Lurp
Member
First off sorry for the long post, but I am trying to give you the best description of the recent events.
Let me start off with a little background information regarding my current situation. I live in an apartment complex that is mainly populated by college students along with the surrounding area being mainly college students. The area I live in is relatively nice, but borders on an area that some would consider being a not so nice. My town, Austin, is known to have a very low violent crime rate (for its size), but a high property crime rate (typical for a large college town).
My area and especially my apartment complex seem to be a hot spot for car break-ins ever since I have lived in this area (about 3 years). My old roommate had his car broken into twice along with his car stolen, as has one of my good friends. Being as college students are relatively naïve and leave high value items in their vehicles I see why this is a target spot. Now my apartment is on the second floor and overlooks a large area of our parking lot and happens to be in at a good vantage point, which will come into play in a moment. I am also fortunate enough to be awake at odd hours due to my college schedule and attribute my accounts to these awkward hours.
Last March I was lying in bed at 2:15am reading when I heard the sound of glass being broken outside my window. I turned off my lights and looked out my windows to see 3 males breaking into cars. I immediately dialed 911 and described the situation, giving full descriptions and a play by play as I watched them. After about 3 minutes I hung up with the operator who told me the police were on their way. While waiting I continued to watch and saw all three males leave the area after breaking into 4 cars and stealing their stereos and contents. I decided to go outside and see if any damage had been done to my truck and to await the arrival of the officers. As I was going outside a car drove by with its windows down and I recognized the men in the car as those responsible for the car break ins. When they saw me they floored it and sped away, but I was able to get part of their license plate, which was a handicap plate, along with the make and model of the car.
Well as I round the corner and go to look at my truck I hear movement next to my truck so I held back and waited for a moment when all of a sudden someone comes running out and takes off sprinting with a car stereo in his hand. I jogged after him, not to pursue, but to see which direction he was running so as to tell the responding officers. As he was running away I saw the responding officers and flagged them down with my flashlight and gave them the direction of the suspect. To make a long story short, they caught the one male of foot and had to shoot him with a tazer as he was resisting arrest. I went and ID’ed the suspect and gave my account of what happened to the detective.
Well after this incident the car break-ins stopped for about 6 months until this week… This week alone there has been about 6 more car break-ins. I was fortunate to witness one last Sunday evening at about 2:45am when again I heard the sound of breaking glass and a car alarm going off and watched the male suspect take off running, to which I proceeded to call 911 and give my account. The police showed up about 20 minutes later and I pointed out the car and told them what happened.
Since then there have been even more car break-ins and theft, with one or two more broken windows every night. From what I have observed the break-ins seems to happen on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights between the hours of 2am and 3am when most people are likely to be asleep. They almost never happen on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights since in an area like this which is predominantly college students there is almost someone always awake on those nights. The thieves seem to be getting bolder and bolder as more and more break-ins are happening every week.
I personally know several of these people who have had their vehicles broken into and lost several hundred dollars worth of possessions along with having to get their window replaced. It is already hard enough for some college students to get by, but when you’re working to pay for your tuition along with your rent and then get hit with a $500 loss because of car thieves is can really ruin your day.
I am looking to THR for advice on this situation as it is obvious that the police do not have much interest in stopping these thieves. I feel it would be easy for the police to set up a sting or observe these thieves as they are not very professional, but I have seen no effort to do so. A car left with a high value item inside and observed by police from a secure location would be easily broken into, allowing for the capture of these thieves. I would even go as far as to offer my own vehicle for this purpose. The slow response time and general disinterest in this by Austin PD has me wondering if there are any alternative options or suggestions you all may have. I cannot permanently alter the property and do not want to take vigilante action, but am willing to stake out the area and watch as to notify authorities. I am planning to write a letter to the Austin PD this week concerning my troubles. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your suggestions.
Let me start off with a little background information regarding my current situation. I live in an apartment complex that is mainly populated by college students along with the surrounding area being mainly college students. The area I live in is relatively nice, but borders on an area that some would consider being a not so nice. My town, Austin, is known to have a very low violent crime rate (for its size), but a high property crime rate (typical for a large college town).
My area and especially my apartment complex seem to be a hot spot for car break-ins ever since I have lived in this area (about 3 years). My old roommate had his car broken into twice along with his car stolen, as has one of my good friends. Being as college students are relatively naïve and leave high value items in their vehicles I see why this is a target spot. Now my apartment is on the second floor and overlooks a large area of our parking lot and happens to be in at a good vantage point, which will come into play in a moment. I am also fortunate enough to be awake at odd hours due to my college schedule and attribute my accounts to these awkward hours.
Last March I was lying in bed at 2:15am reading when I heard the sound of glass being broken outside my window. I turned off my lights and looked out my windows to see 3 males breaking into cars. I immediately dialed 911 and described the situation, giving full descriptions and a play by play as I watched them. After about 3 minutes I hung up with the operator who told me the police were on their way. While waiting I continued to watch and saw all three males leave the area after breaking into 4 cars and stealing their stereos and contents. I decided to go outside and see if any damage had been done to my truck and to await the arrival of the officers. As I was going outside a car drove by with its windows down and I recognized the men in the car as those responsible for the car break ins. When they saw me they floored it and sped away, but I was able to get part of their license plate, which was a handicap plate, along with the make and model of the car.
Well as I round the corner and go to look at my truck I hear movement next to my truck so I held back and waited for a moment when all of a sudden someone comes running out and takes off sprinting with a car stereo in his hand. I jogged after him, not to pursue, but to see which direction he was running so as to tell the responding officers. As he was running away I saw the responding officers and flagged them down with my flashlight and gave them the direction of the suspect. To make a long story short, they caught the one male of foot and had to shoot him with a tazer as he was resisting arrest. I went and ID’ed the suspect and gave my account of what happened to the detective.
Well after this incident the car break-ins stopped for about 6 months until this week… This week alone there has been about 6 more car break-ins. I was fortunate to witness one last Sunday evening at about 2:45am when again I heard the sound of breaking glass and a car alarm going off and watched the male suspect take off running, to which I proceeded to call 911 and give my account. The police showed up about 20 minutes later and I pointed out the car and told them what happened.
Since then there have been even more car break-ins and theft, with one or two more broken windows every night. From what I have observed the break-ins seems to happen on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights between the hours of 2am and 3am when most people are likely to be asleep. They almost never happen on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights since in an area like this which is predominantly college students there is almost someone always awake on those nights. The thieves seem to be getting bolder and bolder as more and more break-ins are happening every week.
I personally know several of these people who have had their vehicles broken into and lost several hundred dollars worth of possessions along with having to get their window replaced. It is already hard enough for some college students to get by, but when you’re working to pay for your tuition along with your rent and then get hit with a $500 loss because of car thieves is can really ruin your day.
I am looking to THR for advice on this situation as it is obvious that the police do not have much interest in stopping these thieves. I feel it would be easy for the police to set up a sting or observe these thieves as they are not very professional, but I have seen no effort to do so. A car left with a high value item inside and observed by police from a secure location would be easily broken into, allowing for the capture of these thieves. I would even go as far as to offer my own vehicle for this purpose. The slow response time and general disinterest in this by Austin PD has me wondering if there are any alternative options or suggestions you all may have. I cannot permanently alter the property and do not want to take vigilante action, but am willing to stake out the area and watch as to notify authorities. I am planning to write a letter to the Austin PD this week concerning my troubles. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your suggestions.