Record Your Equipt. Serial Numbers!!!

[SLS]

Last Wed. (11-21) a thief waltzed into my garage and snatched a Redmax CHT-2200 (Hedge Trimmers $350). I had stopped to eat a sandwich and did not close the door. I live in a quite, peaceful residential neighborhood...very little in the way of crime..and was only going to be home for a few minutes.

Just so happens my wife was going out to get the newspaper and surprised the guy. He ran out of the garage and jumped into a waiting car. I heard her yell, ran downstairs, and got outside just in time to see the guys driving away.

We live on a "U" shaped street that starts and ends on the same road, so I jumped in my truck and headed up the road hoping to catch up with them and get a license plate number and good description of the car and it's occupants. I got lucky and as they passed me in the opposite direction and I was able to write down the tag number and descriptions. As I was pulling a Laser, a tractor, and all my gear (locked and chained) behind a 4-cylinder Ranger my chances of getting turned around and catching up to them were nil (lots of hills, curves, and side roads).

I immediately went back to the house and called the police with my story and description, and SERIAL NUMBER. When the police officers showed up at my house they were given the SERIAL NUMBER (which was written on the bill of sale).

As it turns out, when I called in my report the police were were issued a APB and two other cops spotted the vehicle in the parking lot of a local pawn shop. They went in, saw the guys pawning my trimmers, checked the SERIAL NUMBER, and ARRESTED them on the spot.

The detective (who had been building a case against these guys on previous thefts) called me today to tell me that I would be able to pick up my trimmers from the "Property Room" in a couple of days and wanted me to pick out the perps from a photo line-up. One of the thieves was out on probation and now faces a minimum of 5 years with NO PAROLE! :D

We were lucky to have seen these guys in the act and get their tag number but the detective told me that the SERIAL NUMBER cinched the case and without it they could not have confiscated the trimmers from the pawn shop.

The detective told me that lawn equipment gets reported stolen all the time (a rash of it in my neighborhood this year) BUT rarely is the SERIAL NUMBER recorded by the owner...and that the pawn shops are loaded with stolen gear...with no way to verify the REAL owners.

Thanks to the quick response of the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, and the SERIAL NUMBER, we were able to bust these two guys who have been stealing from our neighborhood!

Sorry to be so long winded but...PLEASE RECORD THOSE SERIAL NUMBERS! You may get your stolen equipment back AND rid your neighborhood of thieves because of it! :D

[Eric ELM]

Good job SLS. I am glad you were able to get your trimmer back.

Recording your Serial numbers is a great idea. I have all of mine in my computers, but I need to get them some other place to in case my computers get stolen. :(

[Randy Scott]

I have all my serial numbers recorded on disk, hard copy, and my insurance agent has a complete list for his records. Everything that has a number from push spreaders to trailers is recorded. I trust nobody. That's just the society we live in today. Good to here it all worked out for you. Everything is insured for full and current replacement value also, not what I may have payed a year ago. That is something to clarify also with insurance.

[dhicks]

I have all my S/N on each equipment invoice and the S/Ns are on my business insurance policy.

I'm glad you will be getting your equipment back.:blob4:

[stslawncare]

wasnt there going to be a webpage from chuck with this type of thing?

[awm]

amen. i also put my mark on them.in case they start switching
info plates. dont know if it would hold up or not ,but i can tell the officer right where my unique mark is so should be
enough for them to go with me on the claim.hope so anyway.
heck id almost settle for just knowing who it is,and let time take care of the problem.this wouldnt do much good in lge cities etc,
but in rural communities. things have a way of getting handled.

[SLS]

Writing the Serial Numbers on the back of the insurance policy sounds like a great idea...especially if you have to make a claim.

I was concerned because my trimmers were under my deductable so the loss was going to be "out of pocket". What really had me steamed was that I bought them new back in July and have only used them on 4 jobs...so they are still almost mint. GRRRRR!!!

I have my serial numbers written in the back of my owners manuals which are stored on a shelf in the garage.

All receipts have the serials numbers on them and they are in a file in the office. I need to put them on my computer...another good idea.

The primary thing is to have them HANDY. The police report shows that the thieves were at the pawn shop within 10 minutes of my called-in report! So being able to give the police the serial number IMMEDIATELY saved the day. :)

Another thing:

If you do get ripped off and go looking around in pawn shops for your stuff DO NOT tell them why you are there. Just pretend to be 'shopping' for the type of items you are looking for. The detective told me that pawn shops are NOTORIOUS for giving people "the runaround" when they know they are looking for stolen property. The pawn shops "don't wanna know"...if you know what I mean (wink, wink).

Last year, here in Tennessee, the legislature tried to pass a law requiring that pawn shops check (and record) a photo I.D. when a person pawned an item. Of course the pawn shops were freaking, and lobbied hard againt this bill, hiring 'civil' lawyers, stating that to check the I.D.'s constituted an "invasion of privacy" and "violated a person's right to privacy". Pretty easy to see through that one...they KNOW they make alot of money fencing stolen property!!! The bill failed...and palms were 'greased'....and honest people lose.... :angry:

As happy as I am to get my trimmers back, I'm far more pleased that 2 less thieves are prowling my neighborhood. :D

[kutnkru]

I have all my serial numbers incorporated into my insurance policy. They asked what I would be using and I gave them make/model/serial.

I heard a guy tried walking a machine right off a guys trailer this season!!! Talk about nads.

[KirbysLawn]

Chuck was working on a site for this, not sure what happened to it.

http://lawnsite.vbulletinhosting.com/showthread.php?threadid=17275&highlight=Serial+Numbers

http://www.opefacts.com/

[Fantasy Lawns]

also good idea to have a photo of each individual valuable piece of equip one owns ;->

[a1 lawncare]

i engrave "stolen from company name/my name and phone #" on every piece of equipment, in several different places, on the shafts, plastic housings with a dremal like tool and anywhere i can. it may not stop a thief, but maybe just maybe it'll slow em down. damn i hate a thief, glad you recovered your equipment...


keith

[GLS]

You're lucky they didn't scratch the serial numbers off!

[a1 lawncare]

most pawn shops and repair shops will not fool with items with the serial number modified (thank goodness)

keith

[SLS]

kutnkru said:

"I heard a guy tried walking a machine right off a guys trailer this season!!! Talk about nads."

That reminds me of a story I posted back in the spring about a fellow LCO, who lives a couple of blocks away, and some guys pulled into his driveway at dusk (in a white extended cab F-250 truck that looked his), hooked up his trailer, and just drove off with ALL of his gear....including a nice Bunton w/b.

This unfortunate LCO was running late to take his boys to ball practice and though "well, I'll only be gone for about 20 minutes...." and did not hook up his logging chain to his carport posts and put the lock on the trailer tongue. He still has not seen his stolen stuff and no one has been arrested either. :( This seems to be the common ending to such stories...boooooo!!!!

It only take a thief a second or two to do his dirty work.

a1 lawncare said:

"i engrave "stolen from company name/my name and phone #" on every piece of equipment, in several different places, on the shafts, plastic housings with a dremal like tool and anywhere i can. "

Excellent tip! Thanks for the reminder! There once was a program here in Nashville that was sponsored by the police department that engraved your drivers license number on your property. That was supposed to make it easy for the police to track down the rightful owners if your stuff was confiscated from a burgler or 'fence' operator. It seems the same would work if you found your stuff in a pawn shop too. It would provide proof of ownership.

Looks like I have a bit of engraving to do! :)

[a1 lawncare]

i have had people tell me this is the dumbest thing they have ever heard of or seen, but one of my personal experiences, was on my way home one night and a guy called and said i had left a weed-eater at his place, i kinda scratched my head and said "buddy i haven't even been on that road today" and he said ok and read my engraved info back to me, he said he found the weed-eater in his front yard and wanted to know if i wanted to come by and pick it up. i had left the weed-eater laying on the trailer for no more than 5 minutes, and when i left the job, last one of the day, i didn't even notice the weed-eater was not in the trimmer trap, i guess the would be thieves saw all the info and name and phone # and ditched it. i always try to take care of my stuff, but dang the creeps get braver and bolder everyday..........

take care, keith

[SLS]

a1 lawncare says:

"i have had people tell me this is the dumbest thing they have ever heard of or seen, but one of my personal experiences, was on my way home one night and ..."


I don't see anything dumb about that at all.

You had the foresight to engrave your info on your equipment and the thieves were deterred from trying to hock/fence/pawn it due to that. Your engraving job also made it easy for the honest guy who found it to contact you.

You engraved your equipment...and it quickly came back to you! Pretty darn smart...if you ask me! :)

Good job!

Your are right about the thieves getting braver and bolder...but I think also more desperate and stupid as well. The guys who hit my garage did it in broad daylight, with 2 vehicles in the driveway, my next door neighbors in their yard, and the mailman coming down the street.....how STUPID.

Braver??? My wife is 5"1' and all of 97 lbs (VERY Petite :D ) and she chased them out of the garage, cursing them LOUDLY the whole way! The mailman was tripping out at seeing this! Maybe she should consider collecting that $25 million for Bin Laden's head! She's my hero, but keep her away from the pistols, please.....whoa...... hehehe ;)

[SLS]

UPDATE!:

I received a phone call from the detective in charge of my case this morning. He said that he dropped off a 'release form' at the pawn shop where they caught the thieves at...and I could go down there and pick up my trimmers. I couldn't believe that they were still at the pawn shop instead of at the police station!

I went down there and asked to speak to the manager. I told him what I wanted and he brought out the trimmers and the form for me to sign. He was VERY COLD towards me and offered NOTHING in the way of an apology. Just "sign here, here you go....c-ya!" :angry:

Before talking to him I looked at the lawn equipment they had there....it made me sick! A matching pair of echo trimmers ($99 each!), a nice echo backpack blower ($100), several more blowers, string trimmers, and a whole slew of chainsaws.....I wanted to puke!

Funny thing is that they left the pawn tag on my trimmers, complete with the thiefs name and the amount of the "loan"...a WHOPPING $30!. One of those punks went back to prison for 5 years for that $30...idiot!

$30 bucks for a new RedMax CHT-2200! I paid almost $350 (w/tax) for them! :yikes:

As 'good' as the deals appear to be at a pawn shop, I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THEM! They know EXACTLY what they are doing (and could care less too)...fencing stolen property! :angry:

[awm]

perhaps we have found the real culprits ,who need to be dealt with. gonna think about that some.

[SLS]

My thoughts exactly, awm!

Between what the police officers and the detective told me about how pawn shops operate I have no doubt that they are part of the problem.

When a detective tells you to "pretend" to be a shopper instead of telling them you are looking for your stuff, you know they (pawners) are trying to cover their behinds. :angry:

And the fact that the pawn shop manager acted so pissed about me getting my property back just confirmed what the cops told me.

Something else I forgot to mention:

The detective told me that the worst offenders are these newer "franchise-type" pawn shops that have sprang up everywhere, like Cash America and Household Pawn, because they have stores in a bunch of different cities. What they do is hold suspected stolen stuff in their backroom the required 90 days and then ship it out to another one of their stores! That makes the odds of us finding our stolen equipment virtually nil. Apparently the Nashville shops get a lot of stuff from the Memphis area and visa versa! My trimmer was at a Cash America pawn shop...and there are about 5 of them in the Nashville area alone. One has to wonder why they are so successful, huh? :angry:

Anyone have a good source for some surplus RPG-7's??? ;)

[a1 lawncare]

scum of scum, they offer a guy 30 bucks for a 350$ piece of equipment, resale it for 100 or whatever, plus the fact that they
charge outragious intrest rates from what i've heard. they don't get any of my biz, but as always somebody will be in right behind you to buy it anyway, makes me sick...

i hate a thief,:angry glad that clown will be going back to the pen

keith:

[big james]

I lost all my equipment to theft back in May -none of it was ever found ,it was stolen out of my garage in broad daylight ,I lost 15K, THEY TOOK TRAILER AND ALL............

[SLS]

That SUCKS, big james! I hate to hear it! :cry:

I hope you had the equipment insured...that was a HUGE loss! :angry:

I wonder what happens to the commercial-type mowers that get snatched...the ZTRs and walkbehinds? I visited 6 or 7 pawn shops looking for my trimmers and didn't see anything bigger than a few 22'' pushmowers.

Back in the early part of the year when I was shopping for a ZTR I did not see a lot of this kind of stuff in the classified ads either...and I live in a rather big market (Nashville). And the ones I called all seemed to be pros that were getting out of the biz or upgrading...had all receipts and paperwork.

Where do the big mowers go when they are snatched? How do the thieves get rid of them? Anyone ever hear of a 'chop shop' for commercial mowers???

[Northwest]

You are right. After I had my Redmax EB6200 and Shin T230 stolen from a CHURCH PARKING LOT last month (I left my trailer and a worker there finished up another job came back and while he was weedwacking behind the building some meth maggot stole my stuff) I went into a pawn shop and almost puked I was so angry. Ninety percent or more of the stuff in those places is stolen. Also I had not written the serial numbers down because I thought they would be on the reciept. Well guess what they weren't. So even if I walked into the pawn shop and saw my stuff I could not have gotten it back. Plus my deductable is $500 so guess what? I'm out $750.

Talk about bold and evil, stealing from a church parking lot.

[GrassChopper]

I had two edgers and a trimmer stolen. I went to the local pawn shops and asked if anyone pawned edgers or trimmers in the last couple of days. You know what they told me? They said it was AGAINST THE LAW for them to tell me. What kind of crap is that?

[big james]

the problem is that serial numbers are to easy to remove ,even off ZTR's ,I had all my stuff marked in an inconspicuos place ,but that won't do you any good if you can't lay your eyes on it .part of the problem could be solved by requiring proof of owner ship before you can buy parts ,this is how some of these portable sawmills do it -no title -no parts period ,Irealize this is going a little far on weed wackers and such ,but I llost a Lazer -Z AND A metro, somebody some where in the east texas area is using my eqipment. If any of you guys live in this area keep your eyes and ears open ..please . my phone # is 903-984=4959- call collect!

[CompleteLawn Service]

Big James theirs a metro on e-bay going fairly cheap heres the link.http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1688979932

It's worth a shot! Sorry to here this

[cantoo]

Some snowmobiles Dealers here make you show your ownership before you can pick up parts for a sled. They write the number on the receipt and in their records. Helps to keep everyone honest. Maybe we could all sugest this to our Dealers to prevent future theft.

[heygrassman]

Big James theirs a metro on e-bay going fairly cheap heres the link.http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...item=1688979932

Related to this auction, I started to ask this seller for the serial number and model number as well as an original reciept for purchase (for future warranty claims) and the seller then pulled the auction. I have the emails if you would like to see them.

Jeff

[GLS]

Wow, what a coincidence! Can I get those E-mails? 0ryan0@home.com Thanks

[plow kid]

if you could send those to ncls484@aol.com that' would be great.... I had a bid on that

[big james]

My lazer -z was found last week ,they treated it pretty rough ,the police found it in a stolen car ring who also cook methamphetamine ! .My insurance company sold it back to me for 500$ :they put about 100 hours on it but i think part of those hours were due to leaving the key on . GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT ! and pray to the master above ........:blob4:

[big james]

these idiots that had my lazer never bothered to pull the serial numbers ,they didn't even bother to peel off the decals i had put on it ,this guy who had it has six charges pending against him for fencing stolen goods and cooking crank , all this is in Carthage texas so if any of you guys live in this area of the country that have had anything stolen you can contact the Panola County Sherrifs DEpt. at 903-693-0333 ,they have a tractor that was stolen inKentucky ,these thieving dope heads sure get around!:angry:

[Fivestar]

Sounds like that thief needs a good dose of Smith & Wessons
357 elexor!!!

[big james]

I hear you FIVE STAR !:angry:

[SLS]

For some reason I quit receiving the email notices containing replys to this thread and thought it was dead.

As the new season is gearing up and there is a profileration of 'newbies' hitting the boards this is probably a good time to float this one back to the top anyway. Recording your serial numbers is as important now as ever.

I am happy that your Lazer was recovered, Big James! :D and just in time for the new season! Did you get the trailer and and any of your other missing equiptment back??? I'm hoping that you did, or will soon.

.357 elixer AND a booster shot of .45...just for good measure. ;)


UPDATE:

I went to the Preliminary Hearing last monday for one of the guys who got caught with my Redmax trimmers. After giving my testamony, along with another neighbor who had $2000 worth of golf clubs stolen by these same guys, and the detective, The judge bound this one over to the Grand Jury. :D

If all goes well, and justice is served, this guy will wind up serving the 5 years from a previous conviction plus whatever he get for the theft of the golf clubs and my trimmer. I'm crossing my fingers even though the case appears to be "airtight".

The other guy (his brother) was just caught over in the next county a week or two ago doing the same thing AGAIN and therefore has to be extradited and will be tried seperately. Sounds like these boys are not too bright...and didn't receive much in the way of "upbringing" huh?

The worm turns slowly...and I'll keep you posted.

[JJOHN22042]

Just a little help for you....


1. Save sales slip

2. Write down serial Number

3. Take Picture or Video of Equipment

4. Engrave your Equipment with your LIC Number so it can be traced back to you.

[ceaman]

They never found my 8'2" Boss V snowplow either. It has been gone since January and I doubt I will see it again....

[lawnbaby]

We learned my lesson the hard way. While mowing an old apartment building with rather shady tenants we had two weedeaters and a blower stolen. We checked every pawn shop within 10 miles of the area. No good, never found them. We now keep track of all serial numbers in a fire proof safe!:blob2: