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Our 78 Jeep Cheorkee was recovered today

Today we recovered our Jeep. It was stolen from our driveway on July5, 2005 while we were at work. We had been looking for it around our house but with no luck.

I went into my sons room to start draining his bed and I saw a note on his wall. The note said a friend of his spotted our jeep in an apartment complet just 1 mile down the street. My wife and I cruised past there around midnight last night and sure enough, there it was. We parked in the shadows of the lot to keep an eye on it and called the police. They parked behind it and did their thing, which wasn't much, and we went and put some gas in our gas can.(Just in case). We quickly looked it over and all seemed intact. So I primed the carb and put gas in the tank and turned it over.

Bank, it backfires, and starts the carb and air cleaner on fire. I quickly put that out ( the dumb cop offered me a bottled water for the fire. a GAS fire) and turned it over one more time. We wanted to get it out of the parking spot and point it in the direction of the exit. I back it out, or so I thought,(actually it just rolled out of the spot) the modulator came off the tranny and dumped all the fluid. So we pushed it out of the way, locked it up and went home to wait for the sun to come up. At 7:00 am we went back, hooked up a tow strap and towed her home.

Nothing was missing, our jack was there, extra gas can, jumper cables, stereo and CD's all there. Nothing was broken and no damage. It was gone a total of 25 long days.

Theft

Thursday night of September 29 sometime while my wife and I slept someone broke in my VX and stole several items. I am not sure if it was left unlocked, unarmed itself, or if the alarm was bypassed.
We woke up Friday morning and found missing out of glove box my Automobile portfolio with registration, Insurance, personal emergency checks, warranty slips, and all books on service, airbags, stereo, amp, winch, cb, air compressor, etc. Also stolen was a pocket knife, a set of Oasis adjustable tire deflators, 2 pair of binoculars, a lensatic military issue compass from when I was in Marines(8years), and my Axe body spray damnit. Filed Police report, canceled and opened new bank accounts, got new regestration, loaded the 300 Win Mag, charged the 3 million candle power spotlight and started on a case of Bud. I was ready for someone to come back or try. Around 11oPM a knock at my door was one of our neighbors with my automobile poerfolio and tire deflators...seems the guy had no use for them and tossed them in the gutter by my neighbors house.
I stayed up all Friday night nothing happened so I went to sleep sometime around Dawn. I woke up at Noon with a shout in my head for 30 minutes telling me to wake up and go to the local pawn shop. Not just any pawn shop, but a certain one.
So, at 12:30 I give in and arrive at the pawn shop of my voices choice and look for 30 minutes hoping to find my items. With no luck I was about to leave when the voice came back shouting even louder this time for me to check the counter. Low and behold what did I find? Some guy with 3 of my items trying to pawn them. I told him to not move as I would not let him leave the store alive, called 911 from my cell phone and told them they better hurry before I lost patience. I then told the guy that I had no problem killing during Desert storm and I would have no problem killing him now. The police came and routed the paperwork for "In possession of stolen property in Lieu of Burgerly". His name was Chris Odell Faulkner...Nevada License...Incarceration in Nevada for theft, several warrants in Texas, and an Idaho Fugitive. Too bad no reward for him outstanding...

so...all in all I am only missing one pair of binoculars and my axe body spray.

1985 4runner stolen but recovered.

okay, just saw it... damn its a bit of a mess but not bad. stole all my wheels and tires. they put on my 2 small spares and a spare of their own, and they left the front drivers side tire off. stole all of my tools, left some of my stuff that i really wanted but was useless (afraid they'd just trash it) to them. found all my MRE's (well most of em), found my thermos (stainless steel job), my Sigg bottle, my Karate shoes and Ghi (all dirtied up and nasty). they stole all but my a/f ratio gauge but trashed all the wires. opened the hood- looks like the engine is still all there (doesnt even look like they opened the hood to remove the wires). my GPS was gone, my highlift was gone (btw the steel cable i had had a bunch of attempted bolt cutter marks on it, and they finally gave up and cut the lock itself !!!!. all but 2 of my lights are still there (they stole the really shitty $20 /set of round walmart driving lights. stole my reciept for my tires and a bunch of other stuff like my plates. stole all my lights i had in the car (million candle power light, 3 LED headlamps, a military style light). a bunch of other random stuff was stolen too- like all the factory tools- yet they left me the factory tool roll up thing. all my spare parts were there though! lift and shocks still on it and intact. looks like they hit some mud with it (axle had some mud on it- i dont remember hitting any mud that color). really sucks about the wheels- i got em from a friend and they were hella nice... happy the roof rack was still there. sterio was gone. they even stole the factory speakers that were blown as well as all my aftermarket cheapo speakers (ala walmart and kragen). they cut the wires to my roof lights but left the lights... ? anyhow i'll post up some pics. the truck looks funny with a 5" lift on 28" tires... getting it towed to the auto body shop for free though... thank god for full coverage!!!

oh and for some unknown reason they did a really shitty rattle can on the front right fender (like 1 foot of it) that ran everywhere... no idea why. AAAHHHHH cause i had a can of white paint in the back from when i touched up the rear dent.... guess they just had to try it out or something.

k here's the pics.

my highlift jack lock cable

more pics

I Hate Thieves

This happened 2 years ago - I went into the local Fred Meyer, grabbed a sandwich & a sixpack and go out to where my Toyota truck was and my worst fear - gone. Panic, and a large amount of rage set in. My truck was gone. Called the cops, blah blah blah. My b/f & I set out that night to look for it - we looked everywhere. I assumed I would never get it back. I get a call a week later from the cops saying they found it. Apparently someone called inquiring about a KTM dirtbike in the paper, he goes to look at it, asks to test drive it, leaves what was believed to be his truck there, and rides away on the bike!!! The seller goes to the truck, looks inside - no seats, no dash, no shifter, ghetto steering wheel, srewdriver in ignition...he calls the cops and thats when I came. So the best part - it was FULL OF GARBAGE. I mean full, the entire bed was piled over the edges, the cab had two garbage cans back there. It was sick. I managed to drive it home, and it was a very depressing ride...My grant steering wheel was gone, my shift knobs were gone, my 12" sub, my CD player, 200+ CD's, camera..gone. But luckily, my rims and tires were still there, and my rebuilt engine was all intact, and they apparently didn't wheel it. So the next day, my awesome boyfriend took it to the dump and went through all the garbage (650 POUNDS OF IT....damn tweakers!), found a few phone bills. Long story short, after driving by the house and seeing the stolen dirtbike, calling the cops, they finally busted the guys, but of course they couldn't get them on much. So all in all it was a learning experience - I've learned to trust no one & take matters into your own hands (because we all know the cops sure didn't find them on their own), and most importantly I've learned that I hate thieves with every bone in my body, and am proud to say that my new '84 4-Runner is bad as shit - and more secure than Fort Knox!!!:flipoff2:

WELL, my wifes '86 4runner has been found, of course not by any P.D. dept.(too busy on stakeout at the DONUT SHOP) it was stolen in citris hights on 11.4.05, had a tow notice on it from an apt. complex dated the 9th. it said it would be towd the 14th, and was towd the 23rd. lost the wheels and tires, seats, stereo syst., battery, radiator cap, tools, and a multitude of personal stuff. the top and roll bar were unbolted but still there. the engine is fully intact, it is "NEW", hasn't even had it's first oil change yet. it drove onto the trailer. the spare was on the L front, and two junk 5 lug wheels on the rear. they took a hammer and knoked in studs till the wheels fit. other than one little dent in the R front fender, it looks good. my wife is so happy to have her car back, we're going today to buy seats and tires for it. THANK YOU to all who had kept an eye out for us, but if i ever want to steel a truck i will go to SAC to get it. if i stay away from the donut shops, the cops won't even look

I think that we all need to take the stolen forum very seriously, and that the stolen veh forum needs to be the first one that we ALL go to when we log on, and if we all take the long way home when a rig goes missing in our city, we could recover a ton of rigs before they get stripped/torched, like the pirate insurance/recovery group. I think that the mods should let people w/o the red star post up pics of stolen rigs. my .02
Reading this thread I laugh and cry. My 4runner had been stolen 5yrs ago and never recovered. I sold a $800 truck to a "friend" who was going to make payments, I lent him some tools to work on it, it gets stolen, no tools, he doesn't pony up to get it out of impound, a month or two later they get ahold of me and tell me I can come and get it for $1100, I told them I'd give them to eat my ass. A year later I had to pay a $50 "abandoned veh fine" at the DMV because it was in my name. I dont sell cars on credit anymore. My Mustang had been broken into many times. I sat in the bushes with a shotgun many nights, only to get cold as [email protected]#$ at 3am and go inside, come out in the morning and my centercaps are gone and lugnuts loose. Had cheap tools stolen from the back of my YJ. I had a saturn that I bought to fix and sell. Had it sitting on the curb outside the autoparts store I worked in with a sign on it, and I got a voice mail from some guy "you know just about any saturn key will open these cars, I see you have some dvds in the glovebox, you might want to be more careful" I was livid, I went out the front, I could see my car, but wasn't so sure that my glock was still under the seat. Nothing was missing, and I didn't leave my gun in the fisher-price car anymore. My cousins hand me down 94 lincoln towncar was stolen several months ago. Because of what it was it looked like a joy ride, and I figured it would turn up, but she was heartbroken. 3weeks later the sheriffs get a call and say the cars in the police evidence yard and we can get it later that week. Interesting, cause its "evidence" not "impound". The car is dusted inside and out, with "evidence" tape on all of the doors/trunk/hood sealing them shut. They found the car as part of a meth/ID theft ring bust. The car was FULL of cell phones new clothes tools, and all kinds of credit card statements/mail. Cops took most of that, but interesting merchandise still rolls out from under the seat now and then. Car had to be towed back to gramps (in his name) cause the busted ign was stuck on and had drained the batt. Newish CD deck where fact tape had been, huh +$100. Had nirvana cd in it, I took that for services rendered. Busted $150 headlight had been replaced +$150. Used side marker lense in trunk to replace the one she busted +$50. I found a column for $75 and put it in. All it needs is a sail window for the rear door, probably should have let them keep it another week or so. She's still way ahead on the $damage though.

nothing stolen, but a funny story...

About three years ago, the Friday before Labor Day weekend started, I arrived at work to find 14 bags of garbage in front of our shop door here in Reno. We had planned on a nice, easy day before heading up to Meadow Lake for the weekend. Didn't have any huge projects scheduled, just a couple of brake jobs, and oil changes, and we'd be on the road by one o'clock. Eric and Jim ask me if I would do a dump run before we got started on anything else, and instead of using the shop truck
(s10), I backed my '73 F250 up to the door to load up the 14 bags of trash this prick dumped there. (33 gallon bags!) My truck has a double-ram Crysteel lift under the stock bed, so I thought about going through all of the trash to find a paper trail with an address, ANYTHING, just like someone else did on a previous post. I thought it would be best not to waste any time so we could get out of town at a decent hour, so I just went to the Sage St. transfer station. But I decided to cut open the bags anyway. I found cell phone bills, house utilities, credit card receipts, and hey what have we here?
Molasses? A gallon of it! Gulden's brown mustard?, Ketchup? yeah baby! A brand new squeeze bottle of mayo, and a gallon of apple cider vinegar. I saved all of it, and went back to work, after hitting the switch to dump the garbage in the pit (instead of in their front yard). Upon leaving the shop I told Eric I would meet him at Meadow Lake that evening since all of us had to go shopping and fill the coolers. But Mikey also had to make one more stop...:mad3:
I pulled out one of the utility receipts to get the address for this place, and drove by. It was obvious they were moving out, but I didn't see any action. So I parked my truck on the corner and went to the front door. My original intent was to hand the guy back his stuff I collected and let him know how pissed:flipoff: I was that I got to clean up his shit, but it didn't work out that way. See, when I got to the front door, all I could hear was a bunch of shouting upstairs between this lazy fawker and his sig. other, and a bunch of sexist, racial:rasta: slurs that I won't repeat here. So I thought to myself, "PERFECT!" I ran back to the truck and carried ALL of the refrigerator spooge back to the front porch, I stepped inside the front door, and gave 'er hell.:nuke: Hardwood floors. Whata disaster! New paint on the walls? Not anymore! Molasses on the area rug? Done for! And just so I wouldn't look as chickenshit as he was, I left him a :flipoff2: *F-You*:flipoff2: note under the ketchup bottle, complete with my name and where he could find me, with the information that if he went to the cops about this, he would be in deep shit, because I had all of his personal info, and that I took pictures of all of the crap at the shop. So I finally get out of Reno, and realize that we forgot to buy eggs. When we got to Sierraville, we pulled into the C-store, and my wife, Kris, runs in. Then the truck died. Swapped out the coilwire, and we were on our way. Got to the top of the hill on hwy 89, the turn-off for Jackson Meadows, and remembered the pancake batter on the counter at home that I forgot to pack. Dammit!! We can't go camping without the pancake batter!! So back to Sierraville we go. By the time we got to Meadow Lake, I figured Eric and his family would already be there with the rest our crew. He wasn't. And then I started to worry. "What if that dickhead came back to the shop to get even, or...?"
Long story shortened, Eric finally showed up, and when I told him (and everybody else) what I did, and why I was worried, the whole scene around the campfire was hysterical:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: We never heard a word more from this scumbag

Mike Barbarigos
Reno NV

Went out wheeling that weekend.Sunday night my 03 rubicon was stolen from my drive wy . the idiots left another stolen ride in the road doors open and still running. Call police and they say I was the fifth person that night. Give my description of vehicle and she said someone in area reported chasing some people away that were tring to break into their cars took off using my jeep as a get away car. I go down to the river 2 miles down the road to see if I can see it buried in the mud. No luck. 10min later i get a call to come pick it up 1/4 mile away from my house at an apartment building. They broke into used car dealer ship next door. Stole a Suburban down the road instead.
On the jeep they broke everything that needed a key.:mad3: Lucky for me there was only six psi in the 36" sx's and no swaaay bars on so it did not make for a very good get away vehicle.:laughing: I now make sure not to park my jeeps between my big trucks. I line them up big to small so i can see them out my bedroom window. it paid off already with one punk in his truck chased back down to mama's house at three in the morning w stolen snowblower wtags still on it in back of his truck:shaking: He is lucky i did not catch him at my house. I should stop sleeping in the nude.