Well it finally happened.
Last night (Sunday) I returned home at about 6:20 PM and it was just getting dark. I was out riding my street bike and the E30vert was in my driveway where I always park it. ( I live on a busy street in San Jose Ca with alot of cars and some foot traffic on both sides of the street. There is also a park kinda kitty corner from my house.
I put my bike away in the garage and then go inside. I talk to my G friend and she says she just sideswiped a pole with the rental car that she got as her Honda Element was vandalized last Thurs. Someone broke the rear window.
_ I have cut the plastic rear window out of the e30 some time ago as it cracked and flapped around when I drove the car._ I park with the cars rear to the street where the open rear window area is.
So I walk out with her not 5 minutes since I came in from my ride and there in the back of my E30vert is a fire that has been lit by someone who threw - cotton balls (go figure?) rolled up paper towels, and a pizza flyer to light the whole shabang. At first I just thought the canvas top was steaming from being warm and the night air being colder. Then as I got closer I saw the items on fire sitting there on my rear leather seats and the pizza flyer on the rear vinyl deck lid /cover. I did a Fred Flintstone past my girlfriend as I ran and got my garden hose - opened the side door and doused the rear interior to put it out.
My blood was pumping and I saw nobody in the area who may have started it. So I took all the stuff out of the back of the rear seat and the only thing that started to really burn was the red lever on one of the rear seatbelt fasteners that fold into the center of the rear seat.
The upper deck lid for the convertable top did get a bit torched on the passenger side.
We call the cops and report it and they fill out a report for attempted arson - which is a FELONY!. They show up and take the report. I vacuum and clean the rear interior of the vehicle and try and get it looking as good as I can under the circumstances.
The cop asks if I have enemies or my girlfriend has enemies. I tell them that the neighbors on one side of us smoke a ton of pot and there are people in and out of the house all the time. They are most lilkely dealing drugs out of the place. (pot)...
So they got to the house and the neighbors are convieniently not home. I suspect them, but when my girlfriend went down 2 houses past thiers and informed them that there was someone in the area trying to commit arson the guy said he saw some skateboarder punks in the area.
So I have no idea who did it or why.
I have an alarm on the vehicle that I park next too that is also in the driveway ,but that does me no good with the E30.
So all last night I could not sleep and kept going out to check and see if someone came back to mess with my vehicle and set it on fire. Finally after getting up so many times I just got a bath towel and soaked it with water then placed it over the rear seats so that it would be much less likely to allow fire to propagate.
So now I have installed a camera that has a full view of all the vehicles in the driveway and there is a street light that illuminates the area. So at night I will have video survalience going. However, an alarm or a camera will not stop them from throwing burning objects into the vehicle!
I asked the cop what I could do if I caught someone and he told me that I could use just enough force to detain the person. If I used more then I would be at fault and risk procecution/jail.
So what the heck? I chase the person down and wrestle them to the ground , then they fight or pull a weapon and I get cracked in the head-stabbed -shot. No thanks. I am now considering either using a BB gun, Pellet Gun, Paintball gun with frozen paint balls , or going for the full Monty and getting a good handgun - laser sighting, etc..
I have a new convertable top that I will be installing - upping my insurance to full coverage and I need piece of mind as well.
Cops says its a possession and not worth loosing life and limb over. Im out for blood and want payback on whoever the son of a bitch is who did this to my vehicle and my G Friends...
Which woudl you go with and why? Other thoughts are always welcomed.
Last night (Sunday) I returned home at about 6:20 PM and it was just getting dark. I was out riding my street bike and the E30vert was in my driveway where I always park it. ( I live on a busy street in San Jose Ca with alot of cars and some foot traffic on both sides of the street. There is also a park kinda kitty corner from my house.
I put my bike away in the garage and then go inside. I talk to my G friend and she says she just sideswiped a pole with the rental car that she got as her Honda Element was vandalized last Thurs. Someone broke the rear window.
_ I have cut the plastic rear window out of the e30 some time ago as it cracked and flapped around when I drove the car._ I park with the cars rear to the street where the open rear window area is.
So I walk out with her not 5 minutes since I came in from my ride and there in the back of my E30vert is a fire that has been lit by someone who threw - cotton balls (go figure?) rolled up paper towels, and a pizza flyer to light the whole shabang. At first I just thought the canvas top was steaming from being warm and the night air being colder. Then as I got closer I saw the items on fire sitting there on my rear leather seats and the pizza flyer on the rear vinyl deck lid /cover. I did a Fred Flintstone past my girlfriend as I ran and got my garden hose - opened the side door and doused the rear interior to put it out.
My blood was pumping and I saw nobody in the area who may have started it. So I took all the stuff out of the back of the rear seat and the only thing that started to really burn was the red lever on one of the rear seatbelt fasteners that fold into the center of the rear seat.
The upper deck lid for the convertable top did get a bit torched on the passenger side.
We call the cops and report it and they fill out a report for attempted arson - which is a FELONY!. They show up and take the report. I vacuum and clean the rear interior of the vehicle and try and get it looking as good as I can under the circumstances.
The cop asks if I have enemies or my girlfriend has enemies. I tell them that the neighbors on one side of us smoke a ton of pot and there are people in and out of the house all the time. They are most lilkely dealing drugs out of the place. (pot)...
So they got to the house and the neighbors are convieniently not home. I suspect them, but when my girlfriend went down 2 houses past thiers and informed them that there was someone in the area trying to commit arson the guy said he saw some skateboarder punks in the area.
So I have no idea who did it or why.
I have an alarm on the vehicle that I park next too that is also in the driveway ,but that does me no good with the E30.
So all last night I could not sleep and kept going out to check and see if someone came back to mess with my vehicle and set it on fire. Finally after getting up so many times I just got a bath towel and soaked it with water then placed it over the rear seats so that it would be much less likely to allow fire to propagate.
So now I have installed a camera that has a full view of all the vehicles in the driveway and there is a street light that illuminates the area. So at night I will have video survalience going. However, an alarm or a camera will not stop them from throwing burning objects into the vehicle!
I asked the cop what I could do if I caught someone and he told me that I could use just enough force to detain the person. If I used more then I would be at fault and risk procecution/jail.
So what the heck? I chase the person down and wrestle them to the ground , then they fight or pull a weapon and I get cracked in the head-stabbed -shot. No thanks. I am now considering either using a BB gun, Pellet Gun, Paintball gun with frozen paint balls , or going for the full Monty and getting a good handgun - laser sighting, etc..
I have a new convertable top that I will be installing - upping my insurance to full coverage and I need piece of mind as well.
Cops says its a possession and not worth loosing life and limb over. Im out for blood and want payback on whoever the son of a bitch is who did this to my vehicle and my G Friends...
Which woudl you go with and why? Other thoughts are always welcomed.
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