Tonight was no different than any other Monday night in the past few months. Bowling league at 6:30 pm (yes, I'm getting old I guess...lol, hey, it's fun competition!)

I parked my truck ALL THE WAY OUT at the very back of the bowling alley, just like always, to prevent scratches, dings, etc. When leaving, I walked out there, and as I was saying goodbye to my brother-in-law, sister, and my niece who parked right next to me, I looked over and saw a F350 and two guys in a Cavalier getting something out of the back of the truck. I thought first that one of the guys owned the truck because he was very clearly in the bed, plain as day, not trying to be low-key...so I didn't think much of it. Shortly after, I realized what was going on. They were attempting to take a generator (likely 8 hp-15 hp, a big one) out of the bed of the truck, finally got it, and proceeded to stuff it into the back seat of their Cavalier with the 'wheel barrel' handles sticking out of the passenger window, and burned out of the parking lot!

NOT before I got their license plate number though! I played it quite non-chalant, didn't act like I noticed, mentioned it to my bro-in-law who happened to be looking their way and he leisurely watched as they finished loading and got in. I turned around to walk to my truck, got the plate, and drove off to the front of the bowling alley while I watched which way they turned.

Went in and the cashier made a call over the intercom at the Alley. Shortly after the owner came forward. Walked to the truck to make sure it was his, and he said they cut both locking chains and took them with the generator. They also scratched the truck when dragging it out. He happened to have a SAPD friend who works this particular area, called them, and the idiots had stopped 6 blocks down, ON THE SAME SIDE STREET I SAW THEM TURN ONTO, to get fuel for their car.

Suspects apprehended shortly after I witnessed it, no more than 10 minutes later! $3,000 generator returned unharmed.

Notes to self and any of those who park at the far edge of the parking lot - although this is the spot with the smallest amount of traffic, it leaves your car quite visible. Although it seems like thieves would leave it alone because it is 'too open', I feel quite the opposite now. Traffic driving by doesn't think twice about this type of action. All of the people getting out of the league were up near the front of the alley because they parked close. The only people who MAY say/think something is the people who park nearby. If you park in the back, there is no one to ding your car, but there are also no witnesses when something gets stolen(unless there are cameras, of course). These thieves parked behind the truck so they were blocked by the street traffic. They likely figured the parking lot pedestrians wouldn't think twice (and they were wrong! But, how many times did this assumption work for them?).

I am an overly observant person. I tend to notice this type of stuff as I have had a thing or two stolen before, and feel like I learned the hard way. My brother in law, sister, and wife...NONE of them even thought about the events the way that I did. They admitted afterwards that they would've never noticed. I already had the license number into my phone as my family was almost loaded up and in the truck to leave. My point is that witnesses are hard to find.

There is no shortage of lame low-life people in this world. I hate fuggin thieves!!!

With that said, two more were busted tonight - they will likely get a hand slap and hunt me down tomorrow when they get out

SQ

 

Nice work Shawn.

And ya didn't even need the SRT to chase em' down.

Let us know if you are a witness at their trial and what the outcome is!!

Good work!!

 

My Ram 2500 w/cummins is almost as fast as my SRT.

But it doesn't handle nearly as well! Either way, running down a cavalier shouldn't have been much trouble, although I probably wouldn't have bothered.

We'll see what happens - I don't know how TX charges thieves like that. I know how they USED TO do it...

SQ

 

A friend and I were in Newark, NJ looking for a place to park to take the train into New York City. It's late afternoon, broad daylight and when we pull into a parking lot, we see about four guys stripping and car. These guys were in too big of a hurry to be concerned about us.

We decided to turn around and not to park in THAT parking lot. Even if it was a rental car.

 

Thanks for sharing the story. Aside to your good work and a happy ending, this is a really nice reality check - you can never be too careful as criminals are just plain ruthless sometimes.

 

You would be a fine neighbor to have.

 

Get A Rope !!!

Good job Shawn, I may have to nominate you for Sergeant at arms.

 

OFFICER SHAWN!

 

Nope, I'm just gonna go with, "Sarge"