4Runner Smash&Grab

lukeskywalker

lukeskywalker

New member
Just moved to the Bay Area (SF) a few months. Ago. The 4Runner has been targeted twice. Last night I was in Oakland eating with a friend for a mere 30 minutes. Coming back to the 4runner, this is what I saw. I quickly opened the trunk (which was covered) and saw my yellow Burton backpack w/ my macbook pro with my work from the past 3 months, my passport and bank stuff, Kindle, and Bose Comfort 35 headphones. Over 3000$ worth of damage. Car insurance won't cover 'stolen items not attached to the car'. Credit card insurance wont cover the laptop because it was over 120 days since i purchased it.

The pain that jolts you is a depressed empty numbness. I was sad to see the 4Runner beat up and my last three months of work vanish into oblivion. I wanted to find the guy and try out my new Easton Z-core.

The cops said that this stuff is so common it's just impossible to control. Oakland is completely out of hand IMO. Has this happened to other 4Runners? I wish they made 4Runner glass shatter resistant. Anyone know how to make our trucks 'bullet proof'? So tired of the bottom feeders messing up stuff.

WHYYyyyyyyyy

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lukeskywalker said:
Just moved to the Bay Area (SF) a few months. Ago. The 4Runner has been targeted twice. Last night I was in Oakland eating with a friend for a mere 30 minutes. Coming back to the 4runner, this is what I saw. I quickly opened the trunk (which was covered) and saw my yellow Burton backpack w/ my macbook pro with my work from the past 3 months, my passport and bank stuff, Kindle, and Bose Comfort 35 headphones. Over 3000$ worth of damage. Car insurance won't cover 'stolen items not attached to the car'. Credit card insurance wont cover the laptop because it was over 120 days since i purchased it.

The pain that jolts you is a depressed empty numbness. I was sad to see the 4Runner beat up and my last three months of work vanish into oblivion. I wanted to find the guy and try out my new Easton Z-core.

The cops said that this stuff is so common it's just impossible to control. Oakland is completely out of hand IMO. Has this happened to other 4Runners? I wish they made 4Runner glass shatter resistant. Anyone know how to make our trucks 'bullet proof'? So tired of the bottom feeders messing up stuff.

WHYYyyyyyyyy

[/ATTACH]
Click to expand...
Rough! But definitely check with your homeowners or renters insurance, as they'll cover personal items not attached to the truck.


Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
lukeskywalker said:
Just moved to the Bay Area (SF) a few months. Ago. The 4Runner has been targeted twice. Last night I was in Oakland eating with a friend for a mere 30 minutes. Coming back to the 4runner, this is what I saw. I quickly opened the trunk (which was covered) and saw my yellow Burton backpack w/ my macbook pro with my work from the past 3 months, my passport and bank stuff, Kindle, and Bose Comfort 35 headphones. Over 3000$ worth of damage. Car insurance won't cover 'stolen items not attached to the car'. Credit card insurance wont cover the laptop because it was over 120 days since i purchased it.

The pain that jolts you is a depressed empty numbness. I was sad to see the 4Runner beat up and my last three months of work vanish into oblivion. I wanted to find the guy and try out my new Easton Z-core.

The cops said that this stuff is so common it's just impossible to control. Oakland is completely out of hand IMO. Has this happened to other 4Runners? I wish they made 4Runner glass shatter resistant. Anyone know how to make our trucks 'bullet proof'? So tired of the bottom feeders messing up stuff.

WHYYyyyyyyyy

[/ATTACH]
Click to expand...

That sucks man... My only advice would be to install yourself some dash cams especially in the bay area. I've heard horror stories from people I know who had the same thing happen to them when they were eating. All of their luggage was stolen and when they went to get a replacement rental, it gotten broken into as well and all this was within a 24 hour period. The other option is to get yourself some type of lock box to put your stuff in or just don't leave it in your car... It happens to the best of us but I'm sure you'll rebound from this. As for the lowlife punks, karma is a ***** and she will find them bastards. Best of luck to you man!
 
Bay Area is wrought with homeless people and unfortunately the city has decided that minor property crimes aren't worth enforcing.

My advice? Never leave things of value in your Runner. Ever.

You can add cameras, safety tint, armed security...it won't matter if you have things that will tempt them in your truck. Your in a super high crime area, best of luck man.

Oh and taking your bat to someone in CA...just don't. I know how you feel but your in a liberal state and area and you will be the bad guy if you do...
 
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This absolutely sucks. I feel so bad for you. I can only imagine how angry you must be about this. Putting possessions aside, I don't blame you if you feel violated. I hope they catch the bastard that did this and you get your stuff back. And they make him/her pay for this.
 
Welcome to the Bay Area/Oakland.

The cops don't give a shit.

Don't leave anything that may remotely look valuable in your truck.

Just be glad no one took a shit in your truck while they were helping themselves.
 
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Damn that sucks! I'm sorry that it happened to you. 30min is more than enough time for some to do a smash and grab unfortunately.
 
Oakland break in

Sorry to hear this. I know it hurts.

Your post says you saw your bag full of expensive electronics when you opened the trunk, but I gather you meant to say you saw it was stolen.

The first mistake you made was you were in Oakland at night. The second is that you left anything of value in your car. Carry expensive gear with you. And get a lock box. I have a Pelican box I can lock down to the floor with a cable. It stops random smash and grab crime like this.

Around here people will steal loose change. They don't break windows to get it but if they find a car that's unlocked they'll rifle through it for anything of minor value. Lesson being, don't leave anything in your car.

And the laptop with 3 months of work... When I heard my coworkers weren't backing up I asked everyone in my department to back up on a regular basis. We have hundreds of hours of work on different laptop hard drives just waiting for the hard drive to crash. Get a remote hard drive and back up, every day if you can. No, get two and back up to both. If one crashes you replace it and back up from the other one right away.

Hang in there. You'll recover in time.
 
look up prop 47, reduced crime penalties to keep jails empty and then look at the politics.

you wonder why you really can't have nice stuff thinking that glass will protect it in the bay area.

by the way welcome to california
 
Trust me I know the pain, mine was smashed at the airport park and fly lot the night I was leaving for a weeks vacation. Found it at 4am as I was leaving to catch my flight. Not the first time my 4runner was broken into either. 3 times so far. Sad thing was there was nothing in it to steal, jackasses took a baseball hat and a windbreaker.

Homeowners insurance or renters insurance would cover all of the items lost. As long as the deductible isn't sky high..........I know this from experience. Allstate rocks!
 
Aznwolf118 said:
look up prop 47, reduced crime penalties to keep jails empty and then look at the politics.

you wonder why you really can't have nice stuff thinking that glass will protect it in the bay area.

by the way welcome to california
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Very interesting you said this. My buddy said the same thing when i told him the story. I'll take a look at this more. Very interesting. The cop I talked to mentioned this as well. The cops were very very cool btw.

I've done some reading around and learned that 3m has some new type of film that prevents this.

Also, I heard they use spark plug ceramic to instantly shatter windows.
 
49ERT4R said:
Sorry to hear but where in SF and where in Oakland did you park?
Click to expand...


I was on 13th and Franklin. Was eating at a restaurant nearby before a show at the Fox. I knew the threat, but didn't want to lug all my stuff around and trusted the good tint and cover to hide things. Run in, eat, get out.

My hometown this shit happens all the time. At night. When youre sleeping. BUt NEVER when people are around and in a quick 30 min span. That's just pure insanity to me...like movie worthy stuff. I'm worried for the future of our country. Honestly.
 
First thing I did when I clicked on this was to see your location. Saw Colorado and thought hmm.. then started reading. It's bonkers over here dude. I'm wrapping up my last semester in a grad program at Berkeley and rent a small apartment there but work and have my permanent residence in the south bay. I almost never drive my 4runner up for this very reason, and for not wanting to risk an accident in a new vehicle. I take my 20 year old land cruiser instead despite the hit on gas. Walking to class on Monday I saw a smash and grabbed car with two officers across the street just talking.

A few months back I was walking my dog at night in Berkeley and saw two dudes breaking into cars on my street, just going down the line smashing every window and looking inside. I called 911 and reported it. Shortly after the guys get into their car and start to drive off and, no joke, as I'm on the phone with dispatch describing this a police car turns the corner, hits his lights, and the perps hit the gas and take off with police in pursuit. The tow trucks are crazy too, I somehow managed to talk a meter maid into lowering my truck off a flatbed in Hayes Valley (SF) for a simple expired meter.. wrote me a citation instead.

Anyways, I basically never leave anything of value in my vehicles, at least not accessible to a quick smash and grab. I'm a 5th generation Californian and my family keeps a nice written, photographed, and oral history of the area.. it sucks to witness what's gone on over the years relative to how it used to be and what it could have been. My brother is staying in the area but I'm looking to move out of state. If you can check out the south bay, I'm not sure where you're at exactly but it tends to be sunnier down here with good food and a little more open than the peninsula or east bay. Sorry this happened, unfortunately you're one of many.
 
lukeskywalker said:
Just moved to the Bay Area (SF) a few months. Ago. The 4Runner has been targeted twice. Last night I was in Oakland eating with a friend for a mere 30 minutes. Coming back to the 4runner, this is what I saw. I quickly opened the trunk (which was covered) and saw my yellow Burton backpack w/ my macbook pro with my work from the past 3 months, my passport and bank stuff, Kindle, and Bose Comfort 35 headphones. Over 3000$ worth of damage. Car insurance won't cover 'stolen items not attached to the car'. Credit card insurance wont cover the laptop because it was over 120 days since i purchased it.

The pain that jolts you is a depressed empty numbness. I was sad to see the 4Runner beat up and my last three months of work vanish into oblivion. I wanted to find the guy and try out my new Easton Z-core.

The cops said that this stuff is so common it's just impossible to control. Oakland is completely out of hand IMO. Has this happened to other 4Runners? I wish they made 4Runner glass shatter resistant. Anyone know how to make our trucks 'bullet proof'? So tired of the bottom feeders messing up stuff.

WHYYyyyyyyyy

[/ATTACH]
Click to expand...
Damn brother that sucks! Sorry to hear/see
 
Aftermarket alarm? At least an alarm would have been going off when the window was shattered. A few weeks ago someone came to our neighborhood and broke into all the cars down the street. Only cars he didn't touch were the one with blinking light in the dash letting him know it had an alarm and was armed... he managed to get away with a lot, but skipped the ones with the aftermarket alarms.
 
Bummer to hear about the property loss, OP. Take a look into an aftermarket alarm, specifically one with a 2-way remote. I was looking a while back at a Compustar variant, and the nice part is that if someone sets off the alarm, the key fob will alert you by vibrating. Maybe it would be enough to stop a break in, or keep someone from stealing your things if they aren't exposed. I keep anything valuable in Front Runner Wolfpack's tied down in the back. That way if someone does want to get something, they'd have to smash the glass, open the doors, then take the straps off of the boxes and try to get away. All they while the alarm is going off on a busy street (only places I will street park in the B.A.)

Or get a dog and put that thing in the back seat. People don't mess with cars that have big dogs in them
 
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