DH just got ROBBED while on travel!!

[dis-happy]

Was his phone on? Wonder why the police can't track the cell phone signal through the cell phone company. It's also possible the theives dumped everything into the nearest convenient trashcan, maybe an exit or two later. Worth a shot to look into it.

 

[momof1princess]

OP, i'm so sorry this happened to you and your DH. hope you get it resolved quickly

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Tee hee! It was x54 on I95. I'm sure the police will look into it but I doubt that a car break-in is high on their priority list.

Yeah, it's a hassle. *sigh* I spoke to the insurance company and so long as there's no body damage, it'll go through their glass claims dept so I have to get details on that. When DH gets home we'll make a list of everything that was taken and see if it will be worth filing a claim against our homeowner's. I guess this is when that high deductible isn't the best thing... although given what it saves us on premiums, it is what it is.

Car and home are both with NJ Manufacturer's and from everything I've heard they're easy to work with and if the uber-sweet rep I spoke to earlier is any indication, hopefully things will go smoothly. And we do have rental car reimbursement as part of our car insurance for when our car is undrivable so that's at least one thing that should get taken care of.

I hope you can relax as soon as he gets home it is nerve wracking. x54 is the Branford rest I believe & unfortunetly is a prime area for theives given it's quick proximity to getting out of there on 91 so you're quickly out of the 95 area. In the future anyone travelling in the area should get off the highway to stop & eat. There are McDonalds & such located a short distance off alot of exits on 95 & they are much safer.

 

[GJM]

When our car was broken into our homeowners covered what was in the car, not our car insurance.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

It does make you mad when something like this happens. A week before Thanksgiving my BIL was in Germany on business. He went back to his hotel that Friday to gather his things to head back home to Atlanta only to find he also had been robbed. They took his passport, laptop and the keys to his Mercedes that was parked at the airport in Atlanta. It was Tuesday before he could get back home.

Just be thankful that your DH was not hurt.

 

[bumbershoot]

BTW, was his cell phone or gps in view? as law enforcement, if there are items in view those veh get hit before one that has nothing worthy in sight.

Or the cord, or the GPS holder, or even if the suction cup marks from the GPS or phone holder are visible.... [my brother has a sort of sandbag-base GPS holder, leaves no mark!]

 

[Gillennj]

If he was travelling on business, will his employer cover him for any of the losses? My company covers a lot for me when I am travelling on business.

 

[ShiPooOwner]

Can't think of anything to add except

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Thanks everyone! DH got home just a little while ago and while he is chilled to the bone, he is just fine and that's what really matters.

Here's what I don't understand (aside from the fact that I don't understand WHY anyone would steal stuff in the first place!) but the only things that were taken were his suitcase, which is a small overnight bag (the kind that fits into an airline overhead bin) and his cell phone.

What wasn't touched was his TomTom GPS which was sitting on the dashboard (I completely forgot he had it as it's old and is like a fixture in the car so I don't even see it), his XM radio which is a separate unit that fits into what would usually be the casette holder (the car is 10 years old, remember... ), the change in the door handle (maybe $4 worth) and a few other items like a flashlight and such.

So really all we're out is clothes and a cell phone. Granted, it was his favorite suit and some nice toiletries/razor and such but overall, not a big deal. We're thankful for that!

 

[Swimalie]

I'm so sorry. Being broken in to is bad enough but even worse while traveling. (by the way, "being robbed" means they took it directly off him. Since they took it from his car, he was burglarized or broken in to).

My sister and brother-in-law went to Cali to compete in an Ironman race. While it was going on, someone broke in to their car and stole my brother-in-law's camera, cell phone, wallet and some extra clothes. The car was in a crowded parking lot with all the other racers and their stuff was well hidden. It was the only one broken in to as well. And it was a rental. A huge nightmare for them.

 

[disneymarie]

Thanks everyone! DH got home just a little while ago and while he is chilled to the bone, he is just fine and that's what really matters.

Here's what I don't understand (aside from the fact that I don't understand WHY anyone would steal stuff in the first place!) but the only things that were taken were his suitcase, which is a small overnight bag (the kind that fits into an airline overhead bin) and his cell phone.

What wasn't touched was his TomTom GPS which was sitting on the dashboard (I completely forgot he had it as it's old and is like a fixture in the car so I don't even see it), his XM radio which is a separate unit that fits into what would usually be the casette holder (the car is 10 years old, remember... ), the change in the door handle (maybe $4 worth) and a few other items like a flashlight and such.

So really all we're out is clothes and a cell phone. Granted, it was his favorite suit and some nice toiletries/razor and such but overall, not a big deal. We're thankful for that!

As dh is now safe home, lets pretend it was a homeless person, he saw dh was about his size, needed a suit and clothes to look for a job, and cell to make appointments with.

On the good side he did not want a 10 year old car to go on the interviews with so he stole a newer one from someone else.

Or he thought dh was hauling drugs in that bag and ran before seeing the petty things.;

Kind of like goldie locks....I'm picturing the bum in the family pool? A movie, was it a scruffy Jeff Bridges as the suspect....

Oh, when dh travels anymore, leave open the security cover so no one wonders what is in there. Stick an old diaper bag, wrapped up pamper, no one will touch a soccer mom car I would think?
Can you see that, dh exchanging a night bag for a diaper bag?

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

That's the way I'm looking at it. Someone needed that stuff more than we did. So be it.

The trooper did say that a very similar event happened last week at a nearby rest area - only a suitcase and some minor things were taken. So it's entirely possible someone needed some clothes and such.

At least that's the theory I'm hanging on to as it's just not my nature to think badly of people. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and we'll move on, being more careful in the future.

 

[surfgirl]

sorry to hear this : (

Another quick thought - if his blackberry is set to automatically login to his email or anything else, he should go to a secure computer (ie. yours) and change his password. Also, if he logs into anything and has that saved on his pc, he should use your pc to change passwords - bank accounts, credit cards, amazon dot com, itunes, etc.

Hate to be paranoid, but an ounce of prevention...

 

[mtblujeans]

We have recently heard of someone's son who had parked his car on a street and someone else driving by saw something on his dashboard they wanted. They stopped, ran over to the car, used one of those little 'hammers' to shatter the windshield, grabbed what they wanted, ran back to their car, and took off. All in front of 2 witnesses. People must think they are moving so fast that no one will see them. The police picked her up a few blocks from the scene and she went right to jail. I certainly hope it was worth it to her!

I'm glad your DH is ok!

 

[herdtoDisney]

OP, I'm sorry this happened to you and dh. It must have been so scary for you, until you were able to see and talk to him, since you can't communicate at work

Hopefully, your insurance co can fix the glass quickly-my van got broken into a couple years ago (about 20 feet from my bedroom window at the apartment complex we lived in before we bought our present home-I didn't hear it ) and State Farm sent the glass fixer place right to my job the next day. The glass was fixed in the parking lot while I was working. So that part was easy enough, thankfully.

It's so weird what people steal. In my case, several cars had been broken into that night, all had ONLY GPS units stolen. The thief reached over my dual-screen DVD player in its bag to reach the GPS unit! A neighbor hit that night had actually left his car unlocked and the thief broke the window anyhow Another guy had left his cell phone and money in the console and again, only the GPS was stolen.

How odd that an overnight bag was stolen. If the thief needed clothes, there are many towns and cities along 95 in CT that have places that give clothes to those in need. Maybe they were looking for prescreption drugs? Who knows.

 

[Soarin_04]

How frightening for you and for him.

I hate to say it...but with the economy in the state it's in and the number of people out of work, some people are becoming more and more desparate and this kind of thing is becoming more and more common.

Just thankful he's ok, you're ok, and that the items can be replaced / repaired, but still keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[dex08]

Wow! I'm glad your DH is okay! I've traveled from Jersey on I-95 up through CT to Boston for work quite a bit and have stopped at some of those rest stops. I'm often overly cautious being a female traveling on my own, but have never even considered the thought that something like that would happen at a rest stop!