To whoever smashed my driver side window at work today...

[mjr]

WHY?!?!

There's nothing in my car to steal! Unless you want an old, $10 pair of sunglasses, a Lowe's business card from when I was there a couple of weeks ago, or a cup with a professional baseball team on it. Or maybe my son's booster seat.

I know my car is eight years old, and "low end" for what it is, but it's paid for, and it's MINE. That doesn't give you the right to smash out the window!

[Kagato]

Sadly thiefs don't care. If they think that there may be something of value in the car, they will attempt a smash and grab - it may be a VERY good idea to go to your police station and get the console, glovebox and door dusted for fingerprints, as they may have left evidence behind in their rush to see if there was anything worth grabbing.

I'd also suggest contacting your insurance company, I don't know what your particular company is like, but most companies these days seem to have clauses for repairing broken windows for a minimal cost.

[mjr]

They never made it into the car. The glass is tempered, so it just cracked into a million little cracks, with two good sized holes in it. My theory is that they put the two holes in it, realized it was tempered, and ran off, or someone almost caught them in the act.

I think I have a $500 deductible, but the officers who came and took my report suggested I just get it fixed and don't report to insurance, since it'll be less than $500, and reporting it would probably make my insurance go up.

[TheSHAD0W]

They never made it into the car. The glass is tempered, so it just cracked into a million little cracks, with two good sized holes in it.

That sort of damage is typical for a window hit with projectiles, probably from a BB gun but possibly from a firearm...

[gremcint]

might not even be a thief, might be just some dickhead.

[Deserted]

I think I have a $500 deductible, but the officers who came and took my report suggested I just get it fixed and don't report to insurance, since it'll be less than $500, and reporting it would probably make my insurance go up.

Not "probably", definitely. I worked for an insurance agent for a year (my stepfather at the time) and without exception he told every single one of his clients to pay for it themselves, even the ones with lower deductibles.

[mjr]

might not even be a thief, might be just some dickhead.

That thought did cross my mind. But I don't know anyone in the area. I doubt it's anyone I work with.

[mjr]

That sort of damage is typical for a window hit with projectiles, probably from a BB gun but possibly from a firearm...

Well, the parking lot is just to the immediate north of the building, and the building is immediately adjacent to a freeway access road, which is immediately adjacent to a freeway. And from where the holes were, a projectile probably doesn't make sense. Especially since there were other cars in the way that a projectile would have likely hit first. One of the holes was sort of T shaped and in the upper-middle part of the window, and the other was down by the mirror. I didn't find a projectile in the car (though I haven't looked thoroughly). There were shards of glass inside and outside the car.

I have to cover it with a plastic bag today (it's supposed to rain here), and drive my wife's car and cross my fingers.

I know I just started this job six weeks or so ago, but this is seriously making me re-think working there. Especially since one of the people that works at the building (and the police) said that stuff like that happens semi-regularly there. I even heard (second-hand) that a guy got his car stolen from the parking garage there not too long ago.

[Gerrinson]

You may want to check your insurance policy to see if there is a deductible on glass.

My policy has a $0 deductible for glass replacement.

[CoffeeMonkey]

My car was broken into at work once. Window smashed and stereo stolen. It was a crappy old car, but had a nice stereo in it that my brother gave me for graduation. It all turned out well in the end, though, because I reported the MSRP of the stereo, and the insurance guy said "oky doky" and sent me a check, no hassle. I used part of it to buy a cheaper stereo, and the rest on the new muffler I needed, and the window cost twenty bucks at a junkyard and my brother and his friend put it in. So I actually came out ahead!

[Jay 2K Winger]

Only places I've really worried about my car getting jacked or broken into were the Metro station near where I live, and the parking lot behind the old ECW Arena in South Philly.

It never happened.

That said, I did realize as I got off work last night that I'd left my car unlocked. Fortunately, I work in a secure facility, so I knew my car was safe. (But you bet your ass I've been careful to make sure it's locked now.)

[TheSHAD0W]

Well, the parking lot is just to the immediate north of the building, and the building is immediately adjacent to a freeway access road, which is immediately adjacent to a freeway. And from where the holes were, a projectile probably doesn't make sense.

Projectiles can also include road debris. Could a car on or entering the freeway have kicked up something?

[mjr]

Projectiles can also include road debris. Could a car on or entering the freeway have kicked up something?

Doubtful. Especially with where I was parked, and the positioning of some trees.

[protege]

I've had a couple of windows smashed on various cars I've owned. First one, was someone decided to smash the windshield on my Tercel. That night, I'd left the car in the commuter lot at school. One of the fraternities had a wild party that night. Someone at that party decided to go on a vandalism spree--my car lost its windshield, another got torched, and several small trees were driven over downtown. Cost to me? About $500, which my insurance would *not* cover. Throw in being stranded a few days, and I was rightfully screwed.

Second one, involved someone trying to break into my car. Hot night meant that I left the windows down a crack. Nothing in the car worth stealing. That didn't stop someone from grabbing the *glass* and attempting to force the window down. Guess they didn't want to alert any possible witnesses to the crime. Didn't break the glass, but it did trash the mechanism. They'd stripped the gears which lowered and raised the window. Cost for that was about $250, once Mazda got their crap together and sent the proper parts! Didn't bother attempting to report that to insurance. It was less than the deductible.