MY CAR WAS STOLEN!!! WITH ALL MY LUGGAGE IN IT!!!!!
On Sunday we went to church, came home to finish packing, then headed to Atlanta for the night. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8:30 EST Monday. So we were spending the night over there to keep from waking the kids up at 3:30AM CST and driving over to catch a flight!
For convenience purposes, I had packed us one bag for the night in Atlanta. One bag with each of our pjs, and clothes for the next day. I do this so that we don't have to unload all of our huge suitcases. We just get out the one bag, and our bag of toiletries. When we fly out the next day we leave the overnight bag in the car and take our luggage. I will NEVER do that again.
About 6:30 EST Sunday night Britt and the kids decided they were hungry. Cam wanted to eat chili with beans from the hotel grocery shop. (I explained to him that he was only allowed to eat such when Mama was not there, and he was dressed in camouflage, sitting by a fire in the winter! Only during hunting season is he allowed to ingest such a "gut bomb"!!)
I digress.......
After deciding that we would not be spending our first day in NYC fighting over whose turn it was in the restroom....we headed out for dinner. We passed a Ruby Tuesday near our hotel. Britt asked if that's what we wanted. We all decided against it. That was the only place we saw close by, so we headed out to Camp Creek Parkway. CC Pkwy is the road that leads to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Int'l airport. There is a huge shopping center on that road with a Target, Chic-Fil-A, Red Lobster, Ruby Tuesday, Barnes and Noble, you get the picture. This is a relatively nice, heavily trafficked area. The kids chose Red Lobster. We pulled in to the PACKED parking lot and chose a park to the left of the front door.
This next part makes me sick.
Before we left home I changed purses. I had been carrying a black Coach purse that only snapped closed. To be safe I changed into a small purse with a strap that goes across my body. But it is VERY small. Like a wallet with a strap, really.
Britt asked if I was taking my purse in. Lots of times when we are together, I don't. He was holding his iPhone and his wallet. I told him I was carrying the purse in, but when he saw I had that tiny one he said "Nevermind." So he took his check card out of his wallet then put the wallet and his phone inside the console of my truck. He usually puts it in my purse....
We went in and had a really good dinner. I'm not always impressed with the Dead Lobster, but that night was EXCELLENT! We were in the restaurant for about an hour. So at 8:00 or 8:15 we headed out to get in the car.........or so we thought.
Britt and I were walking toward our parking spot and laughing and talking to the kids. I looked up and didn't see our car. Britt and I looked at each other, then looked back at the empty parking place. I finally said "Where did we park?" and we walked back the other way. Britt and I just kept looking at each other. Each of us with this sick, oh-no-is-this-really-happening look on our faces. We headed back to where our car had been sitting. Britt said "I know this is where we parked. Remember the old camaro sitting there?" We had talked about a car that had been parked beside us. Britt grabbed my phone and called 911.
A few minutes later a police officer arrived and we filed a report. Britt's iPhone. $300 cash. 5 credit/debit cards (business and personal). Britt's checkbook (only about 3 checks left, thankfully). Britt's ID. My Nikon D50. Britt's Sony Cybershot camera. Brighton earrings. 2 Initial Outfitter necklaces. iPod touch. iPod Nano. My iPod mini (I loved my antique iPod). Every pair of my Nike Tempo running shorts. 2 pair of my Nike Shox. And the list goes on and on! I figure about $1500 of my clothes. About $1500 of Britt's clothes. Atleast $1000 of the kids clothes. I still can't wrap my brain around it all. But they got EVERYTHING!
The police officer told us that out of state plates are a big target. Thieves know you have "stuff" because you are transient. Why didn't someone tell me that before??
I had to cancel our trip to NYC. We tried to move it forward one day, but it would cost an additional $2300 in airfare for last minute tickets!!!! Because we couldn't pay the extra for the flight, we lost all the money on the hotel . It was non-refundable. So don't ask what I think about the Sheraton in Times Square!! We got credit for our flights. We have to use it in the next year. It's just a big mess.
The biggest problem I've had with it is the lack of concern by the East Point Police Department. They acted like it wasn't a big deal. No sense of urgency what-so-ever! They told us that they wouldn't look for the car unless it was in an accident or stopped for a traffic violation!!!! Nobody was even looking for it!!! The officer said, "Realistically, anything of value will be gone. But the car should turn up in 2 to 7 days. These people aren't going to keep driving it around. They will abandon it somewhere soon and we will find it. Chances are, your clothes and stuff will be in it."
Oh really? Thanks for all your hard work.
Since then we realized that the thieves used all our credit cards at the SAME Citgo gas station on Headland Ave. We called the police dept. Obviously someone who works at that gas station is helping the theives. The charges were all even amounts and totaled over $800!!!!! They transferred us to a detective's voicemail. We've called twice. Left two different messages. Never heard a word. Nothing.
So why wouldn't you steal cars in Atlanta for a living??? As long as you don't speed or have an accident you can have the car and everything in it!!! Free and clear, no questions asked!
On Sunday we went to church, came home to finish packing, then headed to Atlanta for the night. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8:30 EST Monday. So we were spending the night over there to keep from waking the kids up at 3:30AM CST and driving over to catch a flight!
For convenience purposes, I had packed us one bag for the night in Atlanta. One bag with each of our pjs, and clothes for the next day. I do this so that we don't have to unload all of our huge suitcases. We just get out the one bag, and our bag of toiletries. When we fly out the next day we leave the overnight bag in the car and take our luggage. I will NEVER do that again.
About 6:30 EST Sunday night Britt and the kids decided they were hungry. Cam wanted to eat chili with beans from the hotel grocery shop. (I explained to him that he was only allowed to eat such when Mama was not there, and he was dressed in camouflage, sitting by a fire in the winter! Only during hunting season is he allowed to ingest such a "gut bomb"!!)
I digress.......
After deciding that we would not be spending our first day in NYC fighting over whose turn it was in the restroom....we headed out for dinner. We passed a Ruby Tuesday near our hotel. Britt asked if that's what we wanted. We all decided against it. That was the only place we saw close by, so we headed out to Camp Creek Parkway. CC Pkwy is the road that leads to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Int'l airport. There is a huge shopping center on that road with a Target, Chic-Fil-A, Red Lobster, Ruby Tuesday, Barnes and Noble, you get the picture. This is a relatively nice, heavily trafficked area. The kids chose Red Lobster. We pulled in to the PACKED parking lot and chose a park to the left of the front door.
This next part makes me sick.
Before we left home I changed purses. I had been carrying a black Coach purse that only snapped closed. To be safe I changed into a small purse with a strap that goes across my body. But it is VERY small. Like a wallet with a strap, really.
Britt asked if I was taking my purse in. Lots of times when we are together, I don't. He was holding his iPhone and his wallet. I told him I was carrying the purse in, but when he saw I had that tiny one he said "Nevermind." So he took his check card out of his wallet then put the wallet and his phone inside the console of my truck. He usually puts it in my purse....
We went in and had a really good dinner. I'm not always impressed with the Dead Lobster, but that night was EXCELLENT! We were in the restaurant for about an hour. So at 8:00 or 8:15 we headed out to get in the car.........or so we thought.
Britt and I were walking toward our parking spot and laughing and talking to the kids. I looked up and didn't see our car. Britt and I looked at each other, then looked back at the empty parking place. I finally said "Where did we park?" and we walked back the other way. Britt and I just kept looking at each other. Each of us with this sick, oh-no-is-this-really-happening look on our faces. We headed back to where our car had been sitting. Britt said "I know this is where we parked. Remember the old camaro sitting there?" We had talked about a car that had been parked beside us. Britt grabbed my phone and called 911.
A few minutes later a police officer arrived and we filed a report. Britt's iPhone. $300 cash. 5 credit/debit cards (business and personal). Britt's checkbook (only about 3 checks left, thankfully). Britt's ID. My Nikon D50. Britt's Sony Cybershot camera. Brighton earrings. 2 Initial Outfitter necklaces. iPod touch. iPod Nano. My iPod mini (I loved my antique iPod). Every pair of my Nike Tempo running shorts. 2 pair of my Nike Shox. And the list goes on and on! I figure about $1500 of my clothes. About $1500 of Britt's clothes. Atleast $1000 of the kids clothes. I still can't wrap my brain around it all. But they got EVERYTHING!
The police officer told us that out of state plates are a big target. Thieves know you have "stuff" because you are transient. Why didn't someone tell me that before??
I had to cancel our trip to NYC. We tried to move it forward one day, but it would cost an additional $2300 in airfare for last minute tickets!!!! Because we couldn't pay the extra for the flight, we lost all the money on the hotel . It was non-refundable. So don't ask what I think about the Sheraton in Times Square!! We got credit for our flights. We have to use it in the next year. It's just a big mess.
The biggest problem I've had with it is the lack of concern by the East Point Police Department. They acted like it wasn't a big deal. No sense of urgency what-so-ever! They told us that they wouldn't look for the car unless it was in an accident or stopped for a traffic violation!!!! Nobody was even looking for it!!! The officer said, "Realistically, anything of value will be gone. But the car should turn up in 2 to 7 days. These people aren't going to keep driving it around. They will abandon it somewhere soon and we will find it. Chances are, your clothes and stuff will be in it."
Oh really? Thanks for all your hard work.
Since then we realized that the thieves used all our credit cards at the SAME Citgo gas station on Headland Ave. We called the police dept. Obviously someone who works at that gas station is helping the theives. The charges were all even amounts and totaled over $800!!!!! They transferred us to a detective's voicemail. We've called twice. Left two different messages. Never heard a word. Nothing.
So why wouldn't you steal cars in Atlanta for a living??? As long as you don't speed or have an accident you can have the car and everything in it!!! Free and clear, no questions asked!
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3 comments:
I am so sorry. I have been lurking on your blog for awhile, but I had to comment on this one. So sorry. I bet that is a terrible feeling and the havoc it caused just makes me sick for you.
Thanks, Mama Hen. My husband and I have prayed and prayed for the people who took it. They have no idea. Not that they care. But, they think they only took my car, and luggage. They do not realize that instead of showing my children the sights and history of NYC, I am home, canceling credit cards, calling the bank every morning to make sure nothing has been presented for payment (there were 6 checks in my husband's checkbook). Instead of being on vacation, I'm home. More stressed than I ever was before I needed a vacation!
So sorry about your ordeal. My sister and her family were on their way home from Disney World, when they stopped to stay in Atlanta. Early that morning, the fire alarm at the hotel went off and they had to go outside. They went to put their young girls in the car, only to discover that someone had broken the window out and stole all electronic items that they didn't take inside including two cameras and a video camera with all of their pics and video from their once in a lifetime trip. They had rummaged through their suitcases too. Being at a restaurant, they wouldn't know when you would be coming out and didn't have time to pick and choose so just took it all. Needless to say, my sister never recovered anything. The sad thing is, they always took those things inside but the kids were crying when they got there, it was raining, etc. and they just didn't get the camera bag. I got that same sick feeling when I read your story that I had when she called and told us what had happened. I feel for you and will pray for peace for you and your family. Lisa
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