To catch a teen car vandal?

[Tim Hancock]

My daughter called from highschool today to ask what she should do about her car. It seems some punk@ss little b@stards decided it would be cool to masking tape newspapers all over her '77 924. She was smart enough to call and ask me how to remove it without risking damage to the paint.

I told her to rip off the paper over the windows and let me deal with any tape on any of the paint (I did not know what kind of tape it was for sure). Well the car is fine, and I had her bring all the "evidence" home with her. I am quite confident that there are finger prints on the sticky side of the masking tape, but how does one make it show up? I will be calling the principle to make him aware of the situation tomorrow and I would like to be able to tell him I have prints.

It would bring me great joy to scare the living ***** out of these little pr!cks if I could get the principle to make an anouncement at school that prints were left at the scene. Thus far with my teen daughters, I have had smooth sailing (a few toilet paperings but that is all until this). A good portion of the student body thinks I am a gun freak and that seems to have helped, but I guess these morons either did not get the memo or don't care.

Anyhow, if any one knows anything about DIY fingerprint lifting, I would appreciate some tips.

[slodave]

Super glue. It does work. Google it.

[scottmandue]

Originally posted by slodave
Super glue. It does work. Google it.

Ah, another CSI geek I see.

I finally had to stop watching, seemed like they kept trying to outdo them-selfs.

[Moses]

Honestly? They didn't key the car of break the windows. Sounds like harmless adolescent mischief.

The bad news is that somebody probably has a thing for your daughter! Good luck with that. If that happened to my daughters car, I'd be dusting her for fingerprints.

[scottmandue]

Google if fun_da_mental

Developing Fingerprints using Superglue Fumes


Also a method of developing fingerprints is via the use of superglue fumes. Below is an approach that may be used:

You will need: superglue; aluminium foil; a cup of hot water; a weak heat source such as a lamp; a fuming chamber (may be an enclosed cardboard box which can contain the fingerprinted medium).

1. Set up the lamp in the corner of your fuming chamber and cover over the light bulb with a piece of aluminium foil.

2. Carefully spread some superglue over the outer side of the foil - DO NOT USE FINGERS.

3. To increase the humidity within the fuming chamber, place a cup of hot water into the box, next to the lamp. This will create the necessary 'fumes'.

4. After self fingerprinting an object such as a simple sheet of paper or a plastic slip, place this object into the fuming chamber with the lamp and water. Tightly shut the lid to allow the fumes to develop the prints.

5. Remove the lid after 10-15 mins, check that the prints have developed. If they have not, try placing more superglue on the foil or decreasing the size of the fuming chamber so that less space is present. If you have placed too much superglue on the foil or left the print inside for too long, the fingerprint will become covered with a white and snowy looking layer.

[scottmandue]

Plus one on what Moses said... some guy probably has a crush on her but is too shy to approach her so this is his adolescent way of showing his feelings.

[Tim Hancock]

I hear ya on it being a prank, but when the little b@stards screw with my daughters or my cars, I am going to try and minimize it. What's next? A keyjob or some other more serious mischief? It just p!sses me off because many of the kids at this school have already proven that they have no regard for personal property. I have personally seen them jump on each others hoods kind of as a game. My daughters 924's are not rare or worth very much, but we take good care of them and keep them nice.

[the]

I don't think that it is necessarily a slippery slope like that. Seems like a harmless prank to me.

That's like saying "The kids TP'd our house, what's next, they're gonna burn it down?!?"

My guess is that they weren't being malicious - you have to kinda see where they're coming from. To most kids, a car is just an appliance.

Let it go.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Masking tape isn't particularly adhesive and is probably the kind of tape least likely to damage paint.

If it had been duct tape or something, I'd be pissed off.

No harm, no foul.

[rammstein]

Unless there is some serious info we don't know, it really seems like a pretty harmless gag. I know, I know, once I flipped out when some guys in my house wrapped my car in paper towels. They don't realize how much we care for cars. That being said, the paper didn't hurt anything on my car, and later on I felt bad about flipping out. Now, if they had keyed the car or poured OJ on it or did something which would cause damage, I'd get it. This is probably somebody who likes your daughter, or maybe one of her jealous friends who doesn't have a car (or a car as cool) .

[lendaddy]

I'd let this one go Tim. The odds of escalation would actually increase if you call them out. We were that age once.......don't throw down the gauntlet cause you know they can't/won't resist

[motion]

Tim,

Forgetting what it was like to be in high school?

[VINMAN]

Lighten up Francis!...

Got agree with most of the guys. Sounds like a harmless prank, most likely by friends of hers.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by motion
Tim,

Forgetting what it was like to be in high school?

That is why I am so worried

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
That is why I am so worried

lol, teenage daughters................you poor no sleep gettin' bastard

[Jeff Higgins]

With that harmless kind of practical joke, I bet your daughter knows who it was soon enough. If she feels like she needs your help to deal with something at that point, she will come to you. If you pursue it you risk not only embarassing her, but the possibility of escalating it. Just let it go for now and see how it plays out in the next few weeks.

[steve185]

I agree let it go.

Super glue probably will not work on masking tape, it is usually used on non porous surfaces. Super glue produces cyanoacrylate fumes which are really not good for you. ( this is really not a do it your self at home type of thing to do.)

There are chemicals available for the detection of fingerprints on sticky surfaces but are messy and expensive.

Let it go, as it sounds like it was meant to be more of a prank than vandalism.
Steve

[the]

You should actually give the kids some credit, by using masking tape and newpaper, it seems like they made a conscious effort to do a prank that would NOT cause any damage to the car.

[RickM]

What will you do with the prints when you get them?

[stomachmonkey]

Agree with the majority. Let it go. It's HS. You're more likely to turn this into something bigger than it is.

Scott