Truck broken into… Registration missing from glove box
 

My old 7.3 PSD has been sitting in front of my parents place in N. Central Phoenix. They drive it once in a while to do Home Depot runs. I keep nothing in it. Last night the truck gets broken into and they left the glove box open with the owners manual and other receipts thrown about. However, parents can’t find the registration slip…. They moved the beast into the drive way and parked a daily driver behind it just in case they come back tonight…

Wild times we live in.

Older vehicles are relatively easy to steal...if somebody wanted it, they would've taken it last night.
Could've been some junkies only looking for something they could sell...registration might've just been taken by mistake and tossed away later.

What method did they use to break in... jimmy the lock or break a window?

Assume the address listed in paperwork is compromised. Moving it might not help. Wheel lock might.

Take a copy of police report into DMV and see if a freeze/alarm can be put on title transfer?
That is the next step they might take to steal it legally.
They were looking for loose change or info.

Just go get another registration ... I keep mine on my person, not left in the car.

Quit worrying .... jmho ;)

Is there enough info on your registration to help create a new/fake ID?

Everyone should assume that their personal info has been compromised and take appropriate measures imo.

Because it probably has been :(.

Seriously.

Parents are super paranoid and pull the batteries after each trip. An old crew cab 4x4 is a very hot commodity in phoenix for nefarious reasons (My dad sold an older gasser Ford crew cab. Was immediately caught at the border smuggling with his name still as the owner)... It was a smash and grab and I hope it was just some junkies. It seems every 5 or so years there's one of these instances in the neighborhood.

Oh definitely. Heck some of my info is available via information request ....

But for some reason I look at a CSV file/db dump with my info in it floating around "out there" differently than I do at someone being in physical possession of a "legit state-issued not fake document" with some of my info on it.

I can remember the days when registration was in a clear pouch and taped to the steering column so it could be read through the window.

Tell me how today is better than those times.

Bunch of years ago my pick up was parked in a remote lot at work. Someone broke the pop-out back side window and stole my county sticker off the windshield. (Property taxes had to be paid to have a county sticker). Nothing else was even touched.

My 7.3 PSD truck was stolen off of the street in front of my residence about 2 years ago. They are extremely easy to steal if not secured in some extra way and I blamed myself for leaving it in the same spot for too long on the street. All the their has to do to get in is punch the key lock in the plastic door handle and it breaks off and falls inside the door. He can then easily unlock it and in he goes. The ignition tumbler is easily damaged using a slide hammer, a screw driver is then the key. Bye-bye truck.

I was sure that it was on its way to Mexico by the time I noticed it missing, simply because the border is 2 hours away and it would be a popular truck down there. Pay someone off and presto!, it's a "legally" registered vehicle in another country. Nothing at all against the people of Mexico, it's just the way it's done all over the world. When a new Range Rover or Mercedes G-63 gets boosted, you can bet that it's quickly in a container going to Eastern Europe or Russia, maybe the Middle East.

Anyhow, just when I was about to get paid off by my insurance company, an intrepid LAPD officer on patrol in DTLA found it in a hobo camp. Apparently, the thief had sold it to some bum and he was using it as his truck. All of my expensive tools in the locking box in the bed were gone but it was otherwise in shockingly undamaged condition. After replacing the ignition and door lock, all it really needed was a good interior cleaning and about a month of airing out since it seemed like the thief or the bum chain smoked in it with the windows closed. I did not think that it would ever be ok but it is. I just drove it to WA. state and back, pulling a car trailer.

It's now parked in a much safer place. :)

Then-girlfriend-now-wife and I were camping at the Rainbow Gathering, parked truck and hiked a couple miles in. Came out to take truck to local springs about 4 days in to the week long trip, and it was gone. Checked w/ cops, etc and hadn't been towed. Reported stolen.

Was heading out the door a few weeks later to pick up insurance check and it was the MCSO saying they found my truck. Truck had been stolen by a couple of low lifes who had found some other kids camping (brother and sister), raped and nearly killed the girl and killed the boy....

When I got the truck back, driver door lock had been drilled out and the ignition messed up. But they left the then-girlfriends purse and my school stuff, and even replaced the missing AC control and fan control knobs.....