My Jeep just got stolen from Brea Mall!

[Jerry Bransford]

A stolen vehicle is found in Compton. Why doesn't that surprise me.

[RAT]

A stolen vehicle is found in Compton. Why doesn't that surprise me.

I had to leave it there, it ran outta gas...

Nathan, you have to either be lucky or blessed. Glad you got her back.

[nwoods]

It had to of been Eazy E or Dr Dre. Snoop Dogg doesnt mess w/Compton so he's out....

You guys are too funny, but as always, real life is stranger than fiction...

So I go to the impound in Compton, square away the paperwork, and $200 later I'm in the back lot looking at our Jeep. It's essentially unmolested. They scratched the hardtop a bit using a slimjim or whatever, but the door locks are still good. The plastic housing around the steering column was busted off, and the ignition cylinder was tweaked, but otherwise, she's in good shape.

A quick inventory revealed that all the stuff under the cargo tray was intact, as was everything on the tire rack, including my lift, axe, antennas, spare tire, and Trasharoo. My aftermarket headunit and amps where there, as well as my HAM radio and CB radio, and the Baja 540 had never even been turned on. The only things missing where the contents of my glove box and center console. So I lost my prescription sunglasses, all my paperwork, various tire pressure gauges, etc..some books I had purchased that day, and all my paper maps and a few trail books. They also took my work gloves and Camelbak sportbottle. But they left my knife, Stauns, Jawbone earpiece, and misc other items.

The impound guys towed it out to the street so that I could get AAA to tow it to a dealer to have the ignition fixed, but while I was waiting, I fiddled with it and "reseated" the cylinder so the key would fit in and viola! She started right up......the radio was cranked up and tuned to 101.1, which is 24/7 Christmas tunes right now. Bing Crosby was wishing me a very merry christmas, and I had to agree.

All told, I probably am out $600 in cash for replacement of items and impound fees, and I am very grateful that's all it ended up being.

Lessons learned:
Smartest thing I did was that I kept my original registration paper at home, and only had a copy in the glovebox. I could not have gotten it out of the impound without the original registration paper.

While I was waiting for the officer to show up, I used my iPhone to post up the news on various forums and text, emails, etc.. I was a tapping fool for a while there. I had photos of the Jeep in my iPhone, and was able to pull up the license plate info visually, and also email out photos directly to the officer in charge, so they had visual identification. I love my iPhone!

Ironically, my Jeep has LoJack, but in our expense trimmings earlier this year, I let the subscription lapse. I will be rethinking that one!

As soon as my kids and I walked out of the mall we realized something was wrong. You can generally see the Jeep over all the other cars. Nothing there. So I got the kids situated, calmed, and started praying. Then I called my wife :-)

God is Good.
Isaiah 65:24 "Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear."

[Jerry Bransford]

Wow I never thought of carrying a photocopy of the vehicle registration and not the original. That's an excellent thing to do, I'm doing that for my Jeep and our cars. Nice!

[xthread]

stolen

hey nathan .next year at christmas leave the jeep at home and take the wifes car .glad you got her back .

[Roger]

Rubicon Owners Listen up

[COLOR="Red"]I've been thinking... Rubicons seem to the model of choice for thiefs. I know that all you Rubicon owners are very proud of your rig and rightfully so it's the best equipped trail ready off road vehicle ever produced.

I was thinking that it might be worth it to remove the "Rubicon" decals from the vehicles. I think that would help in not getting it stolen. I'm sure it would hurt to have it removed, but how much does it hurt to walk out to find your baby has been jacked?

Just a thought.[/COLOR]

[Matt2001TJ]

Wow I never thought of carrying a photocopy of the vehicle registration and not the original. That's an excellent thing to do, I'm doing that for my Jeep and our cars. Nice!

I always carry a copy of the insurance policy in my wallet as it has all needed info in case anything ever happens as well as other reasons and the title is at home in a safe place. It's great he got his rig back with minimal loss. As we all know most of the time you never see it again. Congrats Nathan ....M

[Mitch]

Nathan,

What good Christmas news! Thanks for some good pointers like the registration copy. I'll do that today. Cranked up Christmas music in Compton......Yeah I'd be checking out Kurt to see where he was 24 hours ago.

Mitch

This won't stop a pro from cutting the steering wheel, but the cheeseballs won't take it!

[provelogear]

Nathan,

If there is thing else you might need let me know. Thank goodness you got it back! As I was reading the post my heart just sunk.

My best,

Gerald

[TJ Clay]

Nathan,

What good Christmas news! Thanks for some good pointers like the registration copy. I'll do that today. Cranked up Christmas music in Compton......Yeah I'd be checking out Kurt to see where he was 24 hours ago.

Mitch

This won't stop a pro from cutting the steering wheel, but the cheeseballs won't take it!

Mitch,
As dirty as your rig is in that picture no thief in their right mind would bring that jeep into the hood. Their Hos' would get too much dust in their jeri curl!

[dirtman13]

That's quite a story with a happy ending. Congrats Nathan.

I'll tell you what those tow truck guys got quite the scam going. Your vehicle gets stolen and you have to pay to get it back. Somethings wrong with that.

[Toolman]

A couple of thoughts on the topic:

1) Congrats on getting your rig back !!!!

2) Their car probably got repoed and they needed a ride home.

3) The nice thing about the chain / pad lock as a steering wheel lock is that it doubles as an ass beating thief exterminator. I guess you could call it a "KILL SWITCH"

Happy Holidays to everyone.

[Mitch]

Come on Clay,

They only get that dirty if you use them! LMAO

It is more than ready for the hose though. Get the pup a hug for me.

"Kill Switch"? I like it.

Mitch

[NAILER341]

Damn Nathan! You just got incredibly lucky!
I could imagine how you felt when you went out and it wasn't there.

Merry Christmas to you!

Now we should start another thread with effective Anti-Theft devices.

f I had a TJ, it would most certainly have the Sentry key in it.
Now for us YJ guys?.....

[Buggs]

Wow, congrats on the recovery.