What have you had stolen?

[liz]

Recent threads about stolen phones and bikes have got me thinking. About a year ago I had my cell phone stolen from work. I was on call that day and needed to charge my phone, so I plugged it in (very discreetly) behind some electronics and when I went to get it, it was gone. This was an area frequented by employees and patients. I know it sounds stupid now, but I honestly never thougth it would get stolen. I also dropped my purse outside my friends house (in high school) and when I went looking for it, my paycheck was gone. I still hate those people :32:

What have you had stolen?

[KHF]

We had our entire binder of kids DVDs stolen out of our car. Probably around 100 DVDs or so. Right after we moved into our new house, DH forgot to lock the car and had the binder sitting in DD's carseat. Not too bright. They stole that, and nothing else.

I doubt they were hoping for Elmo, cartoons and Disney movies though, so I like to think they got a tiny bit of the karma they deserved.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Like 11 years ago I had all my DVDs (in a binder) stolen from the mailroom of my apartment building.

Last year I had my camera, just some of the contents of my wallet and a few other things stolen out of my car. I had left my purse in my car overnight while the car was in my driveway. I didn't know anythng had been stolen stolen b/c they were sneaky with taking ones that weren't often needed along with some gift cards I wasn't paying much attention to. I thought I lost my camera in th ehouse and turned it upside down. But, one day I got one of health insurance cards mailed to me from someone the next neighborhood over who said they found it laying on the sidewalk. Creeped me out!!

Beth

[elliput]

When I was in college, I had a Treasury Dept check stolen. I was living in my sorority house over the summer and had gone home between the summer and fall sessions so I wasn't there to pick up the check. Two summer boarders (not sorority sisters) apparently went through the mail and tried to cash the check at one of those "no ID required" places. They failed to realize that the place would call the sorority house to confirm identity anyway and were denied due to the fact that my sisters knew I was out of town and not pregnant. :rolleye0014: When I returned to school, I had to file a police report, received the torn up check and was able to get a new one issued by the gov't. And, yeah, the boarders were kicked out of the house that same day. Also, as soon as I could get direct deposit set up, I did.

[momm]

I had my car broken into and my GPS stolen. someone actually smashed the window at like 2 in the afternoon, in a tiny parking lot of a tiny office, with people coming in and out all the time. Amazing timing they had that no one saw them. I went out to go for a late lunch and there's glass everywhere. Ugh. More creepy and violating than anything else.

[cvanbrunt]

A grill off our front porch one July 4th. Someone really wanted to have a cookout, I guess.

[belovedgandp]

My entire purse/diaper bag about 2 1/2 years ago from the hooks in the lobby of a baby gym place. We were in the playroom (two other moms with kids and teacher) when someone opened the front door, walked in and took it. Weirdly the bag showed up four days later in front of a dept store. I got a lot of personal things back, but the whole thing was stripped of value - camera, phone, cash, gift cards, even free kids meal tokens. They'd opened up the church offering envelopes, saw it was a check and left them in the bag. I'd already done all the legwork to cancel cards, replace car keys, change locks on the house. It was a $1000 mistake and a lot of work.

DH left car unlocked in driveway and lost a GPS.

In HS I left my purse in class to go to my locker, came back and $60 cash I'd just gotten to buy a group gift was gone. That one burned more because it was obviously someone I knew in that room vs the stranger/kids later in life.

[kristac]

A brand new slr camera- literally it was my first outing with it (I was 16 and taking my first photography class).

DH left the car unlocked at a park and someone stole our gps.

[mom2khj]

In college, my car was broken into twice. First time they took the stereo and my prescription sunglasses. Second time, they took just the stereo.

Earlier this year, DH left our cars unlocked in the driveway and his GPS was taken along with DD1's iPod and DD2's portable DVD player.

[lizzywednesday]

My cell phone car charger was stolen from my Neon in 2006.

They smashed the driver's side window and cracked the windshield, in addition to doing some body damage.

All of my CDs were still there, along with a "Bio 101 Survival Kit" I'd put together for my sister, but my $6 car charger was gone and my car was a mess of glass.

Other than that, when my childhood home was foreclosed on in 1996, some of my things went missing from my bedroom after my father had effectively moved out. They weren't of high monetary value, but more emotional value, like the keyboard I'd had since I was 8 and the last Christmas present my dad's dad was alive to give me, so it really stung for a while.

And my grill was stolen BY MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS in 2003. And I know this because I saw them using it within a week of its disappearance. When we bought a new one, we chained it to the back porch.

[WolfpackMom]

Ive had my car window smashed in twice.
Once in CA and my ipod was stolen, I thought it was covered up in the center console, apparantly I was wrong.
The second time was on my drive moving from CA to NC. My aunt and stayed at a hotel literally in the middle of nowhere Arkansas or Oklahoma. There were field and 3 hotels and a group of people who went out one night and smashed and grabbed from 9 cars. My aunt had her slr camera stolen, my laptop was in the car but luckily they didnt grab that bag, but did grab a couple other inconsequential things I cant even remember right now.

[crl]

Cash out my purse when I left it behind in a restaurant--this was in college so a very long time ago. And even longer ago, som sleds out of our backyard when I was a kid. Considering how often I leave my diaper bag lying around at parks and how often I forget to lock car doors, I have been lucky!

Catherine

[Twoboos]

Gold jewelry (earrings and either a necklace or bracelet) I had left in a drawer in a hotel room (at Disney!) in high school. Stoooo-piiid. :duh:

[lowrioh]

I had 3 bras and 4 pairs of panties stolen off our laundry line while we were living overseas in a developing nation. Initially I was angry but then I figured that if the thief was so desperate that they were stealing my underwear that they were pretty destitute. We also had our car broken into and my favorite Cat Stevens tape stolen while we were living there.

[kijip]

My personal favorite: years ago someone stole what they likely thought was a little knapsack style purse from me at the Ballard Pool in Seattle. Really it was a wet bag for dirty cloth diapers and they made off with one of Ts toddler bm diapers. I have always wished I was there to see the look on their face when they found out. That thought comforted me over the loss of the diapers and the bag.

Somebody once stole my guitar when my brother took it to school with him one day. If I were to ever find that kid, I would be inclined to smack them upside the head as it was not only a vintage guitar, but a gift from a beloved family friend to me. I still think of this person as a kid, though it was a decade ago, so they are likely at least 25.

[MamaMolly]

Our house was robbed while we were living overseas in 2205. They used a metal pipe to bash in a deadbolt on the grill on our door. They stole bottles of alcohol, almost all my jewelry including my wedding ring and engagement ring! I'd taken them off that day because I had to go to work in a taxi (which I had to hail in the street) and didn't like walking around with the rings on. There had been incidents of women getting the jewelry taken off their bodies at knife point while out in public. They also took our Reeboks, and the bitterest pill were the suitcases they used to cart it all away. Grrrrr.

It took a long time to get over it, but I"m much more philosophical about 'stuff' now.

[lowrioh]

Our house was robbed while we were living overseas in 2205. They used a metal pipe to bash in a deadbolt on the grill on our door. They stole bottles of alcohol, almost all my jewelry including my wedding ring and engagement ring! I'd taken them off that day because I had to go to work in a taxi (which I had to hail in the street) and didn't like walking around with the rings on. There had been incidents of women getting the jewelry taken off their bodies at knife point while out in public. They also took our Reeboks, and the bitterest pill were the suitcases they used to cart it all away. Grrrrr.

It took a long time to get over it, but I"m much more philosophical about 'stuff' now.

Did they leave their old shoes behind? Neighbors of our had their house burgled and the thieves stole Reeboks and left their old worn shoes behind. It seemed pretty funny at the time.

[DietCokeLover]

In college, someone stole the driver's side WHEELS off my car.

Most recently, because we own a motel, things get stolen from us all the time. Ridiculous things such as:
lightbulbs, batteries, remote controls, pillows, blankets, towels, Bibles, ice buckets, etc etc. It's amazing the excuses people will come up with when they are caught! "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have thought that King size blanket was my coat and put it in my suitcase."

[Twoboos]

In college, someone stoll the driver's side WHEELS off my car.



OMG, my dad's girlfriend had all 4 tires stolen off her car when she was at my dad's apt complex a few years ago. They were nice enough to put her car up on blocks for her. Yah, rough n'hood.

[Penny's Pappa]

-- When I was in middle school, our house was broken into. They stole jewelery, cash, and my beloved Super Nintendo :(

-- I have had at least 3 car stereos stolen. One time they also stole ~200 CDs.

-- I have had my car ransacked. I assume it was a homeless person looking for some change.

-- I left my credit card at a restaurant once. By the time I realized it was missing, there were over $1200 in fraudulent charges put on the card.

[Penny's Pappa]

My personal favorite: years ago someone stole what they likely thought was a little knapsack style purse from me at the Ballard Pool in Seattle. Really it was a wet bag for dirty cloth diapers and they made off with one of Ts toddler bm diapers. I have always wished I was there to see the look on their face when they found out. That thought comforted me over the loss of the diapers and the bag.

:hysterical:

ETA: Sorry about your bag.

[egoldber]

When we lived in CA, DH's car was broken into a couple times for the cd player/changer.

I left my purse in a Starbucks once and the purse was returned, but they took the cash from my wallet. And I happened to have over $100 in it that day, which was really unusual for me.

Someone stole a hat that older DD had left in a shopping cart once when she was a toddler. I am still annoyed by that.

But really, I'm more amazed at what has NOT been stolen from me, given how generally careless we are about these things. I've left all kinds of things in unlocked rooms at hospitals, forgotten to lock my car, accidentally left the sliding door of my van open several times and nothing was stolen, even in high crime/high traffic areas.

[crayonblue]

When we lived in CA, DH's car was broken into a couple times for the cs player/changer.

I left my purse in a Starbucks once and the purse was returned, but they took the cash from my wallet. And I happened to have over $100 in it that day, which was really unusual for me.

Someone stole a hat that older DD had left in a shopping cart once when she was an toddler. I am still annoyed by that.

But really, I'm more amazed at what has NOT been stolen from me, given how generally careless we are about these things. I've left all kinds of things in unlocked rooms at hospitals, forgotten to lock my car, accidentally left the sliding door of my van open several times and nothing was stolen, even in high crime/high traffic areas.

Yep, and I've left the garage door open several times. Amazed nothing has walked off!

The only thing I can think of is DH's wedding band. He took it off at a gym and put it next to him while he worked out. Someone snatched it.

[daisymommy]

This Summer I accidentally left my purse in my car, parked in my driveway. I never do that. But that day it was raining, I was carrying in kids and groceries, and I was in a hurry to get inside.

The next morning my Coach purse--the only nice purse I own, a gift for my birthday, and wallet--with CC and gift cards inside was gone. Along with my GPS that was hidden under the seats.

I felt so violated, and scared knowing someone was in my driveway, in front of my house, where we had all been sleeping. This is in a nice neighborhood with an extremely low crime rate, so I was a little surprised. I think the economy is causing more things like this.

[MommyAllison]

Our car was stolen on Halloween a few years ago. We did get it back, but found out a couple weeks later that the thief was a person who committed a horrendous crime that evening (thankfully not in our car!), and was arrested with my car keys in his pocket. We traded the car in as soon as the police finished searching it. :(

[BabbyO]

I can't say I've really had anything physical stolen. I had my car window smashed in once and there was literally thousands of dollars worth of equipment in it (survey equipment for work) and NOTHING was taken.

However, last year I got a corporate credit card. I used it ONCE in a teeny tiny podunk town in Northern WI. A week later the number was used to purchase "vet equipment" in Great Britain. I still can't figure out how the number (the card was still safe in my purse) was stolen...but it was SO weird. Thankfully, we have an entire dept to handle that stuff...so it didn't really affect me.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

a $2000 laptop (this was like five years ago). i was in grad school, was in my office and had to make copies for the classes i was going to TA that afternoon. i stupidly left my office door open a crack and when i got back 5 mins later, my laptop was gone. :( i even had one of those laptop locks on it as well, but the thief had managed to rip it.

for anyone reading this, take this to be lesson to ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE. i was 6 months away from graduating with my PhD...i can't imagine how bad it would have sucked if i hadn't backed up my data (six years of research data, thesis, etc). luckily i didn't lose anything since everything was backed up on the servers (did daily back up). i knew others that were not so lucky...there was a professor in my department who lost 100 pages of work on a textbook he was writing because his laptop got stolen, and he hadn't backed up the drive in months so he lost all that work. i can't imagine!!

that was the only time i've ever been robbed, thankfully. DH got his apartment robbed in 2004, they stole his digital camera, laptop, playstation and his roomates' computers/electronics as well. when DH moved out a few years later, the same apartment got robbed again. oh and DH got his bike stolen the day after he got it.

all this was at MIT or in Cambridge, MA..like any college town, robberies are super-rampant. right now we live in a ridiculously low-crime area...when something gets stolen in a car, it practically makes the news.

[shawnandangel]

1. My car stereo - joke was on them, the cd player didn't work. hah!
2. My freaking hub caps off a 1992 Ford Taurus - really????
3. My debit card was stolen at a fast food restaurant. The guy swore he gave it back to me but he didn't. I spoke to his manager, who actually backed up his employee and said he would never steal. I whipped out my phone, called the bank and reported it stolen. I said "have fun with the card you can't use, a$$hole"

[tamie]

After college I had a 1972 Beetle that I drove from Indiana to Florida to live. Two months after moving, my car was stolen from the parking lot in the mall where I worked. I had changed my full coverage Indiana insurance to liability only Florida insurace the day before.

My shell of a car was found 3 days later. It had been stripped. I still miss that car!

[melwe]

We had our cars broken into before. Pretty sure they were not bright kids though. DH had all his CDs, LED flashlight, and sunglasses taken. They left all his expensive tools and tackle box with very expensive fishing lures. I had an iPod cassette player adaptor, cheap sunglasses, and all my spare change stolen from my car. Long story... but my social security card was in the car. We found it one house over with a bunch of other things that they grabbed and just threw away. We were very grateful that they were not the brightest juvenile delinquents. ;)

[mypa]

My wallet at the airport while I was sitting and reading a book. They took it right under my nose! Thank goodness I took most of my stuff out of my wallet while traveling and kept my driver's license in my pocket so I was still able to show proof of ID and was able to board.

[lalasmama]

Last May I had my mail stolen on Friday, my car stolen on Saturday, and my mail stolen again the following Wednesday. Oh, and my identity was comprimised; my SSN and an old driver's licence were in the car (I had been using it as a storage unit, unfortunately). It was a BAD week.

Other than that, I've been relatively lucky.

[happymom]

My car was broken into several years ago, but nothing was actually stolen. My cell phone was stolen a few years ago- that was very upsetting. DH had just surprised me with a brand new cool phone (completely unexpected) as a gift. Long story short, I accidentally dropped it on the street- realized 2 minutes later and when I came back for it, it was already gone! I was so upset.

Last summer, someone stole a hanging plant right off my porch! I had 2 matching ones hanging on either side of the front door. After one was taken, I was never able to find another matching one to replace it. Which was annoying, but obviously not a big deal in the scheme of things! It just felt so weird to have something stolen right off my porch!

[rachelh]

I feel like my list is long...I have bad luck!

RockStar Baby Stroller - DH left it outside somewhere and someone walked off with it. I went to file a police report - the cops thought I was nuts.

Ipod Touch - someone stole it out of DH desk drawer at work. He knows who it was bec there were only 3 other people working in his office then (one being his boss.) The person no longer works there but we don't have our Ipod back

My purse - inlcuding CCs, debit card, check book, license, etc. I am sure there was more in there. Cancelled everything - very aggravating but thank gd they only charged $40 at McDonalds before we realized

My GPS - yes I stupidly left it in the windshield so they smashed the drivers side window and stole it

[MontrealMum]

When I was a kid my bike was stolen out of our garage :( My dad even took me down to the police station to check their "stolen" locker, though he knew it wouldn't be there.

My purse was stolen out of the car at the beach when I was in h/s, but really, stupid me for having left it in the open.

Early on when I was in grad. school 5 books were stolen from my carrel and the university library wanted to charge me for them. Grrr....I disputed it and won, but WTH steals library books from within the library? Especially when they could have just taken down the titles and recalled them.

As an adult, my car was broken into when parked at a restaurant downtown (here in Mtl). They took a scarf and a Gap bag...wait for it...full of trash! It was my "car" trash bag and filled with used kleenex. Mind you, it wasn't much ironic justice as I had a $350 deductable at the time so I had to pay out of pocket to replace the window that they broke. And it was January so it was a pretty unpleasant ride to the police station, back home, and then to the garage. But seriously, what did they think was in there, khakis???

[Uno-Mom]

My personal favorite: years ago someone stole what they likely thought was a little knapsack style purse from me at the Ballard Pool in Seattle. Really it was a wet bag for dirty cloth diapers and they made off with one of Ts toddler bm diapers. I have always wished I was there to see the look on their face when they found out. That thought comforted me over the loss of the diapers and the bag.



Oh dear lord! If only the jerk who stole my phone at that kids'consignment sale last week had gotten a wetbag of Sprog's fetid prefolds in the bargain.

I'd feel much less PO'd this week if that were the case.

[Uno-Mom]

When I was in high school, somebody stole what they probably thought was my laptop but was actually a briefcase full of my Hebrew language notes.

[Puddy73]

My purse was stolen in Las Vegas. I was really upset because I had a fair amount of cash (our fun money for the trip) plus a watch and some cosmetics that I had just bought that day. It was about a month after 9/11 and I was also worried about flying home with no ID, but when I showed the police report they didn't even bat an eye.

[momof2girls]

Funny, I was going to post a similar topic as DD just has her IPod Touch stolen from my other DDs' karate class! Poor thing saved up for it only to have it taken as we were funbling for our jackets and shoes as we were leaving. Who steals froma kid? I'm enraged over the whole thing!
In high school someone stole my cash from my purse in the gym locker room.

[candaceb]

I have been pretty lucky that I've never had anything of much value stolen.

In college, an acquaintance stole $20 from my desk drawer.

In our neighborhood, we have teenage kids with nothing to do so they do stupid stuff like stealing lawn ornaments and bashing mailboxes. I had 3 glass globes that glow at night and change colors stuck into the ground out by the mailbox. Two years ago, one disappeared. Last summer, a couple of days after DS came home from the hospital, a second disappeared along with the "it's a boy" balloon that my neighbor attached to our mailbox. Seriously? who steals an "it's a boy" balloon?

[happymomma]

When I was a kid, someone stole my bike. The funny thing was that it was unique bike (chinese). A few weeks later, I see this kid riding my bike. It was obvious that it wasn't his bike. I actually went up to him and demanded it back. He did give it back to me.

Other times, we had left our sled on our front porch and people stole it from us (I was a kid at the time also).

The big one was when I was working, I left my purse in my cubicle and someone stoled a few of my cards. They were smart. They only took the ones that were in the back of my wallet (ones that I didn't use) and so I didn't noticed it until I got my statement. It was awful. I didn't have enough money to cover the costs. Luckily I eventually got it all back from the bank. But it was a huge headache. I had to file a police report.

[mommylamb]

However, last year I got a corporate credit card. I used it ONCE in a teeny tiny podunk town in Northern WI. A week later the number was used to purchase "vet equipment" in Great Britain. I still can't figure out how the number (the card was still safe in my purse) was stolen...but it was SO weird. Thankfully, we have an entire dept to handle that stuff...so it didn't really affect me.

I bet that where you made that purchase that they copied your card with one of those skimming machines (I think that's what they're called) and then sold your number to someone in GB and that's how they came to use your card number even though you still had your physical card. It's a frightening world.

[elephantmeg]

lots of stuff in Africa-most memorable was my sandles-I was playing tag with some kids on a tennis court and left them next to the court, when we were finished the shoes were gone.

someone broke into our house twice in Jamaica and stole random stuff. My brother caught one guy in the tool area and told him to leave and he did!

nothing really since. Oh yes, our snow shovel from our front porch!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

My personal favorite: years ago someone stole what they likely thought was a little knapsack style purse from me at the Ballard Pool in Seattle. Really it was a wet bag for dirty cloth diapers and they made off with one of Ts toddler bm diapers. I have always wished I was there to see the look on their face when they found out. That thought comforted me over the loss of the diapers and the bag.
.

sorry about your bag, but i love this story..seriously, being surprised with toddler poop, that has got to be the best karma out there for stealing a bag! OMG, yeah, i can't imagine the look on the thief's face when they found out. hope that made him/her think twice about stealing again!

[Green_Tea]

I've never had anything taken from my home or car, but was mugged in Kingston, Jamaica when I was there doing a service project in college. The mugger didn't hurt me (though he did knock me down), but took $150 in cash that I was using to buy paint for a school I was painting.

I figured he really needed the money. I was actually more disturbed by watching a stray dog get stoned to death in the street that day.

[gatorsmom]

In college I had my purse stolen from my car and my bike. I was stupid enough to leave them in my car overnight in a high crime area. I've since learned my lesson well about keeping things within my sight.

We live not quite on a lake but our neighborhood has a marina where we keep our boat docked all summer. Nearly EVERY summer on laborday weekend, our boats get broken into. Normally, they unzip or unbutton the canvas top and either carefully take the stereos and faceplates out or look for other random stuff lying around. This last labor day they actually cut the canvas tops with a knife and stole our stereo. I think DH was more sad about the canvas top being ripped beyond repair. But a few years ago we reported the theft of our stereo and face plate and the area detective actually found it in a kids car. It took a few months but he came back to us with the stereo and the story of how it all went down. He told us that there has been a ring of kids that live on the other side of our lake that will take their parents' boats and cruise around breaking into other boats to steal stuff. They then resell the things they find to pay for their drug habits. According to the detective, when they confronted the parents with proof and witnesses of what these kids had done, the parents became super defensive, denied that their precious children could have anything to do with it, would not listen to the detectives and ordered them off their lawns. These were wealthy people with high-power jobs. It caused quite the scandal around the lake. We were just thrilled to get our stereo back. :)

[DebbieJ]

I had my portable CD player stolen out of my car in my driveway. I left it unlocked.

DH had his car broken into while parked overnight on the street in the city of Chicago. They broke a window and took his radio/cd player out.

[Toba]

When I lived with my ex-fiance in another life, we lived in a small cul-de-sac with a lagoon in the backyard. My car was out front in the driveway and someone smashed my driver's side window to steal my really nice radar detector (Wow, remember when those were popular?? That's how long ago it was). I was more pissed off about the window than the radar detector. Someone who was checking on a friend's boat nearby rang the doorbell and told me ... never heard a thing.

A couple of years ago, DH brought home this humongous ice maker. That's all it was ... just an ice maker. When we still had a side business, one of his clients (a surgi-center) had replaced their mandatory ice maker with a new one and gave him the old one. DH left it on the side of our house when he got home in the evening and was planning on taking it to my parent's house (where we have pool parties and barbecues all summer long) the next morning. When we got up, it was gone. It was all aluminum and I'm sure somebody was scouting aluminum to take it to recycling for money. DH was furious. It was worth about $1500 but we didn't pay a dime for it, so what can you do?

The place that DH works at is in a small, tightly packed town. They own buildings (converted houses) within a two block radius of the main building. None of them are connected and they are usually left open during the day because multiple people have offices in them. DH had an office in one of them for a year or two. He left his brand new bluetooth ear piece charging on his desk and left to go to the main building. It was gone when he came back. Still mad about that one.

So not too bad ... but I have to tell a quick story about DH's grandmother who passed away 2 years ago. :( Anyway, her long time neighbor had many hydrangea bushes in their yard. They were gorgeous and filled up most of their whole front yard. Someone came by and asked to cut them to use to make crafts and would pay her. She refused and the next morning, Gram went over there to have tea and discovered that all the hydrangeas had been cut during the night. Total lowlifes to steal from an elderly woman who worked all day on her gardens.