new thread
Hey everyone,
It seems like lately either my neighborhood is getting worse (which is a fairly midde-class family street), or someone is really out to get me. I'm thinking the latter.
Last month my car was vandalized 4 times. Dents and breaking the side mirror were things that happened on different occasions while the car was parked either at my job or in my driveway. A few days later a car full of kids chased me on the road, provoking road rage, A few days later a car full kids (unsure if it was the same car... it was at night and I couldn't tell, but I could see alot of young adults in the car when they turned the dome light in the car on) threw a board (yes, a piece of wood) at my windshield while it was parked but running--I saw them but didn't catch a license plate.
That was Jnuary. Nothing happened for awhile until last week, someone stole the CD deck out of it while parked in my driveway. It snowed after it happened, so there wasn't any footprints in the snow or anything. Now lastnight somebody broke a piece of plastic (obviously done on purpose) off of my front door. Big surprise, someone knows where I live.
Obviously my car attracts alot of attention. Even though it's now dead and covered in snow and I drive a non-rusty normal looking Neon, people still find where that Geo owner lives.
What do I do? I want to just wait outside with a weapon and wait for this person!!
But, lately, I've been thinking about something else, such as setting something valuable on the front or passenger seat of my car, leave the doors unlocked... but wiring this valuable item up to a high voltage capacitor. Yow!
Any, uh, not-so-revengeful ideas I should try first? Besides reporting it to the kind but unhelpful police?
I like the shock treatment! Top it off with a camera hidden in the car and you will catch the asshole. :)
Erik,
Is the plural of rike (as in Frankrike) just riker?
The key to something like this is to get the perpetrators on camera or have witnesses for proof. Since you cannot watch your car at all hours, some sort of security system might work. This is NOT a commercial, but my friend has an ADT Security dealership, so I hear about stuff like this a lot. You can get a home security system installed for a nominal fee and have a closed circuit camera system installed. While that may be more than you want to spend, it will work. If you have irrefutable proof of the bandits, then you just submit that to the police. While being some sort of vigilante might seem attractive, this could get out of hand and get you in trouble too.
Alternatively, if the car isn't running and you aren't driving it, move it somewhere safe (somebody else's house, etc.) and see if it's the car itself attracting the vandals/robbers or you. In any case, whenever something happens, file a report and also ask neighbors if they have had similar things happening. If so, there might be a group of youngsters whom the other victims might help pinpoint. The best justice would be seeing the look on the kids faces when the police showed up at their door to question them.
I like the shock treatment idea and Eriks thought of a hidden cam
so you can post video of the person being fried.
Well all in all your best bet is reporting it and trying to get a
plate number next time. Other than what Matt wrote I don't have
any ideas for you. Someone out there doesn't like the flowery car
of yours. It does make you angry, I know that when my car was
vandalized years ago and they took my driving glasses and nothing
else not the phone on the seat or money in the conssole. So it was
someone who knew I needed glasses to drive and wanted to piss me
off.
Good luck Peg
Kevin
You can set up a remote webcam that records to your hard drive for under or about $100; hide it where it will monitor your car and it will only record when motion is detected. There are several available.
To my everlasting sadness, I am no longer shocked by these stories, as they seem to happen everywhere.
I agree completely with the idea of a webcam. It's realistically priced and could be of enormous value in identifying the perpetrators.
Don't discount the police. They are taking vandalism very seriously now, and are often not just friendly, but ultimately often very helpful in these cases.
I really wish you the best in this frustrating situation
Franny
My Hair Site
Sorry you're having problems, Peg.
Don't set a trap that physically injures someone. That is outlawed in every state. The logic is that you can use deadly force to protect yourself but not your property, and since you are not physically there, you can't use deadly force. A major concern is that a trap may injure someone who is legally entitled to be there. If you set a trap in your house, the house catches fire, and you blow away a fireman, for example, the loss of your house will not be your biggest worry.
Don't set yourself up for vandalism. Putting stickers, signs, or unusual stuff on your car or house is asking for trouble. Your car and your house cannot defend themselves, and cowards will go after them. Those who cause graffiti or other vandalism are cowards out to prove their manhood, but if one were intent on really proving his manhood, he would take up tagging occupied patrol cars. Cowards, though, take on defenseless cars and buildings.
The event of people chasing you and throwing a board at you is activity at a whole different level. Besides being an assault, this could also be a hate crime in the states that have such. You do have legal authority to defend yourself if attacked, but that does not extend to going after people after an attack has ended and they have withdrawn, so you can't on your own go out and hunt them down. Lots of gang violence is tit for tat, for example, but it is not a defense that "he went after me last week".
To establish a hate crime, the crime must have been motivated by your being in a group that is listed in the hate crime statute. Racial groups, gays, transgenders, religious groups, etc., are often in such lists. Just having long hair is probably not. However, you have an assault any time you are physically threatened, and a battery if you are physically touched.
One thing I'd add is that, although one is advised to not have his house or car stand out and make statements, that logic should not be extended to oneself. It is too psychologically damaging to not be who you are. The way to deal with people who might react to who you are is to ignore them if you are not comfortable with their reactions. Observe them, but without making that obvious. Most of the time, when people see they are getting no rise out of you, they will move on to more entertaining victims, those who will react to them.
Job one right now is finding out who they are. Surveillance and documenting events is your task at hand right now. Once you establish who they are, or get info such as a license plate number so the police can, then you have two remedies. One is to get the district attorney to act and bring criminal charges. The other is to sue them in civil court. In civil court you can get money damages and an injunction ordering them to stay away from you. If they violate an injunction you can have them jailed.
I'd bet that once you find out who they are, and they learn you have, the problems will cease. People who attack unattended property, or attack an individual in a pack, are cowards. Once they see you might just get the upper hand, they will run like hell.
Good luck!
Bill
Good advice there. You hear so often of victims ending up in court for being too aggressive in defending themselves, and the vigilante-style option isn't really a good one.
Even using something like smart water could be taken to be an assault.
I'd say your best option is to try to get an attack on tape and report every single incident to the police. That way, if it is the same people going for your car again and again, they will have a documented history of the attacks which will stand you in good stead if it ever goes to court.
I agree with you both. If you will pardon my ignorance, what is smart water?
My Hair Site
And I quote:
SmartWater is a colourless, odourless liquid which has the ability to security mark valuable items of property with a unique DNA style chemical formula. Each batch of SmartWater is totally unique and once applied to a surface it is virtually impossible to remove.
It is easily detected however using an ultra violet lamp. Only the smallest sample of SmartWater has to be recovered and sent to the forensic science laboratory to enable the rightful owner to be identified.
You learn something new everyday!
Cheers,
John.B
This seems to be a case of gang stalking/harassment, where a group fo people specifically set out to ruin your life because they derive some sort of enjoyment out of it. Most often though they function discreetly, perhaps breaking into your house without a trace and moving some things around, to make you think you've gone crazy, etc.
The best way is to simply set up a hidden camera watching your car, your house, etc. Next time they come around you'll have them on camera, unless they wear masks, and I doubt it.
As Matt mentioned, talking to the neighbors is a good thing. Not only does it give them a heads up to keep an eye out but they also may have seen people around the time of earlier events. The most helpful thing to know though would be hearing if problems have happened to them too. You may not be alone in this after all and hearing that would give you the relief at least that you are not being targeted.
My street has had a few problems in recent months too. The family on the corner from India was burglarized in November and left wondering if it was random or not. When my husband's truck was broken into late in December while we were away on vacation we learned a possible reason behind local thefts.
A nice police officer came to tell us there really isn't much he could do after an attempt to get a fingerprint turned up nothing useable. I enjoyed watching the process and wished I was still teaching because it would have been interesting for the kids to hear about. Inside the house we talked with the officer and mentioned we'd been away in Maryland and Maine so could not say when the break-in had occurred. Turns out he was from Kittery, Maine himself and we talked about that a bit.
Eventually we came to the part where a list was made of what was taken from the truck. A small amount of parking meter change and a spare bill for gas was gone as was an nice emergency knife and flashlight. The only thing I had in there that disappeared was a Christmas fir sachet. The officer asked what a sachet was and I said, "I have no idea why they'd take that" and described it as just a small bag with chopped up plant material inside. I can only highly praise the officer for not smirking at my naivete. After defining it that way it slowly dawned on me they might have thought it was some sort of drug. The officer agreed and said they were probably smoking the fir needles right now. We had a good laugh about that.
Oh heck, sorry about going on so long, Peg. The short version of the story is it may not be just you this is happening to and the problems you are having are about the people doing it and not about you. You didn't bring this on yourself and you certainly don't deserve it.
Elizabeth
Camera with night-vision (most cameras have them these days) recording your car all night, recording the criminal doing the act. Call police, show video, make them document all damage past and present, when they find him (if you don't recognize him yourself) sue the mofo until he goes bald ;)
Cheers
Atilla
Hi Peg,
I'm sorry to hear about your car troubles. I think your idea of the large capacitor on the front seat is a wonderful idea or even better hook it up to the mains, but then again the voltage is not enough.
I hate to say but perhaps it's the sign of the times and perhaps these lads have it in for your as your car is recognisible. If you can get the reg plate and report that might help.
I hope you can get to the bottom of it and sort these people out.
Cheers,
John.B
i feel for ya, but no shock treatment. the perps could actually press charges against u lol!!! u need to report what has happend to the police. i know it seems like a hassle, but having the documentation will come in handy if or when ya catch them. espically if there is an escalation of the vandalism, or if by chance u r hurt. hope all turns out well, AND that it all stops!!!! tc
I remember the pics of your car. It seems likely that this is related to your flower power paint job. I would be d*mn*d if I'd avoid unusual paintwork if it were me, because that's giving in to the b*st*rds.
Setting up a camera does seem like a good idea, although I could never work out the logistics of that when there were kids vandalising our mail box.
Even a light with a motion sensor seems like it would be a deterrent, though, especially if you could use a blue flashing light, LOL! I know they sell the latter at stores that have disco equipment for DJs, and you could wire it in parallel with one of those outdoor motion-sensor lights if the voltage was the same (?). You can't use a blue flashing light on your car, but I'm not aware of anything stopping you putting one on your house or in your front garden.
I would make sure that you report every single incident to the police, and give them a good description of the car that the kids were in, even if you can't get the number from it.
Place a sign next to your car called, any damage to this car will result in the cops called, you are being recorded. If they don't stop and you get physically assaulted and they use something like a board I believe that is felony assult with a dangerous weapon.
As is "assault with a motor vehicle", which they have also committed.
Bill
Set up a web cam to watch the car?
Around here lots of cars get stolen, the radios in them
get stolen, GPS units get stolen. They're not out
to get you, they are out to get the car/radio/gps stolen
to get money for them.
It's why people around here take the stereo with them when
they leave the car, take the gps with them, have lojack,
etc. Part of life in the big city.
I know that some home improvement stores sell a cheap motion detector that you rig at the end of your driveway, that alerts you when a person pulls into your driveway(with some sort of doorbell sound). Could try that, and keep the speaker/remote next to you while you sleep. As soon as it goes off run outside... that'd work if you're a light sleeper.