 or Chrsyler 3.5 would make that thing go like mad) I have sitting around.

Having bought a sensible family sedan I think Im going to have to go get a tattoo to prove that I'm still only 26 and not 40.

if you wanted the taurus with performance, you should have picked up an SHO, a buddy of mine has one, the thing is very very fast... and besides, nobody expects a taurus.

(he's beat a v6 mustang, bunch of rice) it has ALL the options, leather, power seats, power everything, moon roof. yamaha motor.

[Lohman446]

if you wanted the taurus with performance, you should have picked up an SHO, a buddy of mine has one, the thing is very very fast... and besides, nobody expects a taurus.

(he's beat a v6 mustang, bunch of rice) it has ALL the options, leather, power seats, power everything, moon roof. yamaha motor.

And that Yamaha motor is why there is not a chance I would buy one. The supercharged Bonnevilles have better performance, and are built a whole lot better. Remember I work on cars all day - the SHO taurus was not on the list of things I was even going to consider.

[Ghetto]

Sorry to hear about your car, glad you and your family are safe.
Few years ago I purchased a sea doo from an individual on the second time out the steering nozzle fell off. Fixed it myself and it happened again. Took it to a local sea doo dealership to have it worked on and the service manager accuses me of stealing the sea doo because it didn't have a hull ID. I had no idea what he was talking about (first water craft I ever bought and I didn't do my homework) he threatened to call the cops on me but I produced a bill of sale ect. After this I call the marine police they come out and take a statement from me. Turns out the sea doo, which was sold as a 96 was actually a 95 with a 96 motor. Motor had no identification, police assumed the motor was from a stolen sea doo but couldn't prove it for whatever reason. They set up a sting and arrested the guy for a multitude of charges one being selling me the sea doo as a 96. After the arrest the marine police contact me and ask me to get the price difference on a 95 vs 96. It was around $1000. A few months later I started receiving restitution for the difference. Most months its was small checks $30-70. The last check however was almost $700. So regardless of his families financial situation what's owed can be paid, even if it does take several months or even years.

[PyRo]

Unless the parents have savings or a job you probably wouldn't see anything if you won. To take a house, car, etc you really need a lawyer and you don't want to spend that kind of money.

The monthly payments you were getting has to do with them taking the money right out of his paycheck every week/month and sending it to you. I think they can do this for eight years or until it is payed off.

[SlartyBartFast]

Just for the record, I beleive your wrong on this. Insurance covers stupidity, it does not cover negligence. As I am not a proffessional and had the numbers on my side as to why this was not negligent they would have had to pay me. I had one of the shops I work with leave a drain plug out, and destroy an engine - there insurance company covered them as he did not do it on purpose. You can rest assured that now my house and car stay locked.

If you regularly locked your car, and one day accidentally FORGOT to lock your and it got stolen, then you'd be covered.

If you regularly left your car unlocked, its theft would not be covered. Unless it was known to the insurance company that you regularly left the car unlocked with the keys inside. But, I think you'll find insurance companies would refuse to cover you if that was the case.

[Lohman446]

If you regularly locked your car, and one day accidentally FORGOT to lock your and it got stolen, then you'd be covered.

If you regularly left your car unlocked, its theft would not be covered. Unless it was known to the insurance company that you regularly left the car unlocked with the keys inside. But, I think you'll find insurance companies would refuse to cover you if that was the case.

You maybe right in some cases, you are not in this one. I can show that it is regular practice where I live - it is not negligent. In fact the police officers around me, who are familar with the crime rates, both leave there keys in there car on a regular basis. 90% or more of my neighbors do. Regardless I was not covered and no longerl eave my keys in the car. An insurance agency cannot take my practice and refuse to cover me - they can backrate my insurance rates accordingly however.

[SlartyBartFast]

You maybe right in some cases, you are not in this one. I can show that it is regular practice where I live - it is not negligent. In fact the police officers around me, who are familar with the crime rates, both leave there keys in there car on a regular basis. 90% or more of my neighbors do. Regardless I was not covered and no longerl eave my keys in the car. An insurance agency cannot take my practice and refuse to cover me - they can backrate my insurance rates accordingly however.

But, the insurance company needs to know it's your regular practice. Doesn't matter what everone else does. And they can certainl refuse to cover you for all sorts of arcane reasons.

And just because they've accepted you payments all those years, doesn't mean they have to pay for a theft. Particularly one that was facilitated by the regular habit of the assured.

When you make a claim, any circumstance that was unknown to the insurance company, or was not specifically mentioned, or worse was lied about, can invalidate teh insurance contract. While the insurance company may calculate the higher rate and demand the differnece, they are more likely to invalidate your policy and cut your coverage. They would be liable to refund you any premiums paid from the date of the undeclaired or uncovered circumstance. They may be liable for interest on those payments, but I'm not sure.