We were Robbed!! Part ii

As we blogged earlier, we were robbed.  Here's some more of the story.

We rented our car in Northport. We had been told not to bring a Kia or Hyundai to Milwaukee. So, when we show to get our car—it’s a Kia Soul. We asked the rental agency for a Nissan we saw sitting there or something else. “The Nissan has to have an oil change. People love the Kias!”

He was right, car thieves apparently love Kias.

We got to Milwaukee on Friday afternoon. We parked in our assigned hotel parking space and thought little about it. On Saturday we dove somewhere. Sunday morning before going to our meetings, I thought I ought to look at our car—but no car was to be found!

We immediately called the police, who sent over an officer. “Yes, they knock out a window with a screwdriver, climb through the window to avoid setting off any alarm. They put the floor mat over the broken glass. They break the lock and then use a USB connector to turn the ignition.”

The hotel video showed they entered the parking lot at 1116 PM. By 1122 they were driving away.

“That’s surprisingly slow. Usually all they need is 3 minutes.” Said the officer.

On Monday morning we learned that the car had been recovered at 0233 Sunday AM. The car was driving “erratically” on a flat tire. The officer pursued the car and the 17-year-old driver crashed into a stop sign. The occupants fled, but were captured a little later. Two other occupants were 15 and 12 years old.

Here’s free, unsolicited, advice. Don’t get your car stolen. The paperwork hassle is substantial.

There are some positives. We planned on renting another car and driving back, but we didn’t need to have a car in Milwaukee, so we didn’t pay for rental or parking for the whole week. Near the end of the week, it dawned on me that Cathy had rented a car and driven from Birmingham to Milwaukee by herself. We got added to her contract as a driver, and drove back with her, paying for her gas. It was thereby cheaper for both of us—with less driving!

So don’t get your car stolen, but don’t despair if it is. Things are not as bad as they might seem…but I still have more paperwork to do.