I tend not to park in shadowy, out-of-the-way places, far from crowds and surveillance cameras and the like. I tend to park in public, close-in, well-populated areas.
Which makes this story kind of weird.
On (generally) Mondays and Wednesdays I park at the Park & Ride at the Littleton Light Rail Station. There are two stairways down to the platform, and I usually park pretty much smack-dab in front of one of them (because I get there around 5:30a and I can).
I got back to my car Tuesday afternoon, opened the trunk, dropped in my brief case, went around to the driver’s side door, and …
Um …
There was a hole where my lock was supposed to be.
Um …
I peered around inside. Nothing seemed disturbed. The stereo was there. Etc.
I opened the door. Again, nothing out of place. No problems with the steering column. Stereo there. Nothing mussed up.
Looked again, found:
- The car lock had been punched in, a not-uncommon break-in technique.
- The electric lock was still keeping the door closed.
- The door handle assembly was loose in the door panel, either because of the punched lock or else because of someone yanking on it Really Hard.
So it seems clear to me that someone tried to break in, punched in the lock, but still couldn’t get the door open, and left.
Now, as I indicated above, this is a highly visible spot. Anyone going to or coming from the train on that stair would have plainly seen someone messing around with the car. So given the initial failure to break in, the perp probably strolled on.
(Aside from the stereo, there was nothing of value in the vehicle. However, there was a USB charger next to the power/lighter outlet, so someone might have thought there was something “hidden” under a hat or in the center console or something. There wasn’t, but …)
Still, annoying. And now I have to take the car in to get the problem fixed.
At least it was the “old” car, not the new one.
I can’t unlock the front passenger-side door of my car with my key because somebody apparently tried to pick it with a screwdriver or similar instrument, destroying the mechanism. Idiots.
Well, $250 poorer, I can now use the key again. (Though I never do. If need be, since the electronics work, I could have just put some duct tape over the hole, I suppose.)
Wow, this is your first attempted car break in at an RTD lot? You are *way* ahead of the curve then. The Camera generally reports several during a week at Table Mesa and the one downtown.
Hopefully you reported this to RTD so that they will up the patrols for a week or two.