Car break ins

Apparently there have been another rash of car break ins at trail heads in the WMNF. When Tuco and I did our car drop at Mount Clinton Road on Friday night we noticed a Mazda MPV with a smashed in rear window. We reported it this at the Highland Center and were told that there had been five such incidents in the past 24 hours. The AMC person did not know where all of the break ins occured but mentioned 19 mile and Gale River.

Don't leave valuables in your car

My son called from the WMNF, his girlfriends car and 7 other cars had their windows smashed. They took his wallet and ID and some cash from her. But it was raining and everything else was soaked. He is really bummed out, it wasn't a good introduction to the Whites.

Big D said:

My son called from the WMNF, his girlfriends car and 7 other cars had their windows smashed. They took his wallet and ID and some cash from her. But it was raining and everything else was soaked. He is really bummed out, it wasn't a good introduction to the Whites.

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Hopefully, this is just one person, or group, and they will be caught quickly!

I realize this does not work for everyone, but ...

Unless you think it's going to rain, you could leave the windows down enough so that smashing them is not necessary, and then lock everything in the trunk that is valuable. Some cars let you lock the trunk so that it can only be opened with a key. Most thieves would not spend the time prying the trunk open, having no guarantee that anything valuable is in there. They usually break into cars that they can see stuff inside.

I take everything out of my car except what I'm going to carry on the hike. I leave my empty glove box open and the little compartment between my seats open and empty as well. I've had good luck so far (knock on wood), so I'm going to keep doing it. I learned it from a guy who owned a pizza shop in a bad neighborhood of Syracuse, NY. He used to leave his empty cash register open with a light on so people could look in the window and see that there was nothing worth stealing.

sonofa b - nothing ticks me off more than this.

sapblatt said:

Apparently there have been another rash of car break ins at trail heads in the WMNF. When Tuco and I did our car drop at Mount Clinton Road on Friday night we noticed a Mazda MPV with a smashed in rear window. We reported it this at the Highland Center and were told that there had been five such incidents in the past 24 hours. The AMC person did not know where all of the break ins occured but mentioned 19 mile and Gale River.

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Heard the same story at Mizpah on Saturday from one of the people working there. Its certainly disturbing.....people that live/work in metropolitan areas view hiking in WMNF as an escape from all this kind of crap !!

News like this makes me feel like urban bullsh*t has invaded my escape from all of that. I would love to catch one of these people.

Tom Rankin said:

Hopefully, this is just one person, or group, and they will be caught quickly!

I realize this does not work for everyone, but ...

Unless you think it's going to rain, you could leave the windows down enough so that smashing them is not necessary, and then lock everything in the trunk that is valuable. Some cars let you lock the trunk so that it can only be opened with a key. Most thieves would not spend the time prying the trunk open, having no guarantee that anything valuable is in there. They usually break into cars that they can see stuff inside.

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THis is basically what I did too...I locked my steering wheel with my club and left the doors unlocked. Nothing in the car was worth as much as the windows. It helps having an older car with a ton of miles...not as attractive.

I was camped on Gale River Rd when the breakins happened at the Gale River Trailhead. When I was driving on Gale River Loop Rd, I was near the North end near Rt3 and saw a Silver Dodge Ram truck go by me at a normal speed. I looped down Rt 3 and re-entered the Gale River Loop Rd at the South end and a couple miles in (before you get to the Gale River trailhead), the same silver Dodge Ram went by me like a bat out of hell. He was really flying.

I talked to some of the breakin victms and found out that while the window was smashed, nothing was stolen, not even a wallet that was in the car. So, it looks like the thief was scared off. The speeding truck could be a coincidence, but it might not be. Something to keep your eyes on the lookout for.

I would love to catch one of these guys and show him what else I can do with a hiking pole.

- darren

This sounds like a growing problem. Is there anything that we as a hiking community can do? Send out e-mails to proper authorities etc.? any ideas? A press release is probably not a good idea, it might just encourage the wrong element to come back to the WMNF.

A couple of suggestions...

Booby trap the car.

Stake out the parking lot.

Hyper-trekking-pole-shuriken-weilding-ninja-hiker-of-death!

Wrap the car in titanium.

Hmmmm...I really like the stake out idea. Makes me sorry I'm in NY.

Get some camo clothing, hide in the bushes and wait...bring a paintball gun.

Booby trapping your car will get you arrested, and shooting people w/ a paintball gun is assult. Love the ideas but a lawyer would go to town on your a**.

Love the ideas but a lawyer would go to town on your a**.

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Well, yeah, but it's nice to vent...I don't think I'd have a problem shooting someone with my paintball gun if he was breaking into my car, though. Maybe legally I would, but I wouldn't feel bad about it...

There was a guy on the AMC boards that would be the perfect canidate for the stake out idea as he is/was a NH cop. I believe this was Climber456?

We just need to work in an angle like "I was fearing for my life" then maybe we can get away with it.

A better approach might be to take pictures of the thief in the act and give them to the police. The camera could be automated or manual.

Doug

Appears it's a night time operation, C-Notch gets a fair amount of traffic going by it during the day & you can see the lot from 302, at night you would have headlights coming up 302 or around the corner on the Mt. Clinton Road warning the criminal that someone was coming. (Not that I've ever done anything remotely this before Sherpa John was born, what is the SOL on vandalism???? )

Urban problem, I'm guessing it's more of a teen boredom problem.

I agree they need to be caught, apparently the kids caught last year were not much of a deterrent. Last weekend was graduation night for many high schools from what I heard on WTOS Friday evening. That would also explain the heightened police presence in Gorham, they followed me pretty carefully also at 5:00 AM as far as Moose State Park

jbrown said:

Booby trap the car.

Stake out the parking lot.

Hyper-trekking-pole-shuriken-weilding-ninja-hiker-of-death!

Wrap the car in titanium.

Hmmmm...I really like the stake out idea. Makes me sorry I'm in NY.

Get some camo clothing, hide in the bushes and wait...bring a paintball gun.

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Josh While I sympathize with you . I would not do that, As others have said it will get you arrested and probably sued
Yeah it is good to vent I would love to see the expersssins or end results of a non leathal booby trap being used.
My guess it That it is local kids or so called young adults who think it is funny.
I recall hearing in the NH Channel 9 news a few nitwits got caught vandlesing cars near Manchester and did over 30 k in damgege they are facing felony charges . MR X I have a feeling the AMC guy busts them routienly . I think I might know him. I recall talking to a NH trooper who hiked and was not happy with the AMC board of late . Lets hope they get the butt holes.

Folks, That's Not Gatorade!

I deliberately keep my car as disgusting as possible -- both as a deterrent to breakins in the Whites but also in my crummy neighborhood in Boston. Although, people smash off my sideview mirror so often that I've taken to stocking up on them as they only cost $15 and it's about a 5 minute fix. Anyway, my car is filled with bottles, candy bar wrappers, papers, dirt, dog puke, and who-knows-what. I'm always hoping though, if my car gets broken into that the criminals take a swig out of one of the "gatorade" bottles in the back seat. Bleh!

-Dr. Wu

I believe it was here on VFTT a long time ago, someone posted about leaving soiled underwear or a fake pile feces in plain view.