Thieving B*****d!

[Chief1409]

Just a word of warning to remind you all to keep an eye on your car keys....

Over the holidays we went to NI to spend Christmas at the in-laws and on Thu night / Fri morning got a phone call to say our house alarm was going off. Turns out someone had removed the barrel lock from the French doors at the back of the house to gain entry and then proceeded to search our house for something..... My E92 M3 was sitting in the driveway so given they hunted through all the drawers and cupboards at the back of the house in the short time they had before the alarm sounded and didn't actually steal anything then I can only assume they were looking for my car keys. They walked past TVs, a MacBook, a kindle and other electrical items and didn't take any of them. Luckily for me, my car keys were squirrelled away somewhere they couldn't find them.

A lucky escape I think... So you've been warned - don't leave your car keys lying around!

[gareth82]

A worst nightmare nearly came true, thank goodness you where lucking this time, makes you think though was this chancers or someone who knew the house would be empty

[snipez999]

Ouch and lucky escape.  Good that you are alarmed also of course.  I often wonder whether the plan is to find the keys and then load up your own car with your own items before just driving away?!

[X5Sport]

Not nice!!  Glad it was no worse though, and I like your thinking..

Having had the front bumper nicked off the E46 when it was less than a metre from the front door and not hearing a thing, we bumped up our security too.  Leaves a very nasty feeling after it's happened though.... :'(

Richard

[Don Coffey]

When I first saw the thread title I have to admit I thought the worse, so from that point of view the outcome is a lot better.  With you not in the house, having the keys hidden away paid off.  It's a bit of a wake up call when we put all the bells and whistles on the front doors, but a relatively simple lock on patio doors.  I will have to put some thought into this as i have a couple of patio doors with what i assume are simple locks.  I live in a rural area where house burglaries are very rare, the theifs round these parts tend to target the barns and outbuildings.

Don

[snipez999]

That's because they know you have a shotgun Don!!

[Chief1409]

Yes, could have been a lot worse indeed. We're moving house in two weeks too so lots of stuff is packed in boxes neatly labelled so perfect for a thief to see what he'd like to lift and run but he didn't. Defo a case of looking for the keys.

Our good friend is a police inspector and she was telling me of a guy whose house was broken into whilst he was upstairs and he disturbed them but not in time to prevent them escaping with the car keys. Police were called and came and did all the necessary statements and paperwork etc and left a few hours later but still in darkness of night. The guy sat on his sofa watching his car out the window and sure enough the thief returned with the keys to steal the car. The guy saw the car being unlocked with the fob so sneaked outside and scared the bejesus out the thief who ran away again. Luckily he gave the police a good description and he was caught as he was a serial offender known to the police.

[io1901]

Those eurolocks that are frequently found on replacement Doors and conservatories are as much use as a chocolate fireguard. If you look on youtube you'll find plenty of demonstrations of how easy it is to break them (<2min). We've upgraded all ours to ABS Avocet locks they are a bit more tricky to break than the bog standard ones. 

They are very easy to fit, 5 minutes and a screwdriver.

[Raj]

Note nice at all especially over the phone while away.

Glad you were lucky on this occasion though.

[CondorX5]

Glad you confounded them, far too many people leave car keys in clear view near the door. For years have kept the keys with me and for the other cars the keys are in a safe upstairs. We never leave car keys downstairs unless they are actually in a pocket of something we are wearing! 

The other thing we do to give thieves a hard time is to lock interior doors at night and when we are away. They might just be stupid rim locks on old victorian doors, but they cause delays which they really do not want. 

[pvr]

Horrible experience.

I have no idea by the way why patio doors have locks on the outside though? My doors are smooth on the outside as you would normally only open the doors from the inside.

[Bob]

What a horrible thing to happen. I understand that's the 'modern' way to steal performance cars. Must say, when in house, I leave keys in a v obvious location. I'd rather they found them and left than the alternative especially with wife and kids in house
Bob

[graemeX5]

Sorry to here your news but glad to know no one hurt and that they didn't get your other car or appear to have much or taken anything. But it does upset your life and makes you think twice about it.

As you say a salutary lesson in making sure your keys are stored safely when left in your house. Hope the new year is better for you

[jaynana]

glad you were lucky in this occasion! especially with all the 'low hanging fruit' like mac books, kindles not taken away as well.

the car keys are a tricky one really.. there was a discussion in this forum about an year back i think..

on one hand i want them hidden away to avoid joy riders breaking into the house to drive off with the car.

on the other hand the last thing i want is anybody breaking into the house looking for the car keys; being unable to find them; coming upstairs where my fam is sleeping, lookin for keys! i'd rather let them leave my family and go away with the car!

re. patio doors - pvr that's a good idea

[briankerrys47]

I thought on Patio Doors insurance company's insisted on having 'shoot bolts' top/bottom fitted and steel rod/bar to stop the door from being slid open?  The early days 70/80s it was known they used crowbars to force the door up and lift it out!!