Air Bags Stolen (Photo Added)

[Nelson Atwell]

Last night, some clever thieves stole the air bags from my Mazda 3. They somehow entered without breaking the windows or causing a lot of noise. The car was locked. I heard a few honks last night like a taxi coming to pick someone up, but never thought it would be thieves.



The police spent four hours at my house this morning. Two regular policemen and one CSI-type who spent three hours going through my car for clues. She found three possible clues which may help. Mine is the second car hit in two nights on my block.



The car started with no problems after I reconnected the battery and I drove it to work. Someone tell me, what is the purpose of these stock security systems in modern cars? We purposely tried to get the alarm to sound, but it was impossible for us.



Now I need to find out how long it will take to fix the car. I'm unsure if US airbags are different than European ones.

 

[Todd Z]

That sucks, Sorry for your loos.....



Thats the Main reason I bought the Airbag anti theft locks for my ST....

Everyone on this board Laughed at me when I showed the Pics....



Ohh well....



Todd Z

 

[Daniel B]

they actually looked for clues!?! wow

my was broken into and had aprox. $12,000 in equipment stolen and cops didn't do anything. Oh and it was the 3rd truck jacked that night and it was going on every night for 2 days

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I hear this is becoming a more and more common theft.



Does anyone know if "The Club" steering wheel locking device is a deterrent (for the driver's side anyway)?



TJR

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Nelson, when you get a chance tell me the year and style of your Mazda 3. I can at least tell you what is avail be here in the states.



For example, for the 06 model year the following bags are available.



driver, wheel

driver, seat

passenger, seat

passenger, dash

passenger, roof, Sdn

driver, roof, Sdn

passenger, roof, Htbk

driver, roof, Htbk



And for the heck of it, I ran the price for the steering wheel bag and it is running...



Found black sets, pass and driv side for as low as $250 total. Found several singles for $200 to $400. It looks like there is a Grey and a black option.



To buy them in pairs seems to be the way to go by a good margin.



Let me know if I can help...

 

[Nelson Atwell]

they actually looked for clues!?! wow

I was surprised too. They were very methodical, like in CSI. They did this yesterday as well, and said they had more fingerprints in yesterday's investigation. My dash is textured, so they didn't get anything.



Apparently, the local police are intent on eliminating the car theft problems in this part of town. In my neighborhood, there have also been numerous vehicle thefts where the entire vehicle is stolen from inside the garage. The neighbor that lives below me also said his airbags were stolen, so these aren't isolated incidents. :angry:

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Mine are grey. I don't have side airbags, so I just need the steering wheel and passenger dash bag. I figure I'll get them locally, since my insurance will pay. If the deductible is more than the parts though, I may just buy from you and wait two months until everything arrives through the mail (it takes 60-90 days for packages to arrive here through Polish or US Military mail).



The good thing is, if I have no airbags, there is no reason for them to break in to steal them again. Oh yeah, the police think the thieves worked as a team and disabled the alarm within seconds of opening the door.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Forgot to mention, as a general rule, when air bags are stolen they are sold directly to repair shops.



They buy them at $100 bucks or so and all involved are happy.... Except the owner of the vehicle of course...

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Nelson, just e-mail me if you want info...

 

[user 62394]

I had this happen with my Mustang several years ago. Unfortunately, the police did almost nothing to investigate in my case. I hope that they get it fixed right -- when I got mine fixed I had to go back several times because the airbag light would come on. They never did get it right. I finally traded the Mustang in when I bought my Trac.



Rocks

 

[Tom Schindler]

Nelson,



I assume the Police are a Government Police force unlike the Police in the US that are on Government (Marshals), State (State Police, Highway Patrol), County (Sherriff), and Local (i.e. Akron Police Department).



Seems like they take enforcing the law over making money, which seems to be the norm in the USA. They never have enough cops to arrest people for theft, but always have enough personal to pile 15 of them on the side of the road to pull people for going 5 over the limit for revenue enhancment.





Tom

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Tom,



I don't have a negative opinion of police. However, money could be a motivator. The neighborhood I live in is where the wealthiest people in the city live. I would say the few hundred people here pay enough taxes to cover 20% of the costs of running the local government. In addition, I work for a small NATO unit which has invested over $100 Million into the city by building their headquarters here.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Nelson,



When I was in Germany, the Police was a government entity and not like it was in the USA where if you were not from the area and did not know the correct police force to call, you would get the run around on who was responsible for what area.



Seems like the Police in Poland have their act together where the Police in the USA could care less about crimes that cost money, they care about the crimes that make money.





Tom

 

[walter clark]

I've been gone for 3 months havent even checked the postings in god knows how long and when I come back Caymen is still bashing "the man". Come on dude if law enforcement is so bad its because like all areas of our service sectors of goverment employment we as citizens dont do our part to support them. Insted of giting pissed off about what they havent done how about getting mad that many cops in america dont get paid a fair wage and often work crappy hours taking crappy attitudes off of people (like breaking the law going 5 mph over the limit and tying up limited resources that could prevent other crimes) and working with crappy equipment. Teachers , Cops , Millitary and countless others deserive so much more than what we offer and yet they get up each day and still perform a vital service. I realy dont see where any of us have any room to run our pie holes and gripe about them.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Walter,



Where did I ever bash "the man"? I never bashed the man.



Here are some questions for you...



I don't know about your town, but if your car is broken into, how many times have the police actually "investigated" the crime?



I have had my car broken into twice. Both times, they only would come out take a report if I wanted them to. It never went further then there.



Nelson gets 2 airbags stolen and it is a CSI type investigation.



What is wrong with that picture?



Why is it that there are always enough cops to enforce speeding laws, but there are not enough to arrest drug dealers? Why is it when you get into an accident, do you have to wait 30 minutes for an officer to arrive to the scene of an accident...unless you tell them someone is hurt, yet there are three cops sitting on the road looking for speeders.



Is there something wrong with our system? Is this something we need to fix or do we just blindly make excuses for the police and our system?



Seems like you prefer to make excuses and bash those that question the validity of the police force and their intentions.





Tom

 

[Nelson Atwell]

The CSI-cop was cute, but she spoke no English. The Lt had a ringtone from Hollywood Cop (Axel's Theme). I laughed every time his phone rang.



I agree...Tom has always had a "thing" for law enforcement. I try not to take it personal when A police officer stops me. They are just doing their job like all of us others do every day. Their job is even more dangerous than mine, so I have to respect that they will go out and risk their lives every day so that I can be safer on the roads, in my home and that my kid is safe in her school. If I wond up on the wrong side of law enforcement, then that is my mistake, not his.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Nelson,



You must have never read my original post...did you?





Tom

 

[Todd Z]

Maybe he got that type of response because he is US military ??? or because it was a US persons car ???



Just a thought...



Todd Z

 

[TomT]

I don't have a negative opinion of police. However, money could be a motivator. The neighborhood I live in is where the wealthiest people in the city live. I would say the few hundred people here pay enough taxes to cover 20% of the costs of running the local government. In addition, I work for a small NATO unit which has invested over $100 Million into the city by building their headquarters here.

That's the difference. I guarantee if you lived in Beverly Hills and your vehicle got broken into then you would have the same response. Tom, you just don't live in the right place.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TomT says:

Tom, you just don't live in the right place

Slam!



Okay, TomT (and Gavin from the other thread) this is where we all pile on and tell Caymen how if he worked harder and made more of himself he would be able to move out of that bad 'hood and live a better life. We can go on and tell him how no one owes him a "good" police force that fights crime and really protects people, and that if he expects and wants that he has to better himself and work for it or just be content with living in the ghetto.



Go ahead...SAY IT...SAY IT (Sam Kenison impression).



Or are there certain things that we should expect to be provided equally to all members of a society, by the overall society, for the good of that society...things like protection, education, well-being?



TJR