I must agree here.. this is the first time that I have heard the sled was taken as well. I think the thief knew what it was and knew what to take, there is enough information on the web if not this very site. If thats the case, the thief probably knows better than to sell it on ebay. I hate to say it but I think this player is gone, ending up in someone elses car.

I remove mine and bring it in with me here at work, but usually leave it in the car if I am just running around town. I may start rethinking that.. and now it seems I need to figure out how to pretect my sled and tuner too!

As for the similar plates.. there could be more going on here than meets the eye. How do we know that the eye witness did not get the correct plate number? The thief may have stolen those as well, put them on his car for just such an emergency, and put his originals back on when he was safe. Just an outside possibility, and I hope a wrong one. Similar numbers provide a better chance of finding the thief.

But I do know that I would not leave my car double parked while performing a crime, that kind of stands out.. dont you think? Maybe this guy is not so bright afterall.

Sorry to hear about this disturbing news - not the kind of news I like to hear about when I just returned to work on a monday morning. This has really made me think twice about where I leave my empeg, but even moreso - where I talk about it and with whom. The thieves themselves may be lurking here and at riocar.org - it has made me think twice about documenting/posting pictures of the install into my new car.

My condolences to Loren, and all the other thieved empeg victims around too. No reason to beat a dead horse - but this guy knew what he was after. It is such a shame things have to be this way, but it will really cause me to think twice about what I say in a public domain like this. Due to the uniqueness of my car - I feel nervous even mentioning what city I reside in/near.

Too bad its inhumane to leash a pit bull to your bumper.

Good luck man. No one likes to serve as an example - but hopefully others here will be a little more careful - I know I won't be leaving my empeg under the seat or in the trunk.

Again, so sorry to hear about it. It makes me so much more happy to have a garage to park my vehicle in at night, though my community is mostly retired people, and my overall local area is a tourist town and retiree area, so there are luckily much fewer crimes than in most areas. But I do travel quite often to less-than-safe areas.

I wonder, and maybe you guys could answer this. How safe is an average laptop security cable? would a theif be carrying something strong enough to cut one? If not, I imagine if you looped it around the bottom of one of the seats, and had the empeg under the seat, there's less of a chance of someone taking it. Just a thought.

*edit*
What do you guys suggest for instances when you can't bring the player with you? The area I was talking about as a bad one for me is the local movie theaters. They're about 25-30 minutes away (for the good ones), and it would be annoying to not have music at all. But I can't put my player in a trunk because I have no trunk (minivan). hmmm...perhaps I'll make some room in the spare tire cavity...

sorry loren.

i think i'm going to screw my sled down to the frame, like what you did in your civic tony, to prevent the sled from being taken as well. and i'm going to start to lock my trunk latch, and just open it from keyhole.

or mebbe even go extreme. bulletproof windows. lets see a thief break that! will help w/ my sound quality also, i hope.

my condolences to the missing empeg and its owner.

If you think there's anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask.

Wanna run some plates for me? heheh.

In reply to:

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think i'm going to screw my sled down to the frame [...] to prevent the sled from being taken as well

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If someone wants your sled they're likely to get it out or destroy your dash trying... At least the sled (via David or soon Rob R.), connector (DigiKey), and soon the tuner (Patrick) are relatively replaceable.

First, to Loren, my condolences. That's a shame.

I remove mine and bring it in with me here at work, but usually leave it in the car if I am just running around town. I may start rethinking that..

Depending on where you live/drive, this just seems like a gamble where it is impossible to know the odds with any precision. So, I don't leave the Empeg in the car unless I have direct line-of-sight to the car, and, sadly, I don't take the Empeg in my car as often as I would if crime/theft wasn't a risk.

As for the similar plates.. there could be more going on here than meets the eye. How do we know that the eye witness did not get the correct plate number? The thief may have stolen those as well, put them on his car for just such an emergency, and put his originals back on when he was safe. Just an outside possibility, and I hope a wrong one. Similar numbers provide a better chance of finding the thief.

Yes, I'd think they should be looking for a Honda with that plate. I mean, *I* never do crimes without some fresh stolen plates.

But I do know that I would not leave my car double parked while performing a crime, that kind of stands out.. dont you think? Maybe this guy is not so bright afterall.

Criminals span the brightness spectrum. This double-parking was probably not stupid from their standpoint as it got the job done. A brazen, nonchalant attitude helps, too. First, honest, innocent citizens can form the impression that "everything must be OK. That guy is just standing there..." ; more jaded citizens can go "no way am I going to ask that guy what he's doing. I could get shot for my trouble." The people who did this probably have experience with the criminal justice system. They know they're taking a chance with some jail time, but they probably don't care very much. Especially if they're juveniles, they know that the risk of prolonged incarceration is small.

These guys don't think like us.

Something that sounded interesting about the "switched plates" idea - well, if the witness did infact get the plate number correct, then one would easily conclude the thief stole the plates from the Jag. But to imply that the thief had them laying around and only used them when he went out to steal something - wouldn't that come up with some big warning in the database police use? I mean, if I was the owner of that Jag, and my plates were stolen, I think I would let law enforcement know... so if he did steal the plates he only just did so.

I like the idea that someone earlier mentioned about cross referencing and using smarter queries of the database to yield results. It's too bad the policemen there for Loren didn't really try harder...

Ahh.. well here is SOME help anyways.

www.publicdata.com

This site provides some basic information when it comes to public records. If I am not mistaken, there is a section where you can enter someones plate and it will give you a name and I think an address.. I have never used that particular part of their database before but I have used this site and think it may be of some help.

Drawbacks, it does not include all 50 states, and there is a small fee.. but well worth it, I am sure, if it helps return your player.

Hey Lorin, I'll go in with you on publicdata.com's $25/year fee if you want ... I'd like to run a plate on a guy that hit&runned me on Friday.

Greg

Here's a free one!

Try entering your own info, it's amazing that they have everyone on file and that you can look this stuff up for free... It scares me that this information is so easily accessible...

http://www.license.shorturl.com/

- Jon

Wanna run some plates for me? heheh.

I would if I could. But somehow I don't think they also have the American cars numperplates database running over here in Belgium.

Wow, that really worked. And the license picture was stunningly accurate.

heheh, welp... looks like the Berkeley PD's plate lookup system is behind Belgium's. =]

Got the window replaced this morning - $207.39
Got an estimate for the lock replacement - $219
Got another estimate for the lock replacement - $350
Talked to Premier Mobile whom USAA uses to do stereo replacement, and as i'd assumed, they'd never heard of the empeg or RioCar and can't purchase one retail or otherwise... and i told them there is nothing comparable. I could always take a Sony or Pioneer HD based unit... psh. So after they come out and do an estimate on Wednesday, I'll have to get back to USAA and see how they wanna handle it. She said they might end up cashing me out... which they will. Meanwhile i'm empeg and music less. I'm just going to install my backup empeg with Kelly's sled, and i'll take it out when the guy gets here Wednesday. All i'll have to do is plug it in since the theif was nice enough to leave all my monster cable in tact. Thanks man! =D

[edit: i really want another mkII, not a mkIIa... anybody have one of those laying around they wanna get rid of?? Weird i know... but they just seemed more solid. heh.]

Hey Lorin, I'll go in with you on publicdata.com's $25/year fee if you want ... I'd like to run a plate on a guy that hit&runned me on Friday.

Thanks for the offer, but i'm just going to push on the Berkeley PD a little more. They have to have that capability.

Hey, I didn't know you had a backup. That's great news!

Now you're probably patting yourself on the back for hanging onto it instead of ebaying it.

heheh, welp... looks like the Berkeley PD's plate lookup system is behind Belgium's. =]

That's scary!

Heh, hell yeah! I never even CONSIDERED ebaying it in reality. I sort of have two backups though one is officially Kelly's... for when she someday gets a car. THAT's how much she loves the thing... she doesn't even know WHEN she'll be getting a car, but she bought one anyway. So.. actually, the backup is the replacement... it's a 60gig MkIIa that has a button hack on it. I just never liked the way it felt or fit in the sled (i'm odd that way), so i used it at home in my component box and kept on using the original in the car. I think i still want a MkII replacement for my main unit so i can keep the MkIIa at home. The blue buttons look better in the component dock than in the car anyway. BUT... i'm still gonna be tunerless, as that was my only one. Though i've had offers... thanks again guys... i'll get back to you Wed. i guess. Unless i get priority with Patrick to ease my grief.... =]

I just never liked the way it felt or fit in the sled (i'm odd that way)

You and me both.

I may be able to run the plates for you... and search for matches.. Not sure if I can access beyond Louisiana though, never really tried. PM me with the info and I'll try and check it tomorrow. Working for the Govt DOES have some advantages.

I gave the paper with the plate to the officer at the scene... dammit! I'm gonna call hiim and see if he'll fork over the number. I'll PM you if so. Thanks for the offer!

No problem.

I am so stupid.

g

Don't worry, the first time I saw it I fell for it too

Everytime I see a new post on this thread, I quickly look to see if Loren has received some good news!
I'll keep checking.
Let me know if you need anything, I have a spare everything.

Loren, That Sucks! =(

I do have one comment, though...

i really want another mkII, not a mkIIa... anybody have one of those laying around they wanna get rid of??

I happen to have a MKII, and have been recently trying to figure out how to upgrade to a MKIIa... I like the MKIIa better, because of the way the knob feels. =/ Mines currently a 12gb, but I'm sure a drive swap wouldn't be too much trouble. I also have a tuner that I've never used, which I would use as part of a barter transaction if need be.

So anyway, let me know if you find a MKIIa and you want to swap it, or whatever. BTW, I'm in Santa Cruz.

Alrighty folks. Just to start to wrap this up. I'm getting more than enough back from my insurance company to cover getting a new empeg, replacing the window, door lock, and LCD screen. Thanks to the generous offers of a few fellow BBS members, i'll be back in business soon! And with the extra $$ I'm going to get a 60 gig drive for my new empeg.

Thanks again for all your kind words and offers of help. This is coming off a bit melodramatic, but seriously... it meant a lot. And it showed what an "insanely great" (tm) community we've got here, virtual and otherwise.

And to the theif, wherever you are, those tracks that are marked need to be re-ripped. Just email me and i'll get your info so i can send you the CD's. Punk.

And to the theif, wherever you are, those tracks that are marked need to be re-ripped. Just email me and i'll get your info so i can send you the CD's. Punk.


LOL. Great to see you haven't lost your sense of humor! I'm glad things are getting worked out..

And to the theif, wherever you are, those tracks that are marked need to be re-ripped. Just email me and i'll get your info so i can send you the CD's. Punk.

Don't you worry your mind about this. I have it on good authority that the heads started skidding across the platters on your Empeg 30 minutes after it was stolen!! Ha! Punks!

"theif"

<singsong voice>
I before E except after C. etc. etc. etc....
</singsong voice>


Z~