R.I.P. MegaVan - Stolen Before it's Time

[DuggyFresh]

Oh man, I so sorry to hear about your van. I hope karma bites them in the ass for taking you van. Unfortunately these types of van have become a target for thieves. I've been thinking of putting some ignition kill switch hidden somewhere or something on mine.

Sorry for your loss

[seal]

Originally Posted by lmenzel

I had my 2001 Sportsmobile stolen in Washington D.C. one block from the Holocaust museum. Seeing the museum was my only reason for stopping in DC on my way east. I had the dress on my back, one credit card, a set of keys and my phone. A couple of young African American men jumped in the back and were gone in a flash (as photographed from the Department of Agriculture on one side of the street and the State department on the other). I happened to have all of my family jewelry (long story) as well as every other favorite thing in my life.

My van was a white E250, extra tall and extra long, i.e. probably standing room for someone who is 6'2" and 4' longer than most vans..refrig, stove, everything.

The DC police were sure that "it was just moved" for work on the street (apparently that happens in D.C) and the cops were sure it was not stolen because of the "large police presence in the area.". Well, apparently not large enough. I was grateful that my cat was not in the car (he had died 8 months before) but had been my copilot on all trips, including a 9 month trip around the country in 2011-12. I now have a less obvious conversion van and am pretty unattached to all possessions.

Bummer, sounds like BS. For itleast the last 20ish years it has been illegal to tow a vehicle in DC if it does not have a parking violation issues with the "tow" box checked on both public and private property. So you would have eventually gotten a notice in the mail for the related parking fine if that was the case.

[jbro]

Well, they found it.

Got a call from the Bakersfield P.D. Thursday afternoon and they said they'd found it abandoned in a parking lot.
Told me to come up to the tow yard they had it and and check it out.

Left work early to get there before they closed at 5pm and thought I was going to pick it up, return my rental car to the place in Bakersfield and then drive my van back.

Got there with high hopes of some of my personal stuff still being in the van. Thought maybe they just took the obvious stuff like my surf board.

Got there found the interior had been completely gutted. They took everything. (except for a few very random items they left behind)

All gone.

So I say to them "well, I guess I'll take go ahead and take it home.."

"not so fast" they say.

Pops hood. No battery.

So I tell them I'll run to the local parts store and get a battery real quick.

Thats when they tell me the gas tank has a hole drilled in it and it's not going anywhere.

So I call my insurance and they say they'll have it towed to a shop, I'll pay $500 deductible and they'll fix it up.

I was in shock. Still am.


Can't believe they drilled my gas tank. Just to steal the gas out.


So I'm glad to have my van back. Extremely bummed to know that all my belongings are gone forever.

I hope they fix it fast because I have no home and no vehicle right now.
The rental car I got from insurance expires on monday and after that I'm on my own.
Hopefully I can get another rental for cheap that has enough room to sleep in the back like I've been doing with this one.


Once I get my van back It'll be time for a full re-build.


Unbelievable.
It's just hard to believe there are people out in the world that are such low life scum bags.
That's so not part of my reality that it's hard to even comprehend.

[simplesez]

Brutal. I would be crushed as well.

[seal]

Sounds like it was in the process of being parted out with a trip to the scrap yard in the near future. Drilling a hole in the gas tank is required at most scrap yards when your going to sell the entire vehicle. Was your catalytic converter still intact? Some cats can be worth as much the vehicles scrap steel value so they are often sold separate.

[Vanzila]

The Neck of the Gas tank has a Spring Coil in it so its is almost impossible to stick a hose in the tank to siphon gas out.. thus the hole in the Tank is the fast way. Like most dumb criminals they had no idea what they had.. you lucked out... Glad you got her back!.

[Orv]

Originally Posted by ConnieKat

I won’t even take mine into ANY big cities anymore, except for drive-through. With all the “ sanctuary” cities, the crime rates are sky high.

I don't want to get too far into the political weeds here, but immigrants actually commit crimes at lower rates than citizens. They tend to want to keep their heads down. There are good reasons to debate the idea of sanctuary cities, but crime isn't one of them.

Also, crime rates in general have declined dramatically over the last 20 years or so:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...me-in-the-u-s/
The public perception is that crime is on the increase, but that's mostly because there are a lot of people who stand to gain from making people feel less safe.

[JWA]

Originally Posted by Orv

I don't want to get too far into the political weeds here, but immigrants actually commit crimes at lower rates than citizens. They tend to want to keep their heads down. There are good reasons to debate the idea of sanctuary cities, but crime isn't one of them.

Illegal immigrants by any other name have already committed a crime so they show a general disregard for the laws of the land. That's not meant to be incendiary or spark a political debate---its just a fact.

IF crime in "sanctuary cities" can be proven to have increased it could be other criminal elements are preying on those who have something to hide or otherwise law enforcement.

Vehicle theft can and does occur anywhere there's a "target rich" environment which these days is any place a desirable vehicle is left standing or parked for an hour or so. If they don't hotwire and drive it away they'll use a tow truck to grab it. Being professional thieves they're slick, quiet and fast. Gone In 30 Seconds isn't just a movie.

[DuggyFresh]

Originally Posted by JWA

Vehicle theft can and does occur anywhere there's a "target rich" environment which these days is any place a desirable vehicle is left standing or parked for an hour or so. If they don't hotwire and drive it away they'll use a tow truck to grab it. Being professional thieves they're slick, quiet and fast. Gone In 30 Seconds isn't just a movie.

Not to split hairs here, but the movie is "Gone in 60 seconds"

But I agree. And unfortunately our vans are big and tend to stand out. And with the increase in popularity, they know they can be worth a lot or have a lot of valuables inside. I mean now a days a van worth over $100k isn't very uncommon to see. And can be much easier to break into and hot wire than a $100k sports car. :/

But back to OP, sorry to hear that everything was taken, but glad they found it!At least now you won't always wonder what happened to it.

[LenS]

Have any before pics??