Attempted side-by-side theft foiled

As I announced a few weeks ago, I’ve divorced myself from Facebook – to many vitriolic posts and response comments. We are still happily divorced, by the way.

But sometimes there is a call for such posts and comments, and they lead to good results. 

Now I don’t want to make this a theological dissertation, but some scriptures talk about the “last days” and things becoming slippery. That is, you put something down and come back the next day and it is gone.

I believe this is more than just Captain Kidd or the Dread Pirate Roberts forgetting where he buried his treasure of stolen loot. I think it’s more than supernatural forces magically moving the treasure, buried or not, to an undisclosed location.

No, I think it’s a case of rampant sticky fingers. Someone just came along and picked up what was just lying there and appropriated it for their own. That’s my opinion. There is just a lot of not nice nastiness these days. 

Here is a case in point: A local family, we’ll call them the G’s, had a side-by-side stolen. The ATV wasn’t just sitting out there in plain view for all to see. It was ensconced inside a toy hauler with tinted windows.

The thieves had to go to a little effort to determine what was inside, including breaking the lock on the camper. It wasn’t even a new, fancy side-by-side, but it did have some slight customization for Papa G’s needs.

The family was saddened to lose their conveyance as it was one of their main sources of recreation considering Papa G’s needs. 

Well, the daughter of the family immediately got on Facebook and told the nefarious crooks just what she thought of them in no uncertain terms, and rightly so. I don’t know if they saw her posts or not, but some like to think that they led to the ATV’s recovery.

It goes like this: A La Salian heading to work in Moab one morning a couple of weeks ago spied a glint off something in the red rocks.

Coming home that night, she saw a glint from a different angle and upon investigating suspected it was the G’s Rhino (she is an active Facebooker).

Close behind her was another car carrying more La Salians. They stopped to investigate as well. They determined that it was the stolen 4x4 and headed quickly for La Sal, where they loaded their own side-by-side on a trailer and headed back to retrieve the item.

It was winched onto the trailer and taken “home” where the G’s were very happy to have their ATV back, something they didn’t think would happen.

I guess all’s well that ends well, but dang, you really want to see the perps caught and punished. I hope they are duly ashamed, but I doubt it.

The police didn’t find the crime compelling enough to follow up on it. But the weird thing is that the thiefs took the keys with them for some reason. They also didn’t hide the ATV out of sight but parked it off the road and behind a couple of trees. 

I have another friend who had to be gone from home for a few weeks recently. Upon his return, he found that thieves had taken a lot of his stuff, like tools, etc. They also stole the batteries out of vehicles and took all the keys.

Why? I’m scratching my head because I don’t know. Makes no sense. 

A few months ago, a close neighbor told me about an encounter he had in his home with a trespasser. As he was removing his shoes and socks preparing to retire for the night, a strange man just walked in his door.

He seemed surprised to find someone up and still about in the home. He then left, but rather than heading to the paved road, went further back on the property. Very suspicious and creepy.

My neighbor’s advice: lock your doors. It’s a sad commentary for our community having to keep our doors locked.

Just imagine how many homes are insured by Smith and Wesson or similar safety features. Beware!

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