SimonEvoExtreme

BuRR

IMO, you were giving great advice until you got to the point about defending yourself. NEVER EVER resist. Give them the keys Its not worth the risk. You don't know what they might be armed with, as the guy who got shot in Dudley found out.

In addition to some of the ideas above, I would also recommend movement sensitive halogen lights. Being lit up like a Christmas tree can put a lot of these scum off. And make sure you do this all round the house so they don't just sulk off around to the back.

The other thing I find works well is my 2 large dogs! It really does take a brave man to break into a house at the same time as 2 large dogs are barking their heads off and getting very aggitated.

Sideways

Bloody hell
I'm getting paranoid now after all this stuff.
I always say I would let them have it but if it was some little ****** them I don't think I could help myself but give him a good hiding. I'm not the smallest of people.

Any news on your car yet mate ?

Jas

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Simon,
BuRR says that your legally entitled to defend yourself, not that you should defend yourself and you are entitled also to use MINIMUM force, ie the guy broke both his legs falling out the door of your bungalow for instance
Im trying not to sound too gung ho, some people will just hand over their keys but some others are going to be more than capable of taking out one of these muppets (unless they have a gun etc) but even then you should just give them the keys (and ensure that if you have a high performance car like a scoob it has a tracking system fitted/and or a anti hijack system so you can get them later etc.

Tony

Marky-San

Did you have Tracker installed in the car? That would've vastly increased your chances of recovery of the car.

This sort of thread makes me paranoid as hell - I'm paranoid enough with the car as it is!

Whatever happens, don't let it put you off performance cars - thats giving in to the fear factor. If they really want it, they'll get it - thats what my mate (pursuit driver with Strathclyde Police) says. And he's seen all the ploys - but that Fiesta's, Nova's etc all can suffer the same fate - you just don't hear of them due to how common they are.

SimonEvoExtreme

Tony

I think we a re agreeing but

While I am sure that many are capable of handling themselves, I think the problem is you don't know what is in their pocket and what they might do. For instance, a knife or a gun might not be revealed until after you start fighting back. Look what happened to the guy in Dudley. Unless he was incredibly stupid, I cannot believe that he resisted in the face of a gun. What i suspect happened is that he didn't see the gun and by the time he did, it was too late.

Even if you are confident that the hijacker doesn't have a lethal weapon, can you be sure he doesn't have a friend hiding around the corner who is all tooled up. I still agree with you the best answer is to hand over the car.

Muncher

I did not have a tracker or cut-out installed in the car unfortunately but even if I did the robbery still would have happened and that's the disturbing part. I could have placed every security measure possible on the car but they *still* broke in. That's the really hard part to deal with. I would have prefered that there was no security on the car so they didn't have to break in at all.

Like I said I will not be driving another performance car for road use for the reason that I do not want to go through that again. If the car had been stolen without me having to come face to face with some psycho brandishing a bat then it would probably be a different story but having been through that ordeal I don't want it to ever happen again. I always thought that it would never happen to me, it did


Giles.

Bal

Crikey, thats near me.

Terrible what happened to you buddy.
I'll keep my eye out.
I'm fortuanate enough to know most of the local morons and they won't touch my car, because they know me and "the lads" will go looking for em.

- The main thing is that your ok.
ps where abouts in Cookridge?
Bal

SimonEvoExtreme

Muncher

I can only imagine how you feel now but never say never again (good title for a film...)

What you faced is not just about your performance car. It could just as easily have been somebody holding you at gun point after your hi-fi, TV, credit cards etc.

My father was held up at gun point at his chemist shop. They were after the class A drugs. Sell the shop and stop working? No. He faced the isue, increased security and continued.

I hope that given a bit of time you will be able to see that letting these scum ruin your personal pleasure in performance cars makes them a double winner. I hope you get to enjoy your motoring again and that the memories of the pleasure your car gave you become stronger than the memories of these scum.

Keep well.

BuRR

Thanks Tony - you got how I was trying to put it across (hence the way I separated the information from the crime prevention advice) - you can guarantee that some people will state that they would fight back - this explains how the law stands should they choose to do so.

Simon - I'm not recommending fighting back. What I would do is not necessarily the option someone else might take. In any case, I think I'd take each instance on its own merit...... which is how I've done my job for the last 10 years.

mista weava

very sorry to hear of your bad news
as for not owning another performance vehicle, i say don't let the ba**ards grind you down.
not just thieves, but any other f***er that presents an obstacle to the enjoyment that people like we scoobynetters get from our beasts, eg: insurers, the chancellor etc etc

keep the faith
weava

SimonEvoExtreme

BuRR

I have just woken up to what you do for a living! I suspect that You might be slightly more qualified than me to offer advice on this

I have always been very cautious about having a go under any circumstances ever since somebody I used to know got stabbed. He was approached in a park by a single guy with a knife Pete hadn't seen anybody else and as he 6ft 3ins, taught marshal arts and had boxed in the Golden Gloves in the US, he decided to take the knife off the guy, which he managed with ease. However, he hadn't spotted the other guyt, also with a knife come up behind him and this was the person who stabbed him. Luckily Pete wasn't seriously hurt but it showed me that even when you think there is no risk, there might be ellements you haven't taken into account. I still say it doesn't matter who you are, don't resist a hijacking or mugging. Its not worth it. If a police officer is doing something as part of his job, I suspect that is very different.

darkblueturbo

Burr - looks like you're assesment of why these cars are hi-jacked is a little more qualifies than my theory about selling for spares, as with many motorcycle thefts (according to Motorcycle News)

Comments on page 2 about have a Tracker of Blackjax. While the tracker would increase recovery chances (i have one through neccessity of stupid insurance premiums otherwise) , as muncher says the robbery still occured and that is the hard thing to get over.

Something MUST be done about this. I'm moving out into the big wide world on my own later this month and this sort of thing doesn't help ease any fears I've had anyway.

Muncher - have you heard anything back from the police yet?

Muncher

No DarkBlue, I'm afraid I haven't heard anything from the police since I gave my statement while I was up in Leeds

I'm not trying to put people off owning these superb cars (or any performance car) but you should be aware of the potential risks and be smart about how you look after it. I've owned the car for almost 3 years now and this is the first incident I've ever had.

My cousin (lives down south) had a similar experience about a year or so ago when someone broke into his house while he was asleep. The guy took his wallet, his phone and keys to his Evo 6. He didn't disturb my cousin as he found what he was looking for. He got 2 miles up the road before rolling it into a field then torched it. The police knew who had done it but didn't have enough evidence unforunately. Scum.

Giles.