10 ms·

Car stolen with homemade GPS tracker in backseat

74 points by sipacate 5y ago

Wojakmeme 5y ago
Did I miss what happend to the car in the end or was it omitted?
- bgun 5y ago
  You missed it. For about an hour after the car was stolen we were able to follow it around on my app’s map because my asset tracker remained undetected in the backseat. After that, the thieves discovered it and ditched it ... Over a month after the car was stolen it was found abandoned in terrible condition in an impound lot: bullet holes in the roof
  - joe_guy 5y ago
    I wonder how the thieves knew it was a tracker and the author knows it was ditched because of it's discovery. I do believe it's a contrived story as an attempt at "viral" marketing.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
nostromo 5y ago
Some people don't know that you absolutely are allowed to take back your stolen property. You don't need to involve the police unless you want to. Repo folks do this all the time. Keep an extra key for your car at home and put an Airtag in your car. If it's stolen, just go get it back when it's safe to do so. Calling the police in most American cities won't get you far. They usually can't pursue a speeding car anymore, and by the time they get to your parked car it'll probably have moved. Their hands are tied by a lot of red tape that doesn't apply to you, the owner. Stealing it back is usually your best option.
- awb 5y ago
  Walking into an unfamiliar situation without training and potentially being confronted by known criminals does not sound like a great idea to me. Sorry, but my property just isn’t worth the risk. It’s replaceable, I’m not.
  - recursive 5y ago
    I really don't think it's so much worse than walking into a situation with unknown criminals, which most of us probably do on a consistent basis. I would definitely just go get my car back. I would probably try to do it at a time when there wouldn't be a confrontation, but it may happen.
    - mywittyname 5y ago
      Yeah, at least you can be prepared. Bring a friend ready to call for help, video tape everything, etc. Despite what cops would have you believe, criminals aren't dumb. Most will recognize that it would be a bad idea to bring cops to the place they are apparently holding stolen cars. So if they know you brought an unknown number of witnesses prepared to call 911, they will probably back off. After all, it's pretty easy to get away with property crime if you stay off the radar.
      - Nextgrid 5y ago
        Indeed, I'd assume most of them know that if you found the car and are there, it's likely that others (friends/etc) also know of the location. It's in their best interests to let you "steal" the car back and (most likely) resolve the problem for good than escalating it into more violence where it's likely to result in them not only getting in trouble for the initial theft but also the subsequent violence.
        awb 5y ago
        Not every criminal is great at critical thinking, long-term planning or self control. Any element of surprise danger is going to trigger a flight or fight response.
illuminerdy 5y ago
sbierwagen 5y ago
"Homemade"? This is a post on the official company blog of a commercial product.
- null0ranje 5y ago
  The entire article had an odd vibe to it. Either the crime didn't actually happen, or it's just a distasteful example of turning the victims of a felony into a marketing opportunity.
  - itronitron 5y ago
    Yeah, it's either a total fabrication or a great example of how to write up a true story that sounds like BS.
    - withinboredom 5y ago
      I’m sure the original was fantastic until the company’s editors got their hands on it.
  - Someone1234 5y ago
    The "victim" is a programmer at Blues Wireless. They reference a tweet but the Twitter account and writer of their blog are the same person. The whole thing seems like an ad, or just a huge coincidence.
tempnow987 5y ago
One note, in some cities the parking folks don't talk to police, so if your car is stolen you can start checking for tickets. This used to result in pretty quick hits. I had my car stolen 3 times and recovered it each time, unfortunately in progressively worse condition. Once I found folks in it. Cops said basically nothing would happen to them if I tried to pursue anything so I didn't do anything because they were in neighborhood and I didn't want a beef with them if there was really no consequence.
- rahimnathwani 5y ago
  "I had my car stolen 3 times" I'm curious: does the above make you think the car will be stolen again pretty soon? If so, does that cause you ongoing stress?
  - tempnow987 5y ago
    No, it was an older car (so easy to steal). After it had been trashed (radio ripped out, trunk wouldn't close properly) it had no real value anymore. The thieves would normally steal it and kill battery (because of damage you had to really fiddle with it to get trunk light off etc). So I'd find it in a parking spot. They did seem to sometimes use it to hang out in, which is how I ran into them in it. I think in some cases they used these stolen cars to store stuff so I'd do a quick search before taking it back. Only really annoying thing was that it would have been trivial for cops to a) recover these given the citation data was already in a city system and b) void out the citations given car was reported stolen.
- thereddaikon 5y ago
  You guys really need to move to nicer areas.
  - CabSauce 5y ago
    The nicer areas are where the best cars to steal are located.
letitbeirie 5y ago
Point of clarification: you are allowed to take it back so long as you don't commit any other crimes while doing so. As OJ Simpson can readily attest, you are not allowed to rob it back.
miskin 5y ago
I fortunately never had personal experience with this, but around here (central europe) car thieves often steal car and then just park it in some neutral place to let it "cool down" for couple of days - if it contains any tracking devices owner will get it and they will not reveal their garage. There are facebook groups where people post details of their stolen cars and people report if they see them parked somewhere. If this is the case, tracking device may be quite helpful.
post_break 5y ago
This looks like one big ad to me.
WhitneyLand 5y ago
This article is a product promotion as much as it is an (anti-climatic) story about crime, and the two are mixed in an unpleasant way.
3np 5y ago
If you find this interesting, check out OwnTracks. https://owntracks.org/ https://owntracks.org/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11315999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11315999
tcmb 5y ago
> The day after Thanksgiving my parents' car was stolen out of the driveway while we were all inside eating dinner. For a brief moment I thought they were all in the car while it was being stolen.
kingcharles 5y ago
I was in jail with a guy who robbed a 7-11. This is how he got caught: Goes into store, masked up, with gun. Sticks up cashier. Walks cashier back to manager's office and sticks up manager. Cashier takes moment of distraction to try to call 911 on her iPhone. Robber sees and snatches phone off her and puts in his pocket. Takes all money from store, exits out back to waiting car, takes off. Clean getaway. 15 mins later pulled over at intersection by cops swarming from all directions. Immediately after robbery, manager called cops. Turned up two mins later. Showed them Find My iPhone on the store PC. Cop radios everyone in area and directs their movements. Game over. Funny thing with jail is that you get to really like guys even if their crimes were bogus. He was a funny guy and I felt bad for him because the previous two times he'd been locked up for armed robbery he had got out to find his wife pregnant. He'd adopted both kids and was very sweet to them on the phone when I overheard him, but honestly, his wife is probably pregnant again now.
axiosgunnar 5y ago
Does anybody believe the story in this advertorial actually happened? I mean they didn‘t even mention the car make.
jll29 5y ago
Interesting story, I was hoping while reading that your parents got their car back in real time thanks to your geek gear in the back seat. The story about monitoring hardware and theft reminded me of this burglar incident in the UK (I once met the person involved): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/4272041.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/42...
lupire 5y ago
Flagged. This is an ad.

74 points by sipacate 5y ago

Wojakmeme 5y ago

Did I miss what happend to the car in the end or was it omitted?

bgun 5y ago
You missed it. For about an hour after the car was stolen we were able to follow it around on my app’s map because my asset tracker remained undetected in the backseat. After that, the thieves discovered it and ditched it ... Over a month after the car was stolen it was found abandoned in terrible condition in an impound lot: bullet holes in the roof
- joe_guy 5y ago
  I wonder how the thieves knew it was a tracker and the author knows it was ditched because of it's discovery. I do believe it's a contrived story as an attempt at "viral" marketing.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

nostromo 5y ago

Some people don't know that you absolutely are allowed to take back your stolen property. You don't need to involve the police unless you want to. Repo folks do this all the time. Keep an extra key for your car at home and put an Airtag in your car. If it's stolen, just go get it back when it's safe to do so. Calling the police in most American cities won't get you far. They usually can't pursue a speeding car anymore, and by the time they get to your parked car it'll probably have moved. Their hands are tied by a lot of red tape that doesn't apply to you, the owner. Stealing it back is usually your best option.

awb 5y ago
Walking into an unfamiliar situation without training and potentially being confronted by known criminals does not sound like a great idea to me. Sorry, but my property just isn’t worth the risk. It’s replaceable, I’m not.
- recursive 5y ago
  I really don't think it's so much worse than walking into a situation with unknown criminals, which most of us probably do on a consistent basis. I would definitely just go get my car back. I would probably try to do it at a time when there wouldn't be a confrontation, but it may happen.
  - mywittyname 5y ago
    Yeah, at least you can be prepared. Bring a friend ready to call for help, video tape everything, etc. Despite what cops would have you believe, criminals aren't dumb. Most will recognize that it would be a bad idea to bring cops to the place they are apparently holding stolen cars. So if they know you brought an unknown number of witnesses prepared to call 911, they will probably back off. After all, it's pretty easy to get away with property crime if you stay off the radar.
    - Nextgrid 5y ago
      Indeed, I'd assume most of them know that if you found the car and are there, it's likely that others (friends/etc) also know of the location. It's in their best interests to let you "steal" the car back and (most likely) resolve the problem for good than escalating it into more violence where it's likely to result in them not only getting in trouble for the initial theft but also the subsequent violence.
      - awb 5y ago
        Not every criminal is great at critical thinking, long-term planning or self control. Any element of surprise danger is going to trigger a flight or fight response.

illuminerdy 5y ago

sbierwagen 5y ago

"Homemade"? This is a post on the official company blog of a commercial product.

null0ranje 5y ago
The entire article had an odd vibe to it. Either the crime didn't actually happen, or it's just a distasteful example of turning the victims of a felony into a marketing opportunity.
- itronitron 5y ago
  Yeah, it's either a total fabrication or a great example of how to write up a true story that sounds like BS.
  - withinboredom 5y ago
    I’m sure the original was fantastic until the company’s editors got their hands on it.
- Someone1234 5y ago
  The "victim" is a programmer at Blues Wireless. They reference a tweet but the Twitter account and writer of their blog are the same person. The whole thing seems like an ad, or just a huge coincidence.

tempnow987 5y ago

One note, in some cities the parking folks don't talk to police, so if your car is stolen you can start checking for tickets. This used to result in pretty quick hits. I had my car stolen 3 times and recovered it each time, unfortunately in progressively worse condition. Once I found folks in it. Cops said basically nothing would happen to them if I tried to pursue anything so I didn't do anything because they were in neighborhood and I didn't want a beef with them if there was really no consequence.

rahimnathwani 5y ago
"I had my car stolen 3 times" I'm curious: does the above make you think the car will be stolen again pretty soon? If so, does that cause you ongoing stress?
- tempnow987 5y ago
  No, it was an older car (so easy to steal). After it had been trashed (radio ripped out, trunk wouldn't close properly) it had no real value anymore. The thieves would normally steal it and kill battery (because of damage you had to really fiddle with it to get trunk light off etc). So I'd find it in a parking spot. They did seem to sometimes use it to hang out in, which is how I ran into them in it. I think in some cases they used these stolen cars to store stuff so I'd do a quick search before taking it back. Only really annoying thing was that it would have been trivial for cops to a) recover these given the citation data was already in a city system and b) void out the citations given car was reported stolen.
thereddaikon 5y ago
You guys really need to move to nicer areas.
- CabSauce 5y ago
  The nicer areas are where the best cars to steal are located.

letitbeirie 5y ago

Point of clarification: you are allowed to take it back so long as you don't commit any other crimes while doing so. As OJ Simpson can readily attest, you are not allowed to rob it back.

miskin 5y ago

I fortunately never had personal experience with this, but around here (central europe) car thieves often steal car and then just park it in some neutral place to let it "cool down" for couple of days - if it contains any tracking devices owner will get it and they will not reveal their garage. There are facebook groups where people post details of their stolen cars and people report if they see them parked somewhere. If this is the case, tracking device may be quite helpful.

post_break 5y ago

This looks like one big ad to me.

WhitneyLand 5y ago

This article is a product promotion as much as it is an (anti-climatic) story about crime, and the two are mixed in an unpleasant way.

3np 5y ago

If you find this interesting, check out OwnTracks. https://owntracks.org/ https://owntracks.org/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11315999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11315999

tcmb 5y ago

> The day after Thanksgiving my parents' car was stolen out of the driveway while we were all inside eating dinner. For a brief moment I thought they were all in the car while it was being stolen.

kingcharles 5y ago

I was in jail with a guy who robbed a 7-11. This is how he got caught: Goes into store, masked up, with gun. Sticks up cashier. Walks cashier back to manager's office and sticks up manager. Cashier takes moment of distraction to try to call 911 on her iPhone. Robber sees and snatches phone off her and puts in his pocket. Takes all money from store, exits out back to waiting car, takes off. Clean getaway. 15 mins later pulled over at intersection by cops swarming from all directions. Immediately after robbery, manager called cops. Turned up two mins later. Showed them Find My iPhone on the store PC. Cop radios everyone in area and directs their movements. Game over. Funny thing with jail is that you get to really like guys even if their crimes were bogus. He was a funny guy and I felt bad for him because the previous two times he'd been locked up for armed robbery he had got out to find his wife pregnant. He'd adopted both kids and was very sweet to them on the phone when I overheard him, but honestly, his wife is probably pregnant again now.

axiosgunnar 5y ago

Does anybody believe the story in this advertorial actually happened? I mean they didn‘t even mention the car make.

jll29 5y ago

Interesting story, I was hoping while reading that your parents got their car back in real time thanks to your geek gear in the back seat. The story about monitoring hardware and theft reminded me of this burglar incident in the UK (I once met the person involved): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/4272041.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/42...

lupire 5y ago

Flagged. This is an ad.