Truck Stolen (and recovered) - Please Read

My truck was stolen from my driveway Friday morning at 1:37am. Obviously targeted based on how the thief approached the house and my truck. I live in a safe area but we have had lots of different construction crews in the neighborhood over the last two weeks so it makes ya wonder.

Once I realized it was stolen (unfortunately not until the morning), I called police. Right when I hung up, I remembered I had an air tag in the truck. By this time it's about 830am. Last ping on the air tag was 7am. Figured it was long gone, or getting chopped up in a warehouse somewhere. Jumped in my car and went to the location on the air tag which is in a high crime area. Didn't know if I was going to get in a gun fight, find the truck, or what was going to happen, but running on adrenalin for sure. Haul ass down there (about 7-8 miles away), and find the truck dumped in an apartment complex. Huge huge relief as I have a ton of money in the truck, and tons of money in new parts waiting to go on. I was preparing myself to basically lose like $50-$60k.

As soon as I located the truck I called the police, they were there in literally 30 seconds. We then entered the vehicle.

Truck was obviously taken on a little joy ride, as both sides of the truck are scratched up heavy. I would be sad, but the truck is super white paint and it's chipping in areas, so needs painted anyways. Anything that could be damaged suspension wise is getting replaced during the rebuild.

They did make out with a lot of stuff that was in the truck. I didn't even think I kept many valuables in the truck but once you take a few days to remember everything it definitely adds up.

Cliff notes:
$20 air tag saved me $60k.

 

Glad to hear a happy ending here! Also glad you didn't find yourself in an altercation with someone who obviously has no regard for their own life - could've gone completely south. This story was best case scenario for sure. But potentially not over unfortunately. You're not wrong to assume it was targeted, so just keep in mind they may be back at some point.

This also seems like an appropriate place to remind folks to be mindful of what you're posting on socials (including TW). There's a reason I don't have a build thread or post photos of my truck (although if someone wanted to know which truck I drove, they could do the digging and figure out). With extensive threads that list everything you do to your truck, where you've installed killswitches/airtags, what valuables you have, what firearms you do or don't carry, etc, its an open invitation for thieves. And while most people on this forum seem like good people, we're not all good members of society unfortunately; not to mention the forums are public, anyone can view these threads.

Edited to add - this is no dig on OP/don't even know if he has a build thread, just mean involvement in public forums in general; I had a firearm stolen out of my truck - it was most definitely a targeted attack, in the middle of the day/broad daylight, in a lot full of other cars and trucks. It made me rethink the possibility of someone on TW watching your forum involvement and the content you post, putting together clues, and fine tuning who, when, and where they wanna strike.

 

Great post

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100% those do the scouting. I had similar experience

 

i will add to this: posting about how you can shoot someone in your state, etc. is also not advised.
those posts are sure to come (they have in the past). if there is any possibility, if you get in a bind, your posts can be found and used against you in criminal court. mindset etc.
and what WTF is up with nextdoor.com? every criminal lives in some neighborhood.

op: great post and nothing you could have done in NC regardless of "stand your ground" unless you are attacked.
hint: garage >> security cam notification >> air tag but they all have value.

 

How long does a typical AirTag last? And how do you think they started the truck was your fob spoofed?

 

This is what I’d like to know too.

 

Good on you OP for using technology to track down your ride. But if someone stole my truck, then they can have it. I don't think I would be willing to risk my safety chasing down a stolen vehicle, but everyone is different.

 

That sucks man, but glad you at least got it back.

I'm not car theft savvy so how did they get it started? Any damage to the ignition system?

 

If not a spoof of the key my guess is something related to the CANBUS. I recall seeing an article some time ago where a Rav4 was stolen by breaking into the damned foglights.

Glad to hear you got it back.

 

If the truck was stock I would 100% agree. Technically in my case these thieves stole approx $50k from me that wasn’t insured. I wasn’t going to let that slide, maybe you have more money than me.

 

I feel for you buddy. I had my taco stolen out of my yard in the middle of the night. It was found 2 days later burnt to a crisp in an abandoned old railway yard. I was shaking my head to why would someone steal it and burn it. The cops say that the truck was in demand by thieves but they also think that whoever stole it realized it was not the model that they wanted so they just torched it. I was sad but then the insurance gave the full price of a new one as my policy covered the truck for 3 years with full replacement value, Still those bastards got away with it.

 

No insurance?

 

I'd like to think I'd feel this same way, but wouldn't hold it against myself to do the same thing in the heat of the moment. Its easy to say today that I've got insurance, file a police report, file an insurance claim, and jump through the hoops for a few weeks of major inconvenience. I think it'd also be easy to say I know where its at, I've got x-amount invested in it, and its much more than just losing a vehicle - not everyone can afford the luxury of losing a vehicle. For some, its their only vehicle. Its their only means of getting to work, kid to/from daycare or school, etc. Those 2 things alone are complex issues, and losing the ability to do either create stressors far beyond one's self-awareness of their own well-being or safety. I can't blame OP for acting on it. Fortunately, it worked out for him. I have to imagine it wouldn't go that way 9 times out 10.

 

I don’t think what he did was all that dangerous. He was just a dude walking around in the city. Presumably the thieves had no idea who he was. I would have likely done the same thing, because I wouldn’t have trusted the police to act immediately if I had given them the AirTag coordinates. Having the truck in eyeballs is more likely to motivate them. But what do I know. I live in a “high crime area”.

 

My carrier doesn’t even offer CPE coverage, let alone 50k worth

 

The assholes probably left it sitting there to watch it for a couple of days to see if anybody was keeping eyes on it or if the cops showed up. They probably knew there was an AirTag in it or maybe they didn’t. Check out YouTube on how to disable the speaker of your AirTag. Glad you got it back OP!

 

No I strange on the mods. Thats why he said if it was stock he wouldn't have chased it.

 

$50K worth of accessories? I think we have figured out the root of your issue! Why on earth would you spend that kind of money on truck stuff and not have it insured via some policy rider?

PS: I have tons of money and great insurance, but that is not why I would let my vehicle go. Are you saying your life is worth $50K?

 

You got any more photos and videos? You mind posting em up?