Someone tried to steal my truck last night

[DavidI]

Last night some punk(s) tried to steal my truck from my driveway. It is a Toyota, so somehow they got in. At about 0500 hours, a neighbor rang the doorbell and told my wife my truck was running, the door was open, and it was half-way into the street. Sure enough, It was locked, and there were no signs of forced entry.

The bastards broke the ignition mechanism from under the dash and started it up. In doing this, they also broke the steering column coupler, which disabled the steering. They got scared off and left it. They also took my GPS, which was hidden.

They got lucky in that I did not get a hold of 'em. I had the report written and fingerprints taken. Maybe we'll get luck and catch them.

It sucks to be the victim........... I am going to do everything in my power and my influence to id the punks and send them to prison, David

[Danny_Ocean]

Sucks.

I've got a brake lock and an auto safe. Keep the brake lock on anytime my truck is parked outside and keep the GPS and camera inside the auto safe (mounted under the passenger seat):

[wdfifteen]

Sorry to hear it. This sort of thing really pissed you off. Hope you find them and I hope they get some jail time.

[Schumi]

(this may be too much information, mods feel free to edit)

What year toyota truck?

For a long time in the late 80's, early 90's, a lot of toyotas shared the ignition module. Depending on the key cut and year, there was only roughly 6 different keys for all Corollas and Camrys per year. Gather up enough toyota keys from that interlock system for a single year of car and you will eventually have a key that will work in any similar toyota made that year. The tolernaces on the lock tumblers were so loose that, as the keys and tumblers wore down over the years, even slightly different keys will ofter unlock the same lock.

Regardless, even without keys early 90's toyota door frames were very thin at the tops, especially for the small coupes.. with a wooden wedge in the top of the and a hooked coat hanger you could quickly wedge the top of the door open, grab the big lock latch on the inside and pop it unlocked.

The 5-7 wires running to the ignition switch arent labeled with any normal coloring but it doesn't matter, because if you cut them all and bunch them together it turns everything on and jumps the starter. At that point it is just finding which wire is the starter so you know which one to disconnect after the car starts.

The steering interlock would go by sitting in the passenger seat and legpressing the wheel to the left with your feet- it fails in one of two ways- either you break the just interlock and you're home free, or you break the column and the coupler.

You got lucky, and the column broke .


Yea, early 90's toyotas: the car almost steals itself.

[Noah930]

Best of luck with the detective work, David. Hope the repairs won't be too expensive.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Hope the repairs won't be too expensive.

Are you assuming that he doesn't have insurance???

[Danny_Ocean]

I know that you could "ice-pick" some Toyota truck door locks without doing any damage. There was an aftermarket shield you could install behind the door handle to prevent this. Not sure what years were vulnerable, though...

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by tcar

Are you assuming that he doesn't have insurance???

I don't know the particulars of David's policy, but a lot people have a deductible on their insurance. So even if he has comprehensive, the cost of repairs might not make filing a claim worth his while. Or it might.

A couple months ago my wife was involved in a hit-and-run. The other guy rear-ended her, and then took off. We were on the hook for $500. Yay.

[LakeCleElum]

Sorry to hear this David. Hope you run across them while at "work" and have a "talk" with them........Best of luck..........

[sammyg2]

Dumazz punks should not try to steal the vehicle of a police officer
Hope they get theirs.

[syncroid]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Dumazz punks should not try to steal the vehicle of a police officer
Hope they get theirs.

+1 and 1/2 Go get em.

[Tobra]

two words for you

Brake lock

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Dumazz punks should not try to steal the vehicle of a police officer
Hope they get theirs.

Ditto. Hopefully they learn why they picked the wrong house.

[speeder]

Sorry to hear it. Getting a car stolen or broken into is a complete drag even if you have insurance that covers it 100%. I have theft coverage that would over-compensate me on some of my vehicles and still I use the steering wheel club and am careful where I park. I just don't want my car/truck stolen.

[vash]

sucks..david. really sucks.

my bro the cop has had two cars stolen. hmmm. maybe three. one he saw drive off. he got on the horn, and called...well, i guess he called work? they chased it right over the border. fun.

now even his kill switches have kill switches.

[KevinP73]

That was yours, Oh I'm soooo sorry. I didn't know, it was dark and all. Oh by the way you wouldn't still have the owners manual for that GPS would you? Just wondering.
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Too Soon?
Seriously David sorry to hear 'bout this. No one likes being the victim.

[DavidI]

The truck is a 2004 Tacoma. I talked to all of my neighbors and one of them heard my truck running at about 1:00 am, looked out his window and saw that it was parked halfway into the street, but did not think it was too strange to check it out or call the police! Amazing........

Preliminary estimates are above $1000 because of the damage to the steering column. With a $500 deductible, I am not too happy about the whole situation. Looking at the positive side, nobody was hurt, and it is only property damage. However, if I should be able to identify and arrest the idiots, I'll be happy to spend the money. That is of course if I am able to "interview" them.

Thanks for the support gents..... It sucks to be a victim, but it'll all work out. I have some of my best friends on the case!

[Rikao4]

tell you neighbor..
when you hear gunshots next door..
you will assume he's watching TV..

Rika