Gear Stolen

[Jock]

Parked on a busy Manchester Street on Thursday morning, unloaded chipper, tracked it approx 300m onto site, walked back, pavement covered in glass..... 2ms200's 1Husky 254, 1 large holdall full of ropes and 2 swedish skybelts, carabiners, helmets, all my overnight bags,2 bottles of Evian water and my packed lunch....oh and my cigarettes and lighter.....I asked some builders who said they had saw a van with tree surgeon logo on the side pull up, two guys had got out opened there rear doors carried three 5 gall diesol containers and placed them on my trailer, one put on a hard hat and walked in the direction i had tracked the chipper, the other guy after talking on the phone casually started unloading my van into his, another quick phonecall and his mate appeared back and they drove off. The builders didnt pay much attention as it looked all legitimate, and they didnt hear the side window pop, the 3 containers were in fact water........blood boil is an understatement, the police came gave me a crime no for insurance reasons, said they couldnt do anything, as its all untraceable, and they also drove off!!! I know its partly my fault, but normally theres 3 of us so the van would be moved and very little left inside, but that particular day i was early and started myself, these guys should be found and executed in public, after hours of strenuous torture.......... as some of you guys may know this causes a lot of uneccessary inconvenience, I know i'm still very angry, and know theres nothing i can do about it... Jock

 

[Jumper]

Great to see the police are as helpful in Scotland as they are here-what a useless organization. I had a $3000 watch (in 1988) and a bunch of other stuff stolen, and they could not even be bothered to come out to see where the theft occured, just gave me a crime file number over the phone. And the whole time I was speaking to them the said at least twice that they never had heard of anyone with so expensive a watch blah blah like I had made the whole thing up. (It was a real Rolex had bought in Switzerland one sotted afternoon when I was on my UN leave from Cyprus) Were you fully insured? If so at least you will be getting new gear out of all this. I know it will take time to replace all this stuff so hopefully your biz will not suffer too much. I know you feel like you have been violated but believe you me there are a lot of worse things that could have happened.

 

[jblimbwalker]

In the past five years I have had two bucket trucks broken into, resulting in the loss of climbing gear, ropes and saws. One bucket truck and 2 new (at the time) Bandit 250's stolen, neither have ever been recovered. The trucks and chipper were owned by the tree service I worked for, but the climbing gear and saws were mine. Had someone break in the cab of a truck and steal a road atlas, dirty hard hat and worn out gloves. On a more personal note: I have had two dirt bikes and a new Yam.YZF street bike stolen, pick-up broken into for the stereo and apartment broken into stealing too much to mention. Guess that's about it. I know how it feels and the only thing we can do is to learn from it and take better precautions in the future. Like Jumper said, ..."there are a lot of worse things that could have happened."

 

[treeman82]

Brad, I am thinking maybe you should move from where you currently live if crime is such a large issue? Your bucket truck and 2 chippers were STOLEN???

 

[jblimbwalker]

All of these incidents occured here, in GA., but in different areas. It's everywhere here and although I would like nothing more than to move I simply can't afford it right now. The stolen bucket was an '88 Ford/Altec boom. Got to work that morning and the only thing left of the truck was the ignition switch lying on the ground where the truck was parked. One of the Bandits had been on the job for two weeks when it rolled away. The other was less than a year old and was actually sitting in the view of a security camera that night, but a shadow from the station's sign blocked the view of the chipper.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

One Time the 16 year old next door stole my cell phone, always figured it was him, hinted around. His mom came over screaming her child was not a thief.

A month later i get the bill with 16 long distance charges (battery must have died, forgot to steal charger). i called the number, the lady said she was the kid's aunt and he had called those times.

So mom got 1 more chance, letting her know i had to submit a police report for insurance, not letting on her own sister had told the truth.......... she got rude again, gooooooood! Kinda even baited her too, i can kinda do that. i might not always respond in un kind; partially due to confidence that the spyder could weave a tapestry of dialouge at any time; and pull into the 'lead' very well if necessaary......

Cops got bill and conversation, obviously unimpressed. A month later when this kid had gotten kids in the neighborhood in trouble as ring leader etc. Called to check on my 'case', they had no record of the bill, so no evidence, so didn't have to do anything. sounds like a self sorting, self serving situation.......

2 weeks later these neighbors moved. Seems i've had enough stuff come up missing overtime i got this wild idea that if i catch a thief, they owe me for everything ever stolen from me, every lock, shackle, chain, insurance etc. i ever bought. Every time i went back and checked a lock on the house or Dad's store, for fear of not locking/cchecking correctly etc.. Horrible thing to have such an attitude..........!

Then there was the folx that ripped me for some tree work around there in process of being built home. Such a shame, that new 250k + house must of stunk of deer lure and 10# dead fish for quite some time! Hard to find fish inside of walls......

Ya ever see the mad magazine comic of a guy making nice sand castles, and a drooling macho idiot in just swim trunks stomping them, as the quiet guy loads a broken pop bottle in the last one........

:alien:

 

[Crispin Hoar]

I work for a municipality so I own myown gear and the city provides gear at work. My children own thier own gear also. The night before I was to go to our regional competition I loaded my truck with my gear and my childrens gear all set to leave from work about noon. That night my neighbor could not sleep and heard what she thought was me going to handle some emergency as I sometimes do. She felt something was not right and decided to call my wife as I probable woke her. When I answered the phone she said " If you are answering the phone someone just stole your truck". My gear and my childrens gear as well as the truck we were going to drive in were gone. They found my truck with no gear the next day. Thieves should be put out of our missery.

 

[treeman82]

KC-

I am sitting here reading a "story" about ways to get revenge on people. It lists:

signing your enemy up for a LOT of mail order catalogs, and magazines.

mail the person bricks COD. Next day delivery, all the bells and whistles... no return address.

mail the person a dead animal, last class mail.

 

[Jumper]

Cops got bill and conversation, obviously unimpressed. A month later when this kid had gotten kids in the neighborhood in trouble as ring leader etc. Called to check on my 'case', they had no record of the bill, so no evidence, so didn't have to do anything. sounds like a self sorting, self serving situation.......

[/B]

This is exactly what happened to me a few years back, yet when I was stopped for a DUI check (I passed) I noted all the info of the original complaint(supposedly "lost" as well) was listed right on the police computer along with my DOB and drivers license number . BIG BROTHER at work- I am sure it also states whether or not you have been "cooperative" and duly subservient with them in the past. You can rest assured if the cops had had a cell phone ripped off (or worse) it would have received top notch attention. The ones here are equally useless-only in Canada could you have a sexual predator loose on the streets, and the cops will not lay a charge against him. They supposedly along with the DA have decided without a shread of qualified medical input that he is crazy and therefore the case is not worth proceeding with. Blinkered idiots. Anyways I knew where the little p*ckerhead lives and he is going to get the lesson of his life sometime soon.

Ditto for the ex boss who owes me eight days salary from last fall. he is now receiving at least three calls a day to his 1-800 number in the middle of the night with no message left (I use a pay phone for this). All the keys to his lockup are going to walk one day as well-I do not want any of his stuff, but having to replace all of the locks should cost at least $100. While I am at it I might open the container and let off something really noxious inside!

If you have access to the guys computer, download a lot of kiddie **** to the hard drive, (or send him some on a disk by fed ex) or email it from a public computer as an attachment from a bogus yahoo or hotmail box and then call the cops as soon as you get delivery notification. Even if he convinces them he is innocent it will take a heck of a long time and if word accidently gets out to his neighbours and in the work environment......

I think the craziest and most brazen theft I ever saw was all the performance tires and alloy rims off their less than two week old Pontiac Grand Prix GTP-right in the front drive of a row house complex. The car alarm finally went off when the car fell off the four jacks the team of thieves had used to hoist it up. When it did it bent all the disc rotors and they all had to be replaced as well.

When I buy major items I always give my old address, as a lot of such thefts are inside jobs.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Mailing is another deal; trash in/ trash out- Carlin Style

Save junk offerings and take out GTE junk offerings and send other people's junk offerings with check to GTE, etc.

They send a prepaid envelope with just junk, run their bill up and return someone elses junk to them in their envelope. Or their junk with a 'No Thanx" card, Save the post office, let these people support it! Or, forget the no thanx card, and send one of those almost could be a check car lot offers and dutifully fill out the forms, well the best you can.....

Soimetimes the check has been lost (discarded?) with junk, but i point out that is no better excuse than me losing their bill in the junk they send....... Then next time forget the check, put in the junk, fill out card like there is check.... Of course i would never think of such things when folx are nice; and i guess i am kinda walking memory lane....

Of course fish in the weekend night depository would be out of the question.....; awe heck, jest look at it as an increase in your investmeant.......

They used to send some of the stuff with computer punch cards, that an exacto knife could make similar extra punches in after taking 2 months to straighten out their mess, let them straighten out yours........

Of course that goes over about as swell as asking the cop if all the tickets are yellow, or just the chicken **** ones, like parking the wrong way on a street and leaving driver's door open to visually define a parked car ffor less than a minute on a dead end street serving 8 homes, especially done away from the bottleneck of other vehichles where you could have parked closer to target....

i guess i have signed up a few prudes for rather stronger than Playboy material, never tried a real bulk mailing strategy.....

Gee i always knew i liked ya!

edit- nice tip on old address!
Guys in Chicago (b4 car alarms) would break lugs loose, while another bounces a corner of a car up, another slides concrete blocks under. Then they deflate the tires.................
Saw a Kroptonite lock shatter from being sprayed with freon, another broke with a 4' pipe for lever.

If someone wants your ****, they can poison your dog whatever........... but when caught, they are the first ones to want to play fair according to the rules.......

 

[Stumper]

Jumper, You might consider editing your post,-Saying what is going to happen to the thieves and perverts you know might get you in trouble. Sharing IDEAS for dirty tricks is ....... just entertainment.:angel:

 

[Jumper]

Thanks to a particularly offensive piece of cr*p called the Young Offenders Act, never forget a 16 year old here in Canada has more rights than you do, even if he is a thief or worse yet, a murderer.

 

[Jumper]

Originally posted by Stumper
Jumper, You might consider editing your post,-Saying what is going to happen to the thieves and perverts you know might get you in trouble. Sharing IDEAS for dirty tricks is ....... just entertainment.:angel:

I just say the devil made me do it-that got the little twit off in December as he obviously too crazy to stand trial. As for finding me, across a border in a town I do not even live in, might prove difficult to pin it down-anyone could have posted these threads.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Sorry-

Personaly, i'd prefer nothing to do with such unmentionable ****, nor see it mentioned, save for eliminating it's perpetuators in any for(u)m........

i too ask you rethink your post.

Hope to remove this post soon.........

 

[Jock]

Treespyder......mmmmmm? is this a cryptic solution? or am i stupid? sorry mate just couldnt put 2 and 2 together on your suggestion or answer
.........

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've allways been one for the magazine subscriptions and book club memberships. Then they gotta put up with all the dunning calls.

I remeber a time while in the Corps one guy started getting porno mag's of the muscular male sort. Sorta wish I woulda thought that one up, I just got a White Power type sub's to Ebony, Jet and one for the Professional Black Woman.

A number of months ago, one of the guys mentioned putting an 800 number in a national publication for "free firewood".

A guy up north booby traped the shead on his lodge after it got ripped off. He was put in jail and sued by the injured party andter they went in for the insurance replacements. Seems that rescue people have been injured by booby traps so they are illegal.

BTW what the croocks doo up there is wait for the rivers to freez, then take snowmobiles down the ice and ransack all the cabins and such along the way.

 

[Greg]

evil things to do:

-Email Army,Navy,Cost Guard, Marines recruiting office and tell them about how you just got out of college and can't decide to join Army vs. Navy, etc... you'd appreciate some more info... The mail and phone calls will never end. Those guys will even stop by the house.

-A buddy of mine had an old girlfriend get even one day by having a load of fill dirt dumped in his driveway on a Saturday morning when she knew he was passed out asleep. His car was trapped in the garage.
Greg

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Did i mention the guy who would get deadbeats buy dumping laods of chip in the drive then leave bills for ficticious landscaping companies in the door?

There is a chronic deadbeat in one of the richer burbs who stiffed a buddy of mine on pruning, heard he did some concreat guys too, just got his roof dne and I hear tell he's been getting his mailbox flattened on a semi regular basis.

 

[johncinco]

I had to laugh when I saw you remembered my 800 trick. every time I ran into the secretary for that company she and I had a great laugh, she says up until they day they closed the business and filed bankruptcy, they were still getting calls asking for the owner, and then asking all about his free firewood and where to come pick it up. He got calls from CA, AZ, NY, and any place my remote friends could post on a bulletin board or free web site. everytime I went on vacation I put a postcard on the grocery store wall. I doubt it made a giant dent in guys bills or added to why he had to close up, considering the huge amounts he was ripping people off for, but my satisfaction level has never been higher.

Dude, sorry to hear about you getting ripped off. I bet those guys watched you and cased you out for weeks waiting for the right opportunity to rip you off.

 

[SilverBlue]

Jock, guess it’s time to look for an alarm system, those fools could be back for more. It really sucks when someone steals our equipment and our means to make a living. Is there a way to post a warning to other arborists in Scotland? Perhaps list the serial numbers and some pictures? Perhaps visiting a few pawnshops might find some leads to find the scum. Revenge is sweet but justice is needed including those cops.