Broken into in Liffey Valley

Smithers

Car 97 Micra import
Robbed : Car CD Player and jackets

Hi all ,
Hopefully someone might learn from this and offer some advice,

This evening myself and the Mrs went to Liffey Valley to the flics, It was bright and a nice evening , parked relatively near the front door clicked on the Cobra alarm and went in , about 7pm as film was due to start @ 7.20.

Arrived out of the flics @ 9.10 and clicked on the alarm , alarm beeped 5 times as to let me know it was set off previously , just the 2 ladies came up to me and told me they saw my car after been broken into.

Looked in and loe and behold the stereo was gone and a load of wires left hanging out , also one of my alarm sensors was ripped off the car and left on the floor ,

Missing from the back was a nebuliser for Asthma and 2 jackets ,
no broken window of jimmyed lock or physical damage ,

Security arrived as the ladies that seen the guy do it had called them ,
The guy had a filed down Nissan key to gain enterance , Security guys said they would have seen us pulling up as a couple and knew we were going to the flics and knew exactly how much time they had ,

The women that seen the break in wrote down a description right away and the bloke that broke in pulled up in a Mit. Colt! and left in it again ,Security reckons it was his own car , not a robbed one.

The ladies gave all details of the breakin to security and also their personal details to be contacted and said they would testify if needed in court ,

Went down to Ronanston station and reported it also an told then that security @ liffey valley had a descrption of the bloke and his details and number plate, they said they would be in touch ,

Also rang a mate thats a cop up here in dublin and he said usually not alot can be done in car breakins as no prints/witnesses but as we had a positive ID and a number plate for the culprit he though it would be followed up and he told me to give it til nxt friday , if i didnt hear anything he would follow it up for me,

So what to do now , ???
on close inspection the guy had popped the boot also and left the nebuliser in it after taking it from the back seat ,
I dont want to claim and loose my no claims ,
One suggestion is to get the blokes number plate and i could find his details easily and get his car burnt out , eye for an eye and all that ,

Also the type of blokes these are if it went to court i can be sure my car would be burned in the front garden!

Now i know it was my own fault , these were visual thiefs , had a look , saw the jackets and stereo and went for it , my own silly fault ,
The Security gaurds in LValley were lovely but said they were fighting a loseing battle up there from breakins and theives,

So just to warn people to e xtra vigilant up there , leave nothing in sight , even if its only a jacket , also Nissan drivers be careful as even the Guard admitted they have nissan keys in operation up there,

I will post back and let people know how it go's if anyones interested.
BTW the alarm went off but it didnt phase this bloke!!
I no feel numb about it , driving home it didnt feel like my car but a strangers car , just hate to think some little knockaer tramp was in my car!

louie

First of all you could claim the insurance without affecting your no claim bonus.
Even if you have third party-fire and theft you are still covered for attemting theft as well.
Is not the reason we pay insurance.
Nobody is perfect. I forget to take the facia out from my radio sometimes.
Another option is to get the windows tinted and never leave anything visible as they don't care if your car has 10 alarms fitted. the job only takes 60 sec.

Smithers

didnt know that about the insurance , must try em tomorrow ,
totally agree aboutt he tinted windows though , if they cant see it its not worth the risk of getting caught for nothing

sharkman

Burn him Smithers ..

Even better have him dragged around to where he did it and have him burnt on the spot as an example to the rest of the scum .

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by louie
First of all you could claim the insurance without affecting your no claim bonus....

Only if that is a condition on your policy. Not all policies have that.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by sharkman
Burn him Smithers ..

Even better have him dragged around to where he did it and have him burnt on the spot as an example to the rest of the scum .

The problem is when 20 of his relations take a day off from robbing to turn up on your doorstep.

Its only a car. Everything thats gone is replacable/fixable. I had a car damaged in a theft attempt and I had to scrap the car they did so much damage to it.

seamus

I wouldn't bother claiming off insurance. From your description of the damage, it's not too bad at all, especially considering they used a fake key to gain entrance, as opposed to just trashing your door till it opened. The cost of replacing radio, window etc will probably be far less than the increase in your premium if you lose your no claims.

I'd consult with the Gardai before going to court. Ask them how long yer man can expect to get (if anything), and how likely it is that he'll come back and burn your car. Most Gardai are so sick of it at this point that they're perfecty frank about such things.

Personally, if I could get away with having his car burnt out with no risk to me, I'd go for it, but two wrongs and all that......

On a side note, Liffey Valley isn't overly dangerous, but security is severely lacking. The car parks are huge, and have plenty of places for scumbags to hide while they do their dirty work. The security Guards will rarely venture past the front doors. Installation of security cameras in the car parks and a full-time car park security crew would eliminate this kind of theft IMO.

RicardoSmith

In fairness I was there on sat and there was a security jeep doing the rounds.

Smithers

Originally posted by seamus
I wouldn't bother claiming off insurance. From your description of the damage, it's not too bad at all, especially considering they used a fake key to gain entrance, as opposed to just trashing your door till it opened. The cost of replacing radio, window etc will probably be far less than the increase in your premium if you lose your no claims.

I'd consult with the Gardai before going to court. Ask them how long yer man can expect to get (if anything), and how likely it is that he'll come back and burn your car. Most Gardai are so sick of it at this point that they're perfecty frank about such things.

Personally, if I could get away with having his car burnt out with no risk to me, I'd go for it, but two wrongs and all that......

On a side note, Liffey Valley isn't overly dangerous, but security is severely lacking. The car parks are huge, and have plenty of places for scumbags to hide while they do their dirty work. The security Guards will rarely venture past the front doors. Installation of security cameras in the car parks and a full-time car park security crew would eliminate this kind of theft IMO.

Seamus ,i agreen , could have bent back the door or smashed the window or worse taken it elsewhere and stripped it and burned it, then it would be on insurance for sure , i am going to ring insurance too see anyway , just for advice , but no point in claiming 400 for my insurance to increase by 1000 nxt year!!

On the security note in LV, they only have one mobile jeep unit on patrol , i was talking to the security lads and they admitted them selves its a losing battle up there , that its happening all the time up there everyday ,

I could get his car done over , but i kinda would still want him to know why its happening to him ........without losing anonimity....

Ruu_Old

at least there wasnt that much damage done, still thats the only good thing about it. Of all the lads it had to happen to, scumbags :mad:

Imposter

Just a question with regards to the wonderful force that is known as the Gardai.

If this is happening so often in a known location why don't the guards do one of their undercover things and keep an eye on said car park (or part of it at least).

Something like this happened to an ex of mine only on Sunday evenings in an underground car-park and the guards seemed too busy with their doughnuts to do anything about it.

It's no wonder these scumbags do it seeing as they're not likely to be caught or anything!

Smithers

Just got off the phone to Quinn Direct ,
Basically heres the crack ,

Stereo is covered and any damage but not jackets , as there is no damage i am lucky enough ,

If i claimed say 200 for the stereo i would lose my no claims , in sept i will have a years no claims and my policey would be reduced by 20% ,

She suggested if it gos to court i might get compo out of it but that remains to be seen ,

I have a mate thats a cop and he is going to follow up with the Guard i made my report to see whats happening with the case ,

I will post any developments here if anyones interested..............

nanook

firstly, sorry to hear about the whole robbery thing, it can be a bit rough on a person to know that the property has been violated, but life does go on.

I have one quick question, do you have home insurance, some home insurers have an extra built in product in relation to property stolen outside of the home, it may be an option that may assist you in recouping the jackets.

hope this is some help to you.

Quigs Snr

Prosecute, you can't let them away with it.

I was burgled last year, insurance covered everything, but I was in the house and threatened with knives when I disturbed them. Now I have a great alarm and a high powered shotgun that I am trained to use and will not hesitate for a second to use if given the opportunity.

Make them pay and be damned with the consequences. I'm sick of scumbags getting away with it.

Smithers

no home inssurance guys but thanks for the heads up , might help someone else that doesnt know about it ,

I agree with prosecuting , its not ur usual car stereo theft as we actually have a witness that will testify , a description down to his Trainee moustache! and the car he was driving!!

I would think the guards would want to persue it to the fullest as if anything would look good for them to take one scumbag away from LV ,

Time will tell!!

Xterminator

Judging by the poll so far, vigalante style action do seem to be everyones first reaction.

Obviously you have had time to think it over, but still , i would hate to think that the scumbags get away with it, just because the public are too intimidated.

Goodluck, and dont le tthe b*stards get away with it!

X

sceptre

Burn his moustache.

Prosecute. Seriously. For a change we've* got a witness with a good description who's willing to testify.


*I really mean "we've".

Victor

Originally posted by Quigs Snr
I was burgled last year, insurance covered everything, but I was in the house and threatened with knives when I disturbed them. Now I have a great alarm and a high powered shotgun that I am trained to use and will not hesitate for a second to use if given the opportunity.

Remember, two shots, one for the centre of mass and the next warning shot into the ceiling

Benbaz

Sorry to hear about that mate!! Happened to me twice. The first time was outside my house and the reason it happened was because of two reasons

No.1. I got the existing fairly sh1te Blaupunkt stereo that had a little flashing light on it that mimicked an alarm replaced with a new really swanky pioneer stereo with no light and detachable face. And I know this was a factor because there were about 10 cars broken into that night all without alarms!!! So alarms are a deterrent.

No.2. I rather stupidly left a jacket and a wallet of CDs on display.

Needless to say they took the lot including the hadsfree controller for the stereo and a pair of prescription sunglasses!!! And the little f*ckers smashed both back windows!!!

I wasn't gonna report this, thinking what's the point but my social conscience got the better of me and I did, and I'm glad I did cos they actually caught the little f*ckers!!! And I go most of my things back, well except for my jacket and the handsfree for the stereo. It did make me think though, if I hadn't of reported it I wouldn't of found out about them being caught!!

The second time was outside a friends house, still no alarm!! (I know, shoulda learn my lesson) This time they got my prescription sunglasses, the old stereo in the boot, a really good leather football and had a good go at trying to get the new stereo, thank God they didn't as it cost me alot!!! Only smashed "one" window this time, lucky me eh?!?! I didn't bother reporting it as my car was the only one done this time and it was near a certain flat complex in town and I really thought what's the point!!!

So needless to say I eventually got an alarm fitted (getting the cart before the horse I know!!!) and guess what? since then I've had 1 window smashed cos I left a jacket on the back seat, luckily they didn't get it, the alarm must of scared them off!!

God that was a long rant!!!!

I'll say one last thing though, if the they do catch the little cream cracker that broke into your car definitely do press charges. These guys are hardly master criminals, there is a very slim chance that they'll ever go near you or your car!! well not unless you actually know them!!!

B.

RicardoSmith

Sorry but leaving stuff in plain view is like putting "PLEASE ROB ME" in big lights over your car. Having an alarm is useless if they can stick their arm through a window and grab a bunch of stuff.

Leave nothing in sight. Park near a busy area, well lit etc. Put something decent around the steering wheel like a decent chain or lock. (some of them are crap so check and get a autoexpress or Thatcham recommended one). Get an immobilser on the car with a visible "on" light and put security labels in view. If somebody really wants the car theres nothing you can do to stop it. But you can put off the opportunist thieves which are 90% of them. They'll simply go to the easiest car. Just make sure it isn't yours. Alarms are useless IMO. Most people ignore them.

Benbaz

Originally posted by RicardoSmith
Sorry but leaving stuff in plain view is like putting "PLEASE ROB ME" in big lights over your car. Having an alarm is useless if they can stick their arm through a window and grab a bunch of stuff

Yep!! So right!!!

Smithers

Originally posted by RicardoSmith
Sorry but leaving stuff in plain view is like putting "PLEASE ROB ME" in big lights over your car. Having an alarm is useless if they can stick their arm through a window and grab a bunch of stuff.

Leave nothing in sight. Park near a busy area, well lit etc. Put something decent around the steering wheel like a decent chain or lock. (some of them are crap so check and get a autoexpress or Thatcham recommended one). Get an immobilser on the car with a visible "on" light and put security labels in view. If somebody really wants the car theres nothing you can do to stop it. But you can put off the opportunist thieves which are 90% of them. They'll simply go to the easiest car. Just make sure it isn't yours. Alarms are useless IMO. Most people ignore them.

I also agree that stuff in plain view is looking for trouble but it was an over sight on my behalf , and i know it only takes once to forget and u will regret it!

But i did park around 20 places from the front door of LV , broad day light and have an alarm , imob abd visible flashing light , also have them security stickers ,
In my case i was easy pickings as i had stuff no view near the front door but they had the nissan key so werent seen to be breaking anything

RicardoSmith

Well yeah it was an oversight. But would they have bothered your car even if it was a nissan if there was nothing in sight. I reckon they'd have found another nissan easily enough that had stuff in sight. If they had a key then it wasn't just opportunist. They probably had a bunch of keys for every make and model. They were out shopping thenselves so to speak.