Random dude taking multiple pictures our cars? Are they planning on stripping our cars for parts?

[Anonymous]

So, I happened to be looking out of a window and saw this random guy who was walking around my car and my husbands car and taking multiple photos of them. He walked in a circle around them taking photos. We have street parking and our cars were parked together. There is nothing fancy at all about our cars, no bad parking jobs, and although I had just arrived home a bit beforehand I did not have any issues with an angry driver/cut anyone off, etc. My husband's car has been there for days as he's not home, so couldn't be an issue with him cutting someone off while driving.

My fear is that someone is going to come strip parts off our cars which has been an issue in nearby neighborhoods, like people taking your tires, etc. I also had a brand new car just purchased the day before stripped while sitting in my driveway when I lived in another city - like they took a door, my bumpers, headlight, taillights, wheels, etc. .

Am I being paranoid? Is this a thing that thieves do when they are looking for certain car parts to sell??

[Anonymous]

Why didn't you go ask him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I happened to be looking out of a window and saw this random guy who was walking around my car and my husbands car and taking multiple photos of them. He walked in a circle around them taking photos. We have street parking and our cars were parked together. There is nothing fancy at all about our cars, no bad parking jobs, and although I had just arrived home a bit beforehand I did not have any issues with an angry driver/cut anyone off, etc. My husband's car has been there for days as he's not home, so couldn't be an issue with him cutting someone off while driving.

My fear is that someone is going to come strip parts off our cars which has been an issue in nearby neighborhoods, like people taking your tires, etc. I also had a brand new car just purchased the day before stripped while sitting in my driveway when I lived in another city - like they took a door, my bumpers, headlight, taillights, wheels, etc. .

Am I being paranoid? Is this a thing that thieves do when they are looking for certain car parts to sell??

You are not paranoid at all. You are most likely correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why didn't you go ask him?

You clearly aren’t female. I would never go up to a strange man and ask him why he’s engaging in suspicious behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why didn't you go ask him?

Well, I'm a female and I'm home alone with small kids right now. What if he was crazy or something? Sorry, not confronting...

[Anonymous]

Please Alert your neighbors to keep a lookout for this, and any other unusual people/activity. Be ready to call cops. Get a car alarm.

[Anonymous]

Is there any issue with parking where you do? Could your husband's car have been there seemingly too long? Do you have new neighbors who don't know "the rules" of your street that have been established, rightly or wrongly?

I can't imagine a thief would come up and take photos of cars on the street if he planned to come back later and strip the cars of parts.

[Anonymous]

Call the police non-emergency # to report a "suspicious person", providing as thorough a description as you can of the individual and his activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please Alert your neighbors to keep a lookout for this, and any other unusual people/activity. Be ready to call cops. Get a car alarm.

Thanks, I've alerted my neighbors. Both cars do have alarms, and we also not only have a Ring doorbell, we have the blink cameras too...but I know even if we get a video of it, it will probably not even be on the police's radar to investigate since they more important things to do rather than a simple property crime - not bashing them or anything, but this would be low priority on their list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any issue with parking where you do? Could your husband's car have been there seemingly too long? Do you have new neighbors who don't know "the rules" of your street that have been established, rightly or wrongly?

I can't imagine a thief would come up and take photos of cars on the street if he planned to come back later and strip the cars of parts.

No parking issues, and I know and am friends with all of my neighbors on like 5 houses down on each side. This guy was definitely not a neighbor. After he took pics, he ran across the road (not in a crosswalk) and went into the woods. It's all wooded area on the other side of our street with no houses. Our street is all single family homes and there is always plenty of parking for everyone. We did have new neighbors move in last month, but we met them and exchanged numbers and they have plenty of room for multiple cars to park in front of their house.

[Anonymous]

In addition to possibly planning to steal car parts, possibly someone has requested surveillance. Happens all the time in my line of work but the investigators rarely get caught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In addition to possibly planning to steal car parts, possibly someone has requested surveillance. Happens all the time in my line of work but the investigators rarely get caught.

That’s interesting, would it mean they were surveillance just us, or people in the area? I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that to us.

[Anonymous]

The towing companies take pictures of your car right before they tow you, but that happens right away, so that doesn’t seem likely. The investigator angle seems possible to me. Are you having an affair, by chance? Private investigators take photos of the cars in people’s driveways to show who was there and that they stayed overnight.

[Anonymous]

Could someone wanting to show DH's car didn't move? Is he where he should be?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like surveillance or a pretty stupid criminal since no doubt he would be caught on your doorbell camera. And wouldn't a criminal after car parts know what is there already and try to slide in at night and snag what he wanted?