Pickup theft trend?

| Crime | Triangle

A comment just in on an old post a couple pages into the site seems to merit a brighter spotlight — this is from Roger:

My old 97 Nissan pickup truck was stolen from 35th and Avalon in WS on Monday 8/27. Why anyone would steal it is beyond me. Being so old, I only had liability insurance on it. I’m really bummed out – it wasn’t much, but it was paid for and it was mine. Are stolen cars really found sometimes? I’ve sort of written it off as gone.

Roger made that comment today on our 3-week-old post 3 about someone who blogged about the theft of a different pickup. (Checking back on that blogger — turns out he got his truck back this week, and police arrested someone.) Overall, though, we thought thieves mostly targeted sedans … guess any vehicle could be at risk.

evan August 31, 2007 (1:59 pm)

4 years or so ago, I had a 92 Plymouth Voyager Mini Van stolen right infront of my house, on President’s Day, between 8 and 10am in the morning. These guys were going around targeting early to mid 90s Voyagers, and they had ditched their previously stolen one across the street from where they took my van. The cops found it in Burien maybe a week later. There was a lot of damage done to it, and it wound up getting totaled since with all the miles (170k) it wasn’t worth squat. Awful jerks.

Christopher Boffoli August 31, 2007 (2:48 pm)

The Seattle Police claim that they recover about 86% if cars stolen in the City.

Leah August 31, 2007 (4:22 pm)

Our 92 Nissan pickup was stolen back in February. The police found it the day the insurance company was going to settle (after two weeks of it being gone).

Sage K August 31, 2007 (5:56 pm)

Interesting there is an old red pickup that has Oregon plates and a WA temp tag on it. That appears to have been abandoned on Juneau off Delridge. We think that it was stolen as a duffel in the front seat has been completely gone through. We called the police and told them about the truck. They said someone would be out to have a look. But it’s still there several days later.

Elisabeth Fredericksen August 31, 2007 (7:40 pm)

My 96 Honda Civic hatchback was stolen about three years ago front in front of my house at Dakota and 40th. About 6 weeks later it was recovered somewhere in the U District, its steering column ripped apart. I was so glad to get it back! I thought it had gone to a chop shop. Now I have a brake lock in place when it’s out on the street. A police officer told me that’s the best deterrent. A steering wheel lock can be sawed through pretty fast. So can a brake lock, but to do so the thief has to hang his butt out the open door. Meanwhile the Honda is broken into frequently. I keep nothing of value in that car.

MargL September 1, 2007 (9:09 pm)

Speaking of people missing things, we found a Graco carseat base in the road in front of our house (Arbor Heights, near Hillcrest Pres) It’s tan and has Dora the Explora stickers on it… Looks like something someone who stole a car would dump, or something someone accidentally left on their trunk which then fell off. So if you’re missing a car/truck/van that had a base like this in it, you might look here in Arbor Heights.

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