In regards to the Ipod cracking the case. You can actually call Apple and have them look up the serial number of your Ipod because you are required to input it when you initially set it up on your computer and register it. I found this out the hard way after I watched an idiot who my dog caught breaking into my truck on a Sunday morning. I followed him and his girlfriend as they walked to their piece of s*** apartment while I was in my wife's car with my pistol. Long story short, I called the police a total of five times updating them as to where the people were over a 40 minute period, and they never showed up until I lost them in the apartment complex. Next time, I will take care of it myself though.

These low life's also watch your house because about two weeks ago I had a small 4x6 trailer stolen from behind my house also. It even had a trailer tongue lock that has the ball lock into the coupler. I believe they either put it on a trailer or the back of a truck, or towed it by the safety chains. I normally keep it chained to my fence, but I had to use it for a 40 foot ladder.

The Whataburger on I35E in Red Oak used to be the drug deal capital for all of Dallas, Ellis and Johnson counties. There are tons of meth heads in the country suburbs. Lots of cheaper more secluded locations to make, sell and use drugs with typically fewer law enforcement resources.

Guys, I hate thieves as much as the next guy but taking matters into your own hands is not the answer. That's what insurance is for. Make sure you have insurance and make sure the coverage is high enough to replace your stuff. I realize there are personal items like family heirlooms that insurance can't replace but what good does getting that stuff back if you're in jail?? A little good ol' common sense goes a long way in situations like this.

Any updates on this? Hang in there and keep us posted. If it's any consolation, years ago we had a revolver stolen out of our pickup.

Fortunately I still had the box with the serial#

Four years later I get a call from the Cooke County Sheriff's Office. During a routine traffic stop, they found our .357 in the trunk.

Suspect said he bought it at a flea market............

Anyway, sometimes you do get lucky in having things found and returned, so keep the faith.

No updates sorry but thanks for all the input and support and other stories. Some of them make me not feel so bad. However we have came to a conclusion that we were stacked out and they knew what was in the house with a walk thru days earlier and when they had room or a truck they came back for what they wanted and that explains why were missing things previously that were unexplained.

yea insurance is great except i get tired of haffen to pay money just so if someone steals my stuff i can replace it.. its like buying two items of the same thing and putting one in a vault in the bank until someone steals the stuff at home.... i would gladly sit in jail if i could catch just one of the criminals in my house and take things into my own hands.. cause when i go to jail and the paper prints exactly what i did to the individual in my house the word will spread through out the community to all crimanals that will think twice before coming into MY HOUSE!!!!

Often the LEOs get a bad rap for not seeming to care so here's "the other side".

At my employer, we had 2 laptops stolen. Within a few days, Dallas pawn shops called the Police and said they had them. Then, another pawn shop called and said he had one of them. We had already recovered the 2 that were stolen. As it turned out, we had 3 stolen but didn't even know about the third one when it was located. The police wouldn't tell me the serial number. They said I had to figure out which one was stolen, get the serial number, and if it matched we'd go get it. It turned out to be the computer of a guy on vacation so he didn't know it had been stolen. Short story long...DPD recovered the stolen laptop before we even knew it was stolen. A Dallas Detective accompanied me to each pawn shop where I bought each computer back for the $$ that the pawn shop had given. He said that wasn't legally required but as long as the pawn shops didn't lose money by turning over serial numbers, they cooperated much better. Of course, the thief had to show photo ID (Texas drivers license) to sell the computers so catching him was no problem.

Along the same lines, the Irving PD recovered my parents stolen car before they even knew it was gone. The PD called at 2:00 AM and said, "We have you car". My Dad said "No you don't. It's parked in my driveway". They said "Go check". Sure enough, it was gone.

Moral of the story: Don't give up hope. Sometimes good things happen.

SitRep?

I'm sorry but buying your stolen stuff back from a pawn shop is wrong. Being given your stolen stuff back is the right thing.

Anyway... I have a few rules. No one is allowed in my home that I don't know. I don't post pictures of my toys for people to see, or talk about them on line. I see posts all the time saying check out my new AR15 or look at my new 4wheeler. Then they post... I am going to east texas to hunt hogs this weekend, wish me luck. Well now I know you have cool toys and you are gone.

I hate thieves I think we can all do our part... It is now legal to protect your property with deadly force. We should all be prepared to do so. I had a very expensive camera stolen right after Christmas with my sons Christmas pictures still on it. I know who did it as I caught them breaking into my neighbors house a week later and called the police. The police said they that it doesn't prove they are the same people who stole my camera. And because I caught them before they did anything but break a garage door they were not arrested. I told the investigator to tell the parents of the kid... If I catch him on my property I will protect my family with deadly force.

Leave nothing in your car at night. Even a fake security camera will give a potential thief reason to pause. A real camera can give you piece of mind. Document everything of value and keep it in a safe place for fire or theft.

I'm sorry to ramble but I have been burned a couple of times, and I still wish a painfull death on those who did it.

Quote:

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I'm sorry but buying your stolen stuff back from a pawn shop is wrong. Being given your stolen stuff back is the right thing.

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You can do it either way. The pawn shop has to surrender them to the LEO (at their loss) if you want.

You can buy it back, continue to use it, and it is considered evidence at the hearing. In this case, the guy was out on parole so there wasn't a hearing.

Or, you can refuse to buy them back, let them sit in the evidence room for months or years till the trial comes up and then get them back after the trial.

Since this was a corporate theft, I don't know if the company received any compensation back through fines or whatever. Being a multi-billion dollar company, I guess they just decided that $50 each to bail out the laptops was worth the use they'd get out of them.

I catch someone in my house, its BOOM-BOOM time!!! GOTTA LOVE THE CASTLE LAW.