Read Original "Stolen" Report
Housemate comes home at 4:15pm today and checks messages and tells me police left a message for me. I don't use the household phone so I dont answer it, but since my cellphone was taken, this was the only number I could give police. Fortunately the call was made just a few moments before. The message said they had recovered my car and was already towed to holding (impound) location. I called the Richmond Police station and they told me the details (seat, steering wheel stolen, misc engine stuff like "head gasket" [?!], coolant tank, fan missing) and that I would have to swing by and get a release form first before I could take the car out of impound. Then I called the towing/impound company and asked when they would close for the day and they said 5. It was 4:30 by then. So I figured I would go to the impound first so that I could at least see the car before they "closed". I rush out of the house and hop on my motorcycle to the impound lot.
When I get to the impound place, I was let in to see my car. They said not to touch it since the Police didnt take fingerprints yet. So no surprise the drivers seat and steering wheel were indeed taken. However, the rims were still there which was a nice surprise. Interior looked a mess, with my resume and cover letter papers all over the place. Made worse by the fact that the interior was wet and stank since it had rained over the weekend and I already had a slight sunroof leak, but it looked like they had left the window open by the amount of water. Radio faceplate was taken, but the actual radio is still there. But the damaged the surrounding plastic console, they apparently didnt know how to remove the radio. I had actually LEFT the proper tool in the glovebox, which was open, to easily remove the radio. The rest of the glovebox contents were spilled out, I remember my nice needle tire guage I left in the glovebox was mising. in the rear storage compartment, my compact battery jumper cables were even taken out of the little pouch and missing. But my factory service manual was still here. And my crummy IKEA 10'x12' floor rug was even taken out. No surprise no sign of my cellphone and unemployment check (which I've still not gotten in touch with unemployment office because they are swamped with calls, apparently from California Wildfire Relief, that they simply arent taking any calls.)
I was very worried about the condition of the engine, especially since the "head gasket" was mentioned to have been removed, which implies that the engine had been totally taken apart, but it doesnt make sense why the "head gasket" would be mentioned, and not the complete disassembly of the engine. But I couldnt open the hood because I was told the Police had yet to take prints, as if that helps any. So I look underneath, and the engine is there, but my aftermarket exhaust manifold header is laying on the ground, with the fiberglass wrap shredded. I'm wondering what the heck! But at least I could see the bottom end is there. I figure now that they meant "exhaust gasket" was missing, and the top end was probably fine.
So I talk to the lady about my options and how they are going to charge me for storage if I leave til tomorrow. And she says if I come back AFTER 7pm, then they'll charge me $35 for a "gate" fee, basically for troubling them afterhours). Seeing that its just past 5 at this point, I hussle over to the Police station. At least if I get the car released today and before 7pm, I dont have to pay more than the towing fee $115 and one day of storage $35, $150 total.
At the station, I wait to get my release papers. Just to give you a feel of the surrounding area that is Richmond, once leading homicide area in the nation, there was a Snoop Dogg look-alike guy with his mother who is wearing a red/black snakeskin suit trying to get a Police report for a stolen/lost cellphone and cant get their story straight, and there was also a white lady who ended up rambling to me about how she's stranded with her abusive husband/boyfriend stole her car and routinely chases her around and she tries to connect with me once she finds out Im there to recover my stolen Honda by saying that her boyfriend likes to steal Hondas and Toyotas since theyre easy to break into and will strip em and sell the parts... great. I finally get my release papers and recovery report. Here's some of the details of the report:
-missing front drivers seat
-missing water reserve tank
-missing stereo faceplate
-missing steering wheel - located 919 Triangle Ct.
"On 11/17/03 at approx. 1214 hours while on patrol, I along with officer Cappiali noticed a red honda civic parked on the wcc of the 900 block of triangle ct. the vehicle was missing its driver's seat and steering wheel.
Upon checking the status of the vehicle's license plate on my patrol vehicle's MDC, i learned that the honda had been reported stolen on 11/12/03 out of richmond.
I found that misc engine parts had been removed, (head gaskets, water reserve tank, damage to right door's lock, damaged ignition, and the engine fan had been removed).
The possible point of entry appeared to be the right passenger door lock. [actually it had been ganked when I first got the car, but wasnt broken into, just messed up the cylinder lock and I never replaced or fixed it]
The vehicle was towed from the scene by A&D towing per 22651 (c) CVC [this is BS, I hate towing companies, dammit, just tell me where the car is and I'll get it myself, dont make it mandatory for towing companies to take the car and hold it for hostage the longer they keep it from the owner!] The vehicle was taken out of the SVS system.
While on scene, I was contacted by an honest citizen who advised that she had seen the residents of 917 Triangle Ct. hanging around the vehicle. After searching near 917 Triangle Ct, I located the missing steering wheel to the rear of 919 Triangle Ct." [there was another steering wheel left in my car, but it certainly wasnt the one I had, just some crappy wheel that doesnt even fit, thanks guy.]
Actually, the reputation of the area the car was recovered from is really notorious. Also known as the "IRON TRIANGLE" because the area is surrounded by train tracks, it was actually a place I was advised to just dump my other car as a joke (a 280Z i no longer want to own, its being sold for $500). When I asked my roommate what he knew of the area, he said "its a warzone". I'm kicking myself for not having gone DIRECTLY to that area once I knew the car was stolen.
s
So with the release, I go back to the towing company. This is just about 6, but its now dark. There's a group ahead of me waiting for their car to be taken out of the yard too. I find out their car was towed along with mine and had been parked just a few spaces from my car when found. I ask them where they, a Hispanic couple, live and they say 3rd St. in Richmond. Their car ends up being actually in pretty good condition, was just a really old model Toyota camry or something. Only problem is that their battery seems to be dead and they think it was actually replaced. After getting it jump started, they left on their own. I finally get my car, pay $150 on my credit card for their "service". I talk with them about leaving my car just outside their lot, and although they dont recommend it considering the area and they wont take any responsiblity (like tow companies ever do!), theyll let me keep it there til tomorrow. So I finally get to open the hood, and find the exhaust header unbolted and the engine otherwise in tact. My NEUSPEED strut bar was removed tho. I check things back in the interior and try to start the car, battery is dead too. Wasnt planning on moving it then since it has no seat and suitable steering wheel, but wanted to at least see if it started. I find out later it starts fine.
So I get home, my roommate comes back from work, and we use his AAA membership to call ANOTHER towing company to bring the car back home. Since his membership covers 5 miles towing for free, the location was only 6 miles, I figure I'd rather take care of it now than trying to get it fixed on the street or towed for free the next day even if I have to pay for an extra mile or two. Turns out the tow driver is cool about not billing it more than 5 miles. To conclude the story, the car is now back in my garage on a battery charger.
Pictures
Dealing with the AFTERMATH
So, I cant say I'm ungrateful of having my car back in whatever condition, and I should be happy about it, but I just cant help feeling frustrated and violated. All in all, I can replace all the parts that were stolen with the stock parts including the seat, steering wheel and exhaust manifold, except I need to find another set of driver side seat rails. I'm glad the rims werent touched. I just need to go to the junkyard to hopefully find some replacement hardware, the car will be back on the road soon enough. All together I estimate $800 financially lost out of this.
More thoughts
Lots of people asked me if I had insurance. And it may have seemed like a mistake that I didnt have theft insurance, but really, if I had full coverage, I still would have had to pay for most if not all of the towing expenses, since the equipment stolen was aftermarket, it would not have been covered by insurance and with a high deductible I would not have recovered much at all monetarily had I even had insurance. So no regrets of not having full coverage.
Even more thoughts
I didnt want to point fingers publicly without having anything more than a hunch but I'm fairly confident that the theft of my car has to do with the possibility of my neighbors directly across the street are probably dealing. I'm not certain about this, but before when I spent all night working on my car, often real late in the night, I noticed several cars coming to the house and leaving shortly after. One can only assume theres some business going on. Their daytime business is operating a daycare for autistic persons, and some do live at the house with them, so theres lots of ppl actually living in the house and they may get a lot of visitors, but I can put it simply that the visitors are usually black, and have ghetto cars. Its no stretch of the imagination that some visitor to the house spotted my car across the street and planned to take it the next time they swing by the house. It seems reasonable since the theives were certainly NOT professional thieves (didnt know how to remove a stereo), didnt know MUCH about cars or else they could have done a lot more damage and taken the REAL expensive stuff, seemed to be attracted to only the shiny, different parts of the car that they could easily remove. Given the drop off location, the thief probably came from Richmond. But I live OUTSIDE of Richmond, what would bring a thief to my neighborhood, unless he had some other business. Now, I cant prove this, and I'm not sure I want to put the effort into investigation, and I really dont want to take it upon myself to confront my neighbors. What could I say? What could I possibly get out of it. Its probably not really their responsibility, just persons they dealt with who make their own decisions. So theres really nothing for me to do. Its just very disconcerting to have such a strong suspicion about your neighbors and can do nothing about it.
One last thought
It's actually quite possible the car thief and the person's who took the stuff off my car are not the same persons and the car was just taken for a joyride back home and dropped off and vulched by others as it lay stranded for a couple days. Either way, it sucks.
Thanks to all who showed their concern and were looking out for the car or tried to help in other ways. If you can help get me some '90 stock CRX driver side seat rails, that would really help.