I have some good news. I got a call from a detective in the San Jose PD today. He said he was in San Francisco at the SFPD impound lot with my HCH. Apparently the SFPD found my car parked illegally next to a municipal park in SF around 2:00AM. They were going to write a ticket when they ran the plates and got the stolen + "armed and dangerous" bulletin back. So like good cops, they laid low and watched the car. A bit later somebody approached the car and unlocked it with the remote. The cops quickly surrounded the guy. They found my car key and a gun on the pat-down. The detective also said he confessed to stealing the car in San Jose. The suspect is in custody! Yeah!

As far as the car, I drove up to SF to retrieve only to learn, despite what the detectives told me, that it was a) locked up as evidence until tomorrow, and b) the nationwide "armed and dangerous" bulletin was still in effect and apparently takes a couple of hours to clear.

The detecive who saw the car said it looked like it was undamaged. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it came out unscathed. It will be interesting to see what kind of FE this punk got and how far he drove it. My record low is 38. Also, apparently the theif did not appreciate the kids car seat in the back. It has gone AWOL - everything like my PDA are still there.

More to come after I get the car back...

-dan

 

That is good news. Illegally parked near a park? Sounds like the guy was out buying some dope or up to no good at least. What an idiot.

 

That's excellent news -- as much that they caught the guy as you got your car back, for your peace of mind if nothing else

When my parents' cars were stolen, we ran into the exact same problem with one person telling us on the phone to come down to the station to pick up the car (luckily for us, just a ~20 minute walk away), then after getting there have someone else say "Why are you here? It's in impound for evidence collection for the day..."

And it's amazing the proportion of cars that are recovered that are found thanks to illegal parking... kind of gives you a new appreciation for the meter maids.

 

My sister's boyfriend got his truck stolen from his driveway, he got it back after a week, but it hasn't been the same since.
It'd make me sick to have a thief driving my HCH, I don't even let anyone else in my family drive it if I don't have to.

 

Maybe this story is starting to wind down now. I have my car back and it appears to be in good shape. The thief tossed the car seat and left his own CD in stereo. He left a couple of new food stains on the seats. He drove the car about 60 miles and dropped the FE from 54.8 to 38.3. Doing the math he got about 26 MPG avg while he had it - needless to say I think he gave it a work out. Maybe if he drove 90 - 100 MPH up I280 that's what you'd get.

The biggest headache in all this has just been dealing with the SFPD bureaucracy. After several hours of waiting and going from office to office, I was able to get the car out of evidence impound and to get all fees waived ($240 worth) for towing and storage. Oh and making two trips from SJ to SF was big a hassle too.

Thanks to everyone again for your concern. I'm glad this is nearly over and things are looking like they are getting back to normal.

Cheers,
-dan

 

out of curiosity, is the insurance going to cover for the repair or what? Perhaps the SFPD will give you and a baseball bat 5 minutes with the perp ;p

 

I have a guy at work that decided to move to downtown Phoenix. We're about 27 miles West of downtown. Why he wanted to move there is beyond me. So anyways, he moves into an apartment complex. I don't recall how long it took after he moved in, but he got his Accord stolen. Walked out of his apartment one morning and it wasn't parked where he left it. He called the police and made a report. A few days before the 30 day window was up and the insurance company was about to pay him for his loss, the cops find the car. He got the car back sometime that afternoon, drove home to his apartment, parked it, and went inside for the night. The next morning, he got up for work, walked out of his front door, and the car was gone again... Sheesh! This time, the cops found it within a couple days.

This guy finally decided to move out of downtown and back closer to the Air Force Base. Last I checked, he still had his car.

 

I just thought of a security system - thru a phone number and/or panic button, the car broadcasts it's position to the police with the option of flashing on the dash it's doing so.

Someone may already have that option.

 

Glad this is turning out so well, but I' can't imagine how hard I would have to try to get 26 MPG.

Ouch.

 

Sure we do.

A GPS tracking device can be bought on eBay for $200 or less. Just put it in the car in a good spot. If something happens to the car we just sit back and then send the cops to the location where the car is. ;

Cheers;

MSantos