Trx250r180
Saw polisher
i feel your pain ,just got all my snap on cordless stuff ripped off ,leaves a bad feel in the gut about people after that ,hope they get it back for ya
I'm absolutely sick!!!
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dieselsmoke
ArboristSite Operative
Man thats tough news. My Dad had a breakin in his barn a few years ago. What we learned was, you have to be your own detective. At least here, the cops are too overwhelmed with drug related crime. Assault and srong arm robberies take a higher priority.
Put pressure (verble) on the tree service guy. If he's a regular guy he's got a business to run and he won't want to deal with this kind of distraction. Keep in touch with the cops, you might find one that will make the effort to keep on the case. And you can't trust the pawn shop operators. In our case, my Dad's 036 pro was stolen from the barn, the cops recovered a bunch of his tools from the local methhead. It turns out the 036 was stolen property!!!!
We had bought it ten years earlier from a local pawn shop.. I did most of the maintence on it so it was never discovered. The previous owner got his saw back, with a NEW bar and chain and a muf mod., ten years after it was stolen.:msp_biggrin: Good luck.
Put pressure (verble) on the tree service guy. If he's a regular guy he's got a business to run and he won't want to deal with this kind of distraction. Keep in touch with the cops, you might find one that will make the effort to keep on the case. And you can't trust the pawn shop operators. In our case, my Dad's 036 pro was stolen from the barn, the cops recovered a bunch of his tools from the local methhead. It turns out the 036 was stolen property!!!!
We had bought it ten years earlier from a local pawn shop.. I did most of the maintence on it so it was never discovered. The previous owner got his saw back, with a NEW bar and chain and a muf mod., ten years after it was stolen.:msp_biggrin: Good luck.
See my quote below.
WE had already blown all the saws off with compressed air and put them up. So in our minds, they saws were all put up. We just drove off to deliver the wood and didn't even think about it until today. Kind of bums you out when you were doing all of the work and delivering the wood for free
Nailsbeats
Addicted to ArboristSite
Sorry for your loss Brad. I too had a 460 stolen right out of my shed this year, made me sick and I feel your pain. Was my first "Stihl" too. You are doing what you can I'm sure, hope it shows back up and good luck.
First of all, thanks everyone for all the kind words. It is nice to be able to talk about something like this with like minded people.
We have a hot new lead. I was backing out of my drive this morning about 9:20 when my neighbor came running out. About 1:30 in the morning, his wife remembered that a guy had come to the door asking about removing the tree stumps.This was 9:00 yesterday morning. So it was after it was seen setting there by my neighbor, and before the guys showed up that took the wood. She was eating breakfast at the time so didn't see him drive up. Turns out the guy left his business card. I've got his name, address, phone number, and a description of what he looks like. He wouldn't have been able to see the saw until he was on his way out, with the way it was hidden from view, so would have given her his card before stealing the saw. She felt horrible that it slipped her mind until early in the morning. So that's why her husband came running out to catch me first chance he had.
We're trying to figure out the best way to approach this. We're thinking that if we call the cops, and then they call him, that the saw will disappear if he has it. I'm thinking we should go stake the place out and see if we can see the saw, or follow him to a job. Another idea would be to set him up with a job and check out the equipment he brings. Here's the weird part. The guys address is 60 miles north of here. What in the world was he doing down here at 9:00 in the morning? The distance makes it a lot more cumbersome to stake this guy out.
Whatcha think would be the best approach here? If setting him up to watch him work, what would be a good way to do that? Obviously, I can't have him come here.
We have a hot new lead. I was backing out of my drive this morning about 9:20 when my neighbor came running out. About 1:30 in the morning, his wife remembered that a guy had come to the door asking about removing the tree stumps.This was 9:00 yesterday morning. So it was after it was seen setting there by my neighbor, and before the guys showed up that took the wood. She was eating breakfast at the time so didn't see him drive up. Turns out the guy left his business card. I've got his name, address, phone number, and a description of what he looks like. He wouldn't have been able to see the saw until he was on his way out, with the way it was hidden from view, so would have given her his card before stealing the saw. She felt horrible that it slipped her mind until early in the morning. So that's why her husband came running out to catch me first chance he had.
We're trying to figure out the best way to approach this. We're thinking that if we call the cops, and then they call him, that the saw will disappear if he has it. I'm thinking we should go stake the place out and see if we can see the saw, or follow him to a job. Another idea would be to set him up with a job and check out the equipment he brings. Here's the weird part. The guys address is 60 miles north of here. What in the world was he doing down here at 9:00 in the morning? The distance makes it a lot more cumbersome to stake this guy out.
Whatcha think would be the best approach here? If setting him up to watch him work, what would be a good way to do that? Obviously, I can't have him come here.
Guido Salvage
Supreme Saw Whoreder
I wonder if you could approach the new "suspect" under the pretense of needing a job? That would allow you to look over his operation and see what he may have. You could vaguely indicate that he had left his card and you thought he might need a qualified saw operator.
[EDIT] In Virginia (and many other places) criminal records are public records and many are now housed online. Since you have his name and address I would do a search in his home town and the surrounding jurisdictions. At least this would give you an idea as to whether he has a criminal background and may have done this sort of thing before.
[EDIT] In Virginia (and many other places) criminal records are public records and many are now housed online. Since you have his name and address I would do a search in his home town and the surrounding jurisdictions. At least this would give you an idea as to whether he has a criminal background and may have done this sort of thing before.
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We all have heard the dumb criminal jokes, so it can happen, but taking a saw and leaving an up to date business card doesnt exactly go hand in hand. But It does warrant checking out.
That was my wife's comment. But I reminded here that he probably took it after leaving his card, otherwise, he probably wouldn't have left the card.
promac850
formerly promac610
Go tail him and see where it goes... if he has it with him or if it's in his garage...
If it's in his garage, and he happens to leave it open after leaving, check the surroundings and take you pops' saw from him. Or if he's outside blipping the throttle and set it down... blitz him and kick his sorry ass.
I hope this lead turns out to be legit, so you get the saw back.
If it's in his garage, and he happens to leave it open after leaving, check the surroundings and take you pops' saw from him. Or if he's outside blipping the throttle and set it down... blitz him and kick his sorry ass.
I hope this lead turns out to be legit, so you get the saw back.
How about I call him, tell him I'm a repairman, hard up for money, and wondered if he would need any of his equipment serviced or repaired. Of course, I'd make him a deal he couldn't resist. Thing of it is, whatever I do, I have to do smart. I don't want to blow our cover and have the saw disappear. At a minimum, I think we're going to drive up there and scope the place out. Unfortunately, I don't know what he was driving, since the lady was eating breakfast and didn't see him drive up or away.
komatsuvarna
Arboristsite MVP
The only thing about being a ''repairman'', is its so far away. It could work though I guess. Since you have his address go to his house. Tell him you have some expierence and are looking for work. You just drove by and seen his equipment, or something like that. I dont know, it would be hard to do, at least you have a good lead. Good luck friend.
oscar4883
Addicted to ArboristSite
How far are you willing to go to get this saw back? If you are not willing to get into an altercation I would turn your findings over to the cops and ride them hard. Like most towns, I am sure the cops have enough crap on their plate and your saw is on the back burner. Plus, cops are generally a lazy bunch. Personally, when I had it nailed down to a prime suspect, I would show up and ask him if he came across a saw. Explain the value and that all you want is the saw back. Otherwise, there will be problems. Be nice about it and explain that you are only interested in his giving the saw back or an answer as to what he did with it. I'm not a fan of cloke and dagger BS. If you find the guy that you really think has it just confront him or leave the Kojack crap to the cops.
EDIT: Either way it sucks that this had to happen. Saws are cheap but the memories can't be replaced.
EDIT: Either way it sucks that this had to happen. Saws are cheap but the memories can't be replaced.
Dan_IN_MN
Addicted to ArboristSite
opcorn:
Is there a way you could get the police to go with you to the guy's residence, maybe with a search warrant and check it out?
Maybe I've been watching too much Law&Order on tv. It probably doesn't work that way.
Maybe I've been watching too much Law&Order on tv. It probably doesn't work that way.
Whatever you do I'd suggest you don't delay. Don't give him time to sell the merchandise. I'm sure he didn't steal it so he could use it.
indiansprings
Firewood Purveyor
I'd let the cops go talk with him, also don't forget the two guys tried to throw you off with false info on who they worked for. At least you have it narrowed down to the one individual and the duo picking up the wood. If the cops would get off their azz they could have your saw back to you by dark.
You have posted this in a thread so you are looking for comments. I can think of several things like that I have done over the years. I lost our luggage in Upstate New York because I forgot to close the tail gate on my truck. When we found the loss we went back and found a couple pieces of clothing.
Same with some plywood I bought, some fell out while I was crossing a rail road track. I went around the block and it was gone in 2 minutes.Both of these events were honest mistakes,yet in my opinion pretty stupid.
I will not call your honest mistake stupid,but I bet you have kicked your self ever since. I really feel bad for you that the saw was taken,but by your comments I see you about to make more mistakes.
Are you really going to stake out that guy? What if he has a saw like it,are you going to confront him?My advise is let the authorities handle it. You only think this guy is guilty you really have no proof.
Hopefully it will be returned,if not with out proof you could end up in a lot of trouble. Staking people out,following them and so on.Unless you have absolute proof I would be very cautious. In the end you are going to have to chock this up for experience,with or with out the saw.I am not a thief,but I imagine if that saw is meant to be stolen,the serial # is already gone.
Same with some plywood I bought, some fell out while I was crossing a rail road track. I went around the block and it was gone in 2 minutes.Both of these events were honest mistakes,yet in my opinion pretty stupid.
I will not call your honest mistake stupid,but I bet you have kicked your self ever since. I really feel bad for you that the saw was taken,but by your comments I see you about to make more mistakes.
Are you really going to stake out that guy? What if he has a saw like it,are you going to confront him?My advise is let the authorities handle it. You only think this guy is guilty you really have no proof.
Hopefully it will be returned,if not with out proof you could end up in a lot of trouble. Staking people out,following them and so on.Unless you have absolute proof I would be very cautious. In the end you are going to have to chock this up for experience,with or with out the saw.I am not a thief,but I imagine if that saw is meant to be stolen,the serial # is already gone.
I guess, now that someone's mentioned it, it wouldn't have to be that guy, just because he was there. He could have left his business card, left, and someone else came and took the saw. There certainly was time for someone else to have been there besides one person. I would still check him out because if he didn't take it, he might have seen someone else around there.
Without anyone submitting a statement saying they saw Mr X leaving with the saw unfortunately i highly doubt a judge will issue a search warrant. To begin with you would have to convince the police to seek one.
A lot of people on here seem to put a lot of faith in serial numbers on saws. Although it may be illegal to possess or sell a saw with a changed or missing serial number, the reality is i would imagine they are not that hard to change. It would be very difficult to prove a saw has had the serial changed and convince the authorites to have the case split if it is a pro Stihl to find the original serial. Best advice to anyone would be to keep up to date pictures of your saws, distinguishable markings etc
If indeed the guy is handing out his own business cards and saw an opportunity to steal a saw i doubt he would go to the trouble of changing the serial though. More opportunistic crook than organised criminal.
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