Attempted forced entry.

Jon Woellhaf wrote:
The other day, while removing the left-hand door panel on my 1980 Cessna
182, I noticed small pry marks on the outside of the door frame immediately
below the latch. I looked at the bottom of the window frame and saw it was
bent up a little. It looked like someone had used a small screwdriver in an
attempt to pry open the window. I looked carefully all around the window
frame and found another pry mark in the rear lower corner.

This was obviously the feeble attempt of an amateur thief, since almost any
key will open the stock Cessna door lock. (Another pilot told me he once
tried several small keys on his key ring in a Cessna door lock. His gas tank
cap key and his mother's garage door key worked just fine.)

The plane is hangared at BJC (Metro, Denver, CO) and I'm quite certain the
attempted forced entry didn't occur there, because I never lock the plane
when it's in the hangar. I have no idea when the attempt was made, but the
plane has been overnight only at U42 (Salt Lake City #2, UT) and FFZ (Falcon
Field, Mesa, AZ) within the past year.

I'm wondering what, if anything, to do about this. I could contact the local
police and give them the dates when the plane was overnight. This might help
an investigation if other planes were molested. On the other hand, if the
TSA gets involved I can see them impounding the plane for evidence.
half-grin

What would you do?

Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.

Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:

Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.


I agree. Since you don't know when or where it happened, and nothing was
taken, the cops are going to have zero interest in this.

When I actually had an avionics theft back in '96, I couldn't even get the
cops to come out to the airport. They just took a report over the phone so I
could put in an insurance claim.

In real life, all of those ominous signs at the airport about it being a
federal offense to tamper with aircraft are just window dressing. If it's
just a property crime, no one really cares.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums...ation/200809/1

On 09/11/08 10:10, JGalban via AviationKB.com wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:

Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.


I agree. Since you don't know when or where it happened, and nothing was
taken, the cops are going to have zero interest in this.

When I actually had an avionics theft back in '96, I couldn't even get the
cops to come out to the airport. They just took a report over the phone so I
could put in an insurance claim.

In real life, all of those ominous signs at the airport about it being a
federal offense to tamper with aircraft are just window dressing. If it's
just a property crime, no one really cares.

Well, I guess that depends on a lot of factors. I fly out of a small non-towered
airport out in the farm lands. One day I saw someone driving around the ramp,
then stop at a plane and start working on it. Within about 30 minutes there were
two squad cars pulling up to check them out.


John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)




--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane, USUA Ultralight Pilot
Cal Aggie Flying Farmers
Sacramento, CA

Mark Hansen wrote:
On 09/11/08 10:10, JGalban via AviationKB.com wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:
Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.

I agree. Since you don't know when or where it happened, and nothing was
taken, the cops are going to have zero interest in this.

When I actually had an avionics theft back in '96, I couldn't even get the
cops to come out to the airport. They just took a report over the phone so I
could put in an insurance claim.

In real life, all of those ominous signs at the airport about it being a
federal offense to tamper with aircraft are just window dressing. If it's
just a property crime, no one really cares.

Well, I guess that depends on a lot of factors. I fly out of a small non-towered
airport out in the farm lands. One day I saw someone driving around the ramp,
then stop at a plane and start working on it. Within about 30 minutes there were
two squad cars pulling up to check them out.

Calling about a crime that is possibly in progress is entirely different
than calling about an attempted crime that occurred at some unknown time
and in some unknown place and left nothing missing. Do you really not
understand the difference in these scenarios?

JGalban via AviationKB.com wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:
Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.


I agree. Since you don't know when or where it happened, and nothing was
taken, the cops are going to have zero interest in this.

When I actually had an avionics theft back in '96, I couldn't even get the
cops to come out to the airport. They just took a report over the phone so I
could put in an insurance claim.

In real life, all of those ominous signs at the airport about it being a
federal offense to tamper with aircraft are just window dressing. If it's
just a property crime, no one really cares.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)


TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 2§ 32

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ht...2----000-.html

Gig 601Xl Builder wrote:
JGalban via AviationKB.com wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:
Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.


I agree. Since you don't know when or where it happened, and
nothing was
taken, the cops are going to have zero interest in this.

When I actually had an avionics theft back in '96, I couldn't even
get the
cops to come out to the airport. They just took a report over the
phone so I
could put in an insurance claim.

In real life, all of those ominous signs at the airport about it
being a
federal offense to tamper with aircraft are just window dressing. If
it's
just a property crime, no one really cares.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)


TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 2§ 32

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ht...2----000-.html


Do you have a point to make?

JGalban via AviationKB.com wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:
Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.


I agree. Since you don't know when or where it happened, and nothing was
taken, the cops are going to have zero interest in this.

When I actually had an avionics theft back in '96, I couldn't even get the
cops to come out to the airport. They just took a report over the phone so I
could put in an insurance claim.

In real life, all of those ominous signs at the airport about it being a
federal offense to tamper with aircraft are just window dressing. If it's
just a property crime, no one really cares.

That was my experience exactly. I had a KX165 stolen from my 182 around
1998. The police had zero interest in the theft other than giving me
what I needed for the insurance claim.

The really interesting part is that I bought a used KX165 from one of
the avionics shops in Florida (I forget the name now, but one of the
larger ones not a fly-by-night outfit) and, you guessed it, found that
it was MY radio! I thought the wear on the bezel looked a little too
familiar and a serial number checked confirmed it. I called the
avionics retailed and they had bought it yellow-tagged from a smaller
avionics shop in Ohio. I called them and they had failing memory and
couldn't remember where they got it. I reported it to the NY state
police and they couldn't have cared less. They said that for the value
in question it wasn't worth their while. They suspected it was stolen
by someone driving west on route 17 which runs right by our airport and
then fenced the next day to the Ohio shop who asked no questions and
probably paid in cash.

Matt

On Sep 11, 6:03 pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
JGalban via AviationKB.com wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:
Given what little you know about the attempt, I would do nothing. I
think reporting this would simply we wasting the time of the police.

I agree. Since you don't know when or where it happened, and nothing was
taken, the cops are going to have zero interest in this.

When I actually had an avionics theft back in '96, I couldn't even get the
cops to come out to the airport. They just took a report over the phone so I
could put in an insurance claim.

In real life, all of those ominous signs at the airport about it being a
federal offense to tamper with aircraft are just window dressing. If it's
just a property crime, no one really cares.

That was my experience exactly. I had a KX165 stolen from my 182 around
1998. The police had zero interest in the theft other than giving me
what I needed for the insurance claim.

The really interesting part is that I bought a used KX165 from one of
the avionics shops in Florida (I forget the name now, but one of the
larger ones not a fly-by-night outfit) and, you guessed it, found that
it was MY radio! I thought the wear on the bezel looked a little too
familiar and a serial number checked confirmed it. I called the
avionics retailed and they had bought it yellow-tagged from a smaller
avionics shop in Ohio. I called them and they had failing memory and
couldn't remember where they got it. I reported it to the NY state
police and they couldn't have cared less. They said that for the value
in question it wasn't worth their while. They suspected it was stolen
by someone driving west on route 17 which runs right by our airport and
then fenced the next day to the Ohio shop who asked no questions and
probably paid in cash.

Matt

So just my own curiosity, couldn't you press charges of selling stolen
goods?
Lou

"Lou" wrote ...
"Matt Whiting" wrote:
I reported it to the NY state police and they couldn't have cared
less. They said that for the value in question it wasn't worth their
while. They suspected it was stolen by someone driving west on
route 17 which runs right by our airport and then fenced the next
day to the Ohio shop who asked no questions and probably paid
in cash.

So just my own curiosity, couldn't you press charges of selling stolen
goods?


Criminal charges are not brought to the Court by civilians. The insurance
claim cited means that the Insurance Co probably had the biggest loss in
this. They may also have the means to convince the Ohio authorities to
investigate the shop. If the owner is sloppy, he may still have some other
stolen product laying on shelves. But the interstate nature of the items
means the locals will need assistance from the Feds, who typically look down
on these small cases.

Real life isn't like TV, where people in authority are always competent and
highly motivated.

Mike Isaksen wrote:
"Lou" wrote ...
"Matt Whiting" wrote:
I reported it to the NY state police and they couldn't have cared
less. They said that for the value in question it wasn't worth their
while. They suspected it was stolen by someone driving west on
route 17 which runs right by our airport and then fenced the next
day to the Ohio shop who asked no questions and probably paid
in cash.
So just my own curiosity, couldn't you press charges of selling stolen
goods?


Criminal charges are not brought to the Court by civilians. The insurance
claim cited means that the Insurance Co probably had the biggest loss in
this. They may also have the means to convince the Ohio authorities to
investigate the shop. If the owner is sloppy, he may still have some other
stolen product laying on shelves. But the interstate nature of the items
means the locals will need assistance from the Feds, who typically look down
on these small cases.

Real life isn't like TV, where people in authority are always competent and
highly motivated.



As it was a federal crime you should have contacted the federal
authorities. You have at least two companies involved in interstate
trade of stolen goods. That is a crime over and above the law I listed
up-thread.