5 ms·

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

by 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.
- retrac 5y ago
  The difference is you are directly challenging them. Many thieves will respond to taking their stolen car back the same way most of us here would. Anger and it's personal -- you're stealing from them! And they're probably more impulsive and less risk adverse than the average person. Now I'd totally hop in and drive off if it's left unattended at the curb or whatever though. Just be quick, bring friends, and avoid confrontation.
  - nomel 5y ago
    > The difference is you are directly challenging them. Many thieves... The tricky part is figuring out if the thief is in this "many" or not. Good luck, since you can only choose wrong once! Don't forget, they know where you live!
- abyssin 5y ago
  What if the car is used to store valuable and illegal goods? And a big amount of them? Now you’re the target of both the criminals and the police.
  - nostromo 5y ago
    Nonsense. My car was stolen. I made a police report. It later turned up with some heroin in it. I called the police again. They thanked me, took the heroin as evidence, and went along their way.
    - lupire 5y ago
      what if they suspected you of lying about the theft, or found the heroin before you did?
  - awb 5y ago
    Probably just the criminals. It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. However, if you’re mixed up in illegal activity then yeah it might look bad.
    - inetknght 5y ago
      > It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. I see you haven't had much experience with American police.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - awb 5y ago
        True, I’ve only had 6 or 7 interactions with police and they’ve all been quick and easy, but I am an educated middle age white male family man from the Bay Area so I get that other people have very different experiences from mine and yeah I could see how “just explain it to the police” wouldn’t work for everyone.
- ada1981 5y ago
  Right, like trying to raise venture funding for instance… :p
hnxs 5y ago
You could just hire someone for repossession (aka “repo”)
kingcharles 5y ago
Having been in jail (in the USA) with dozens of carjackers and car thieves, all of them were packing all of the time, because of rival gangs. They will NOT think at all before shooting. They will just shoot you and run. The kids who do this stuff are ingrained now to just shoot at any threat. Fist-fighting is long gone. I am not exaggerating here. They will shoot. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/police-believe-carjacking-crew-in-retired-firefighters-killing-involved-in-multiple-crimes/2397426/ https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/police-believe-carjack...
uoaei 5y ago
Criminals are scared too, that helps a lot in these situations. You just need to not act like a target. That sounds somewhat like pre-emptive victim blaming but essentially you have to play mind games if you step to a criminal so if you do it wrong that's kind of on you.
btgeekboy 5y ago
My vehicles are insured, and car thieves don’t treat vehicles with care. Once it’s been stolen, it belongs to the insurance company. I don’t want it back.
- lupire 5y ago
  Insurance companies don't give away cars. They'll make you pay some of it back over time in increased premiums.

by awb 5y ago

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.
retrac 5y ago
The difference is you are directly challenging them. Many thieves will respond to taking their stolen car back the same way most of us here would. Anger and it's personal -- you're stealing from them! And they're probably more impulsive and less risk adverse than the average person. Now I'd totally hop in and drive off if it's left unattended at the curb or whatever though. Just be quick, bring friends, and avoid confrontation.
- nomel 5y ago
  > The difference is you are directly challenging them. Many thieves... The tricky part is figuring out if the thief is in this "many" or not. Good luck, since you can only choose wrong once! Don't forget, they know where you live!
abyssin 5y ago
What if the car is used to store valuable and illegal goods? And a big amount of them? Now you’re the target of both the criminals and the police.
- nostromo 5y ago
  Nonsense. My car was stolen. I made a police report. It later turned up with some heroin in it. I called the police again. They thanked me, took the heroin as evidence, and went along their way.
  - lupire 5y ago
    what if they suspected you of lying about the theft, or found the heroin before you did?
- awb 5y ago
  Probably just the criminals. It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. However, if you’re mixed up in illegal activity then yeah it might look bad.
  - inetknght 5y ago
    > It should be easy enough to prove to the police that you don’t have the means or motive to acquire those illegal goods. I see you haven't had much experience with American police.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - awb 5y ago
      True, I’ve only had 6 or 7 interactions with police and they’ve all been quick and easy, but I am an educated middle age white male family man from the Bay Area so I get that other people have very different experiences from mine and yeah I could see how “just explain it to the police” wouldn’t work for everyone.
ada1981 5y ago
Right, like trying to raise venture funding for instance… :p

hnxs 5y ago

You could just hire someone for repossession (aka “repo”)

kingcharles 5y ago

Having been in jail (in the USA) with dozens of carjackers and car thieves, all of them were packing all of the time, because of rival gangs. They will NOT think at all before shooting. They will just shoot you and run. The kids who do this stuff are ingrained now to just shoot at any threat. Fist-fighting is long gone. I am not exaggerating here. They will shoot. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/police-believe-carjacking-crew-in-retired-firefighters-killing-involved-in-multiple-crimes/2397426/ https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/police-believe-carjack...

uoaei 5y ago

Criminals are scared too, that helps a lot in these situations. You just need to not act like a target. That sounds somewhat like pre-emptive victim blaming but essentially you have to play mind games if you step to a criminal so if you do it wrong that's kind of on you.

btgeekboy 5y ago

My vehicles are insured, and car thieves don’t treat vehicles with care. Once it’s been stolen, it belongs to the insurance company. I don’t want it back.

lupire 5y ago
Insurance companies don't give away cars. They'll make you pay some of it back over time in increased premiums.