Just as an FYI Allstate is very good and so are State Farm in these situations, I know from experience lol.

Sending a global email alert to all users for the private purpose of an individual or business might set a precedent that may not be beneficial to the forums in the long run.

With nearly 100,000 users requests for email alerts would have a significant chance of increasing. Once we have a steady stream of requests coming in, who's to say no to what issues are more important than others which breeds other types of trouble and backbiting.

By design a forum is where people come for information. The individual bears the responsibility for searching out new and important information. Additionally, it has been my experience that a rather large ratio of email addresses used to register for the forum are unmonitored or in some cases no longer active.

Steve's been a friend to me for many years and I would love to aid him in any way I can.

Other options I can offer would be a stickied thread (if requested), or a global forum announcement that would show up at the top of every forum page for a couple of weeks or whatever is required. Steve and Gotham can write up the warning/press release/whatever however they like and I can post it on their behalf.

:)

Steve, Sorry to hear what happened. Here are some ideas to help catch the guys.

1. Contact Haltech USA and get the serial numbers of the ECU (if you don't have them already). They will flag the ECUs if for any reason someone calls them for support. Even if not the person that stole it, you will have more info.

2. It's obvious they used a truck. Think about the route they took and map it out. Go to the local stores, banks, atms, etc and ask if they have video cameras mounted outside. Have the police revew the tapes of other places that had cameras and you may find something, you'll be looking for a large truck between certain hours.

3. Speak to people in the surrounding areas, shops etc and see if they noticed anything or anyone.

4. Put signs up for a reward on your site or even to return items with no questions asked.

5. If you insurance company denies the claim, hire a private investigator to look into who you think it is. I'm sure they left a trail somewhere. if the police have proof they will look into the bank statements, credit card statements to see if they used that to rent a truck etc recently.

6. If you think you know who it is, get their picture and check local truck rental places to see if they came in there to rent a truck. I don't think they would use their own truck if they had one for fear of someone seeing the license plate.

7. The items need to be stored somewhere, I would also use the persons picture and check local storage faciliites, a thief would probably need to offload these items pretty fast and probably would not store this in his garage etc. Contact a few local places, you might get lucky.

8. Lastly post on various forums etc and get the message out. I am sure you will hear or find something.

9. For the future, you can install a small tracking device in something of value, if it is stolen the police can track the last time it linked with a satellite. It's a cheap form of insurance.

10. When I was younger and lived in a not so nice area, I had simple security. I had small pieces of plywood that I shot about 100 staples through, very very sharp ones. I would place those on my car seat over a towel, in areas of the garage if someone entered through a window etc, it actually worked once!

I have a strong feeling you will find the person, it's just a matter of time.

I know you must have contacts in PR, I would them know asap since the thieves mnight want to ship them over there for a quick sale.

Anthony

awesome post anthony. i fear the man who ever crosses you. you would make it to their place before they did.

DKJ- I run a forums the same size as this one. I put out announcements from time to time via email and no one bugs me about it. If they did all I would do is say no. If it were something important, like a site sponsor being robbed with the community being the primary buyer of the stolen parts, I would consider it.

The announcement thing atop the forums would work great though too. That is an excellent idea. The key is to get the word out. I think the gotham boys deserve the support for sure.

Best of luck with the quest for these bastards. Anthony's post is right on target. The cops are lazy and are not going to investigate like that. They will let the insurance companies work it out. However, if it were me, I would do just what anthony suggests and start asking for footage...asking the car rental places about truck rentals on that day...etc...


j

Yes you are 100% correct. I am a phone and data tech. Have been for over 10 years.

The feature you are talking about is called a "hound" aka "Watchdog" feature. Which is pretty much the same thing as running a ping test in dos prompt every 15 seconds on the dot. The alarm system checks for dial tone every 15 seconds or so by checking for a dial tone. This comes from the alarm box in the building and also the alarm system at the security N.O.C.

For example if the lines were cut before the alarm system was even touched the alarm would go off on both sides. If the alarm system were disarmed by the crook this feature would still be active no matter what. It is turned on the whole time by the unit in the building. With that said. If he turns the alarm off and then cuts the phone cord the alarm in the building might throw up a blip or some type of sound. Loud or Silent it does not matter. The phone line is still not working, hence it can not call out. And the same person can just turn the alarm off again right there on the spot.

BUT! with that going on the Hound feature from the security company should still send a red Flag on THEIR screen. Saying "HELLO THERE IS NO CONNECTION WITH 123 SMITH STREET" please call the cops, but somehow that did not happen. No matter what the security company tells Steve and Alex the fact that the wires were cut should of thrown a red flag on the screen of the security company.

I am trying to figure out as to why they would cut the line to begin with. It is actually a very idiotic move. If they know the code to begin with then there is no difference to the alarm if people are there are 9pm or 3am. Unless they did it on the way OUT just to spite somebody. Thinking it would set the alarm off so the cops would come.

Sorry if that was a sloppy read. I tend to ramble and fade away on any type of grammatical structure when I rant.

-Aaron

Nobody else other than me or Alex knows the code. We change it frequently preventing employees from knowing what we use. I do need to talk to my lawyer about the security system. There is no reason for them not to know the alarm system's phone line wasn't working.

In short, yes that is 100% correct. Hell I recall only one time that Alex gave me the code all those years ago when I worked there. He only gave it to me because it was for some important reason that I can not recall. And about 3 or 4 days later you guys changed the code like you normally do.

If they tell you any other reason they are lying. If you look at it with technical eyes or eyes of policy they both can see that the security company fucked up. I say take them to court and ring every dollar out of them that you can.

Being that I know you guys and I pretty much know most of your friends and x-staff I also have my own suspects in mind.

-Aaron

bumpety bump.
(hoping these mofos are caught soon)

it's sad that we even have to worry about these things happening.

Sorry to hear about this Steve.

I hope everything works out.

hey steve, maybe ill get lucky and they'll ship my parts back to me!

Mark,
Maybe those guys will get unlucky and get caught and find a bubba bubba for their cellmate.

Steve,
I know your pain- same thing happened to us a couple yrs ago, but not quite as bad. No one was ever charged or indicted but we have our suspicions (a former employee- how else would anyone know where everything is?) And people wonder why we don't hire more personnel?
Good luck-and maybe something positive will come out of this.
Bryan
Rotorsports Racing

Thanks Bryan,
We are almost positive that it was from one of our ex-employee. Everything that was stolen and destroyed points to only one person. However, the law enforcement here are worthless. They are only good at giving people tickets. When it comes to real crime, they're clueless and unwilling to do anything. I even provided all of the info to the detective. His words are, "we can call those guys you listed, but if they say no, there's nothing we can do". What kind of detective are they? who's gonna admit they robbed a place?

The exact same thing happened at one of the local shops here (It's now closed) and you were there a few years ago.

Anyhow, previous employee stole a bunch of parts and stereo equipment. Police didn't do anything and even accused the shop owners of doing it themselves.

One of the shop owners finally tracked him down one night, gave him an old fashioned ass whoopin. The kids parents finally made the kid give everything back.

Track him down, have a little "Chat" with him, and when the detectives call, just say it wasn't you, end of story......

It sucks that this happened, much less to such a reputable shop. It sucks even more that law enforcement won't follow up and do their job.

People can say what they want about the death penalty, but I yet to see it fail to end a criminal's career. :dunno:

Hopefully! ;-)

Steve- when I become president, there will be a lot of attorneys and judges out of work-all disputes will be handled on a racetrack! Im talking about a racetrack with walls and corners (Dale Earnhardt would love it)
On a positive note:
keep the faith and good things will happen
Bryan

Steve,

it was great having u guys over for albanian dinner,
me and my family we r here for any help u need,

Mark,
if u can't get things squared and u run in to
problems let me know,
I will make some phone calls

take care guys
tony

:)

sorry to bring these bad memories back but were these guys ever caught?

ya im curious to kno also

No

/thread ??

DKJ, would you mind closing this thread for good?

Thanks,
-Matt