Originally Posted by wacboyjulian

Wow. I need to put the whole story on one post and finally cap it off. (And T-minus 6 hours till New Years!)

To recap:

On December 19, I became a proud owner of an Evo IX MR and purchased it with 2 set of BBS MR rims provided by the previous owner.



On Christmas, my BBS MR rims equipped w/ Pirelli snow tires were stolen in a public lot near my apartment. Much to my dismay, I discovered my (newly purchased) Evo IX on cinder blocks.



Obviously a little part of me died since the thought of some mo&%$#@$^er messing with my car kills me. I filed a police report and insurance claim but didn't expect to ever see them again.

On December 28, Saturday morning, I scanned Craigslist and discovered a set of BBS MR rims with Pirelli tires. (Link: http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/pts/4262911755.html) Still unsure whether these could possibly be mine, I forwarded to Mike (the previous owner of the Evo) and asked for his opinion. Next day, Mike sent over more pics he received from the seller ("Zachery") and found one rim with distinctive curb rash. Mike immediately knew they were the rims/wheels on the Evo he sold me since he was the one who caused that rash while driving.



I spoke to the detective in Morton Grove, where Zach provided an address but the detective seemed very loathe to approach without more concrete evidence. Frustrated, I spoke with the Chicago police and I felt like I didn't get any further with them as well. During this time, I initiated contact with Zach and pretended to be a buyer interested in the rims so I could try to "stall" and prevent him selling it to someone else. I tried to lowball him with $1400 and he accepted (Bastard. C'mon man, those are worth at least 2500). I told him I would buy it on Friday when I got back in from a trip.

This morning, Tuesday, December 31, I received a call from Detective R (just to be safe, best to be anonymous with names) from the Chicago Police and he asked me why I was so sure it was mine. When I explained that the rim and tire combination wasn't common to find and one of the rims had identifiable curb rash, he seemed more inclined to help.

When I told him that the seller offered to deliver for $50 bucks extra, he instructed me to initiate a sale later in the day. So I suggested an IHOP and he agreed.

(Funny side note: I wasn't sure if I should bring $1450 to "make it look legit" and he basically cracked up and/or yelled at me. I couldn't tell which. It might have been both.

Me (nervously): "So, uh, should I run and grab $1450 just in case the guy wants-"

Det. R: "WHAT? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? ARE YOU LOOKING TO BUY SOME? WE AREN'T GONNA BUY THE RIMS OFF HIM!"

Me: "yea.....I knew that, just.... just making sure" )

I run out of work and hop in a cab to IHOP. After I arrive there, the cops swing by. It's 10:45am and Zach said he'd come by 11. I greet them and there are 4 Chicago PD detectives. Detective C is assigned to sit with me just in case anything goes badly and act as my buddy.

11 am passes. Nothing. 11:15. Nada. I'm thinking: "Did he flake"?

He then texts me and says he's stuck in traffic and will be there at 12 (stuck in traffic? Its NYE at 11 am. It's quiet bro. WTF, is what I think in my head)

Then at 11:55 he calls and says his truck broke down. He'll be at IHOP at 12:30. By that point, instead of being nervous, I was getting pissed from his crappy sense of punctuality. So I chew him out a bit and he promises to be there asap.

At 12:35, I notice two crappy looking older model Honda civics roll in. And in one of the backseats sits two wheels. I see 2 teen Latino looking guys in the first car and two Latino girls and one Latino guy teenager in the other. I walk out there and ask the guy jumps out first, "Are you Zach?"

He nods (kinda has a blank look on his face) and then I ask him to pull out the rim so I can inspect it. As he does that, two cop cars show up blocking the lanes to the exit. Det R jumps out of the car and barks "SHOW YOUR HANDS!". The kid quickly exposes both hands to show hes unarmed and the rest of the cops (more police have shown up by this point) surround and check the kids for guns/weapons/drugs etc.)



Det R: "Where did you get the wheels?!?!"
Zach: "....uh I found them"
Det R: REALLY? I'LL GIVE YOU ONE MORE CHANCE. Be honest with me and I won't make this any harder. You know these rims are stolen right? Who stole them? You stole them? who?
Zach: ".....yeah I know they're stolen [inaudible]"



(during this whole entire time, I'm just staring at my rims and ready to hug them, totally oblivious to the effective investigation tactics Detective R is deploying or what anyone else is doing.)

They arrest Zach and huffcuff him. They don't handcuff his other friends but bring them to the station.

Turns out "Zach" is a Filipino kid who live and went to school in Chicago. He admitted to seeing my car in the lot, scoping it out and stealing the rims. He brought his Latino friends along for the sale (maybe safety in numbers? Not sure) and the rest claimed they didn't participate in the robbery. Which may or may not be true but I believe them for some reason. Regardless, all were juveniles and if they are charged, they will be charged as juveniles as such but it was nice to know that they all had no prior records.

Det R and Det C were the coolest people I've ever met. I truly was impressed with Detective R's professionalism and hard work and Det C was a cool dude who kept me safe (even though nothing dangerous happened). They told me it helped that I was very stubborn in pursuing the CL ad, had photographic evidence, and was respectful throughout the whole process. I owe these guys IHOP gift cards and donuts.

They let me claim my winter rims later that day and I managed to get a body shop to swap in the winter tires so I didn't have to drive on bare summer tires in the winter (scariest driving I've ever done)!



I am now home getting ready for the New Years Eve party! Thank you all in the forums for wishing the good luck and support and suggestions. What a way to end the year! :b eer:



Julian

Originally Posted by wacboyjulian

Wow. I need to put the whole story on one post and finally cap it off. (And T-minus 6 hours till New Years!)

To recap:

On December 19, I became a proud owner of an Evo IX MR and purchased it with 2 set of BBS MR rims provided by the previous owner.



On Christmas, my BBS MR rims equipped w/ Pirelli snow tires were stolen in a public lot near my apartment. Much to my dismay, I discovered my (newly purchased) Evo IX on cinder blocks.



Obviously a little part of me died since the thought of some mo&%$#@$^er messing with my car kills me. I filed a police report and insurance claim but didn't expect to ever see them again.

On December 28, Saturday morning, I scanned Craigslist and discovered a set of BBS MR rims with Pirelli tires. (Link: http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/pts/4262911755.html) Still unsure whether these could possibly be mine, I forwarded to Mike (the previous owner of the Evo) and asked for his opinion. Next day, Mike sent over more pics he received from the seller ("Zachery") and found one rim with distinctive curb rash. Mike immediately knew they were the rims/wheels on the Evo he sold me since he was the one who caused that rash while driving.



I spoke to the detective in Morton Grove, where Zach provided an address but the detective seemed very loathe to approach without more concrete evidence. Frustrated, I spoke with the Chicago police and I felt like I didn't get any further with them as well. During this time, I initiated contact with Zach and pretended to be a buyer interested in the rims so I could try to "stall" and prevent him selling it to someone else. I tried to lowball him with $1400 and he accepted (Bastard. C'mon man, those are worth at least 2500). I told him I would buy it on Friday when I got back in from a trip.

This morning, Tuesday, December 31, I received a call from Detective R (just to be safe, best to be anonymous with names) from the Chicago Police and he asked me why I was so sure it was mine. When I explained that the rim and tire combination wasn't common to find and one of the rims had identifiable curb rash, he seemed more inclined to help.

When I told him that the seller offered to deliver for $50 bucks extra, he instructed me to initiate a sale later in the day. So I suggested an IHOP and he agreed.

(Funny side note: I wasn't sure if I should bring $1450 to "make it look legit" and he basically cracked up and/or yelled at me. I couldn't tell which. It might have been both.

Me (nervously): "So, uh, should I run and grab $1450 just in case the guy wants-"

Det. R: "WHAT? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? ARE YOU LOOKING TO BUY SOME? WE AREN'T GONNA BUY THE RIMS OFF HIM!"

Me: "yea.....I knew that, just.... just making sure" )

I run out of work and hop in a cab to IHOP. After I arrive there, the cops swing by. It's 10:45am and Zach said he'd come by 11. I greet them and there are 4 Chicago PD detectives. Detective C is assigned to sit with me just in case anything goes badly and act as my buddy.

11 am passes. Nothing. 11:15. Nada. I'm thinking: "Did he flake"?

He then texts me and says he's stuck in traffic and will be there at 12 (stuck in traffic? Its NYE at 11 am. It's quiet bro. WTF, is what I think in my head)

Then at 11:55 he calls and says his truck broke down. He'll be at IHOP at 12:30. By that point, instead of being nervous, I was getting pissed from his crappy sense of punctuality. So I chew him out a bit and he promises to be there asap.

At 12:35, I notice two crappy looking older model Honda civics roll in. And in one of the backseats sits two wheels. I see 2 teen Latino looking guys in the first car and two Latino girls and one Latino guy teenager in the other. I walk out there and ask the guy jumps out first, "Are you Zach?"

He nods (kinda has a blank look on his face) and then I ask him to pull out the rim so I can inspect it. As he does that, two cop cars show up blocking the lanes to the exit. Det R jumps out of the car and barks "SHOW YOUR HANDS!". The kid quickly exposes both hands to show hes unarmed and the rest of the cops (more police have shown up by this point) surround and check the kids for guns/weapons/drugs etc.)



Det R: "Where did you get the wheels?!?!"
Zach: "....uh I found them"
Det R: REALLY? I'LL GIVE YOU ONE MORE CHANCE. Be honest with me and I won't make this any harder. You know these rims are stolen right? Who stole them? You stole them? who?
Zach: ".....yeah I know they're stolen [inaudible]"



(during this whole entire time, I'm just staring at my rims and ready to hug them, totally oblivious to the effective investigation tactics Detective R is deploying or what anyone else is doing.)

They arrest Zach and huffcuff him. They don't handcuff his other friends but bring them to the station.

Turns out "Zach" is a Filipino kid who live and went to school in Chicago. He admitted to seeing my car in the lot, scoping it out and stealing the rims. He brought his Latino friends along for the sale (maybe safety in numbers? Not sure) and the rest claimed they didn't participate in the robbery. Which may or may not be true but I believe them for some reason. Regardless, all were juveniles and if they are charged, they will be charged as juveniles as such but it was nice to know that they all had no prior records.

Det R and Det C were the coolest people I've ever met. I truly was impressed with Detective R's professionalism and hard work and Det C was a cool dude who kept me safe (even though nothing dangerous happened). They told me it helped that I was very stubborn in pursuing the CL ad, had photographic evidence, and was respectful throughout the whole process. I owe these guys IHOP gift cards and donuts.

They let me claim my winter rims later that day and I managed to get a body shop to swap in the winter tires so I didn't have to drive on bare summer tires in the winter (scariest driving I've ever done)!



I am now home getting ready for the New Years Eve party! Thank you all in the forums for wishing the good luck and support and suggestions. What a way to end the year! :b eer:



Julian

Originally Posted by terror rising

Now that you've got your wheels/tires back what are you going to do about car storage?

I honestly hope this incident taught those kids a lesson and they wise up about where their actions will lead them.

Originally Posted by wacboyjulian

Yeah, lesson learned for sure. Dammit I'm a little pissed because I was planning on garaging it prevent this from happening but my garage pass didn't kick in until January 1st (me being a cheapass and not wanting to pay full price for half a month)