Stolen vehicle vigilantism or just plain carelessness?
Thieves are bad, but so are the drivers who let it happen, Lorraine Sommerfeld writes
Just when you started to think vigilantism was dead, we get two back-to-back stories of drivers prepared to go to any lengths to save their babies. And by “babies,” I mean their cars.
Our first story reads like an action thriller: a Kansas City woman, Danielle Reno, has her Toyota 4Runner stolen while she’s stopped at a gas station.
When she emerges to find the vehicle she left running has gone, she does two things: she calls police to file a report, and then she calls her sister so they can begin two days of detective work of their own.
The tale is wild and wonderful. She tracked the thief (another woman) through her credit card, which she had also left in her 4Runner, along with her purse, cellphone and wallet.
By leaving that credit card uncancelled, she was able to track where it was being used. Her cellphone also left a trackable trail.
Thanks to the magic of CCTV, she’d already got a good look at who stole her vehicle.
While Reno called the real police to make the actual arrest, she did manage to film it so she could post it on Facebook. Because of course she did.
The 4Runner, unfortunately, had been thoroughly trashed by the thief and her accomplices. The report mentions a child seat in the back, because that is where the thieves were storing their beer.
This story hit the news as a merry romp between a spunky victim and the gang who couldn’t shoot straight. But that isn’t the story. The story is, a woman left her vehicle running unattended at a gas station, with her purse and phone in it, because she was only running in for a minute.
I don’t care how hot it is, doing this so you can keep your air conditioning on is reckless and stupid. If it was the first time she’d ever done it, I’m sure she’s learned her lesson. If it’s something she does all the time, I shudder when I hear about that child seat in the back.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Ga., an idling BMW proved too enticing for another thief. Despite there being witnesses about, he bashes in the driver’s window, hops in and attempts to leave.
The couple who own the car is seen on CCTV video running out of a store when they spot the thief.
Because they “were only going to be a minute,” they’d left their dog in the car with the air conditioning on.
The video shows the woman pulling open the passenger door and lunging into the car.
Her more passive male counterpart looks like he’s saying “Ah, to hell with it,” but she said she started punching the thief until he crashed into another car and then took off.
In both cases, insurance will presumably be paying out. Stealing cars is bad. Car thieves are bad. But car owners who leave their cars running, whether the car is locked or not, are putting a target on their vehicles.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, about 60 per cent of stolen cars have the keys in them. Many are stolen while idling in driveways. Your car can be gone in an instant, so why make it easier for thieves?
Idling but locked is no guarantee of safety, and idling and unlocked is a no-brainer for a thief. Idling is also bad for the environment.
Don’t leave your identification, including car ownership, in your car. While these two stories didn’t end in ruin, police never recommend attempting to engage with a thief. If your reason for chasing is because you left your dog or kid in the car, you shouldn’t have left your dog or kid in the car in the first place. Jumping into your car with someone trying to steal it is like locking yourself in a cage with Jekyll or Hyde — flip a coin.