My apartment was robbed. Game collection stolen.

GunstarRed

GunstarRed

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It was bound to happen sooner or later. On Monday, Aug. 27 my L.A. apartment was robbed and most of my game collection was stolen. 20 years of game collecting gone in an hour. I'm just now going through what was left and realizing how much stuff is gone. Over 400 games, many of them rare and irreplaceable for what I originally paid for them. They also stole my brand new desktop PC I bought less than 2 months ago, my PS2, and my Xbox 360 Elite I've only had two months. They used my suitcases to pack everything and stole those too.

I called the police, filed reports, reported the serial numbers for my stuff as stolen, contacted my insurance company, contacted Xbox Live to freeze my account, etc. I even called around pawn shops and used game stores to see what's been traded in. I have noticed that pawn shops all seem to get VERY rude when you try asking them about particular items, like they are covering up the fact that they buy stolen goods all the time.

I don't expect to ever see any of my stuff ever again. Stolen goods are nearly impossible to recover.

Nobody in the entire complex saw anything or at least won't talk about it. I have a strong feeling I know who did it, and other residents suspect the same people, and even the police officer knew who I was talking about, and yet the police still say they don't have any evidence or probably cause to get a search warrant for their apartment. It infurates me that they can get away with it so easily. I would probably handle losing my stuff to natural disaster much easier, but the fact that some assholes took everything is the worst.

Well, I'm pretty much screwed now. My only hope is my insurance, but I just know I'm going to have to fight them and probably get a lawyer to get any money out of them. I've always felt bad for others who lost their game collections, and now it's happened to me. I'll probably just try to replace a few favorites and move on as best I can.

Thanks for taking the time to read my venting.

(MODS: Move this if it's in the wrong forum)
 
I'm sorry about your loss. I hope you can recover some of your things back and/or get some money back through insurance.

Did they break in while you were at work/school or something? I'm just curious how they managed to haul all that stuff so quickly without anybody noticing.
 
That sucks man. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but it's kind of funny that they used your suitcases to steal your stuff. They're crafty bastards.
 
Wow that really sucks. I feel for you. Hopefully the bastard gets caught.
 
Wow. I'm sorry man. I had my MP3 player stolen from my car right in my driveway last year, so I know how you feel. It's not on the same scale, but I know it sucks.

I hope they find whoever did it and hang them by their balls. I fucking hate theives.
 
sorry that shit happened. our house was broken into when i was a kid and though we didnt have much it never feels good to have some stranger go through your stuff. i was gonna say it was probably someone you know who did it seeing as how they seem to have known what they were going in for. thats why as a rule i dont tell people anything about what i have or dont have since most folks dont have sense enough or dont care enough to no t give out your personal info.

i hope whoever is involved gets busted for it and chances are with how much people brag about the dumb shit they do these days they will shoot themselves in the foot by running their mouths. and yeah pawn shops deal alot in stolen goods thats why their prices are so great wtf do they care if someone is selling them stolen shit.
 
Thanks for the replies. I was out on a date with my girlfriend and was gone for about 5 hours and came home at 11:00pm. They forced the window open. They didn't even break it, just kind of bent the metal enough to move it. My apratment is even in a high pedestrian traffic area, so you'd think it would be harder for there to not be any witnesses.

Almost as bad, was I had some very personal belongings with sentimental value in my suitcases from a trip I was just on. Those things I can NEVER get back. Honestly, I'd probably take that stuff back before my games.

A lot of the residents know about the group of thugs who are always hanging around. The police just keep saying crap like, "So, a lot of people around here look like that and I can't go and arrest them." The police officer in charge of this case is disturbingly sarcastic and over-defensive about everything. Makes trying to talk to him even more frustrating.

I'm actually VERY overprotective and did almost everything possible to keep my stuff safe, but eventually if somebody wants to steal your stuff badly enough they'll find a way to do it.

Somebody did try to break into my Florida home before, but I was home so they ran off. It's dangerous to have such a large collection of anything and not be paranoid about people stealing it someday.
 
Condolences.

Since it sounds like there is a thief in your midst, I think its time to have a chat with your super. Maybe you can talk him/her into "checking for a gas/water leak".
 
The thugs are from the apartment complex next to mine, so my landlord can't do anything about it. I'm trying to do what I can with the landlord in that complex, but they give me that crap that they can't give out personal information on residents. I think they were doing random break-ins and just happened to hit the jackpot in my place.
 
I hope you have a list of all the games somewhere, which will help in getting the insurance company to respond to the claim of what happened. If they did the snatch-and-grab of everything, I think they've done that before. Especially with the "grab the suitcases and pack them up" routine.

I feel for you in what happened, especially since a couple of those games were one we did deals for. I hope you can get as much of things back that you can. Best of luck in that.

This is something I always have in the back of my mind to be worried about for my own collection, and why I keep lists of everything as current as possible, just in case this might happen to me.
 
I do have lists of everything I own. You HAVE to when you own that much stuff. I compared the list to what I have left to find out what was stolen. Almost my entire 360 and DS collections and over half of my PS2 games. I smartly kept receipts for everything I own, however, receipts more than a year or two old seem to vanish, like the stores make timed self-destroying ink on the receipts after their return period is over.

I at least have receipts for everything in the past year still visiable, but I just know the insurance company is still going to try and squirm their way out of it; that's when I'll have to call a lawyer.

I'm sure everyone else here with a large game collection is VERY careful with their stuff too and about whom they tell, but there's somethings you just can't stop no matter what, which is really sad.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']This is something I always have in the back of my mind to be worried about for my own collection, and why I keep lists of everything as current as possible, just in case this might happen to me.[/quote]

Same here. I have a list of everything including amounts paid, date bought, store, etc. I took pictures as well for insurance purposes.

I recently "valued" my collection and decided I just have too much wrapped into games and that if they were ever stolen I'd be screwed. So I am starting to sell off some of mine to get the value of my collection down.

That was cold to use your suitcase to haul your stuff off. Sorry to hear about your loss.
 
I thought you most likely had a list of your collection, with it being as big as you did. If the 360 and DS games were almost wiped out, then those should be easier to deal with replacing than some of the older items. The PS2 games, that'll be a bit harder to deal with.

I didn't think about the prices for the items being as part of the problem in replacing them, though thermal paper doesn't hold well in keeping its information, no. Replacing the items will be on current value, not past value, and that's going to be an issue with some of the items that will be hard to replace.

The one issue with the insurance company will be the fact that you may have a list of the items that are missing, though without any photographic evidence, they tend to be more than a little dickish about replacing stolen items. That's been told to me more than once by a couple different insurance agents. Something I'm going to do when I get my basement redone and everything up on racks for easier display.
 
That sucks OP.

This is one reason I got rid of most of my collection a year ago. I'd rather make the money off of it instead of having a thief do so.
 
Wow, sounds like a total nightmare. Out of curiosity (and personal sanity), what part of LA is your apartment in? I've lived here for 6 years now, and totally fear the day when that'll happen, as it seems like everyone I know here has either been mugged, had their car broken into, or their place.
 
I think it was an inside job.....

How many people KNOW you have that much shit in your apartment?
What floor are you in?
20 years of video games and other shit can NO WAY fit in a few suitcases unless you took the time to pack them in nice and neat.
Did the police finger print the window where they got in and the area in which your stuff was stolen?

With all that stuff, it wouldn't take a few minutes to pull off that stuff, espically into suitcases so did anyone know you were going to be out for a long period of time?

Does your building have a security guard OR security cameras?


Don't rely on the LAPD to solve this crime, they got enough shit on their hands.
 
My house was robbed back when I was a freshman in high school. Along with the usual items, they took the coke out of the fridge and the meat out of the freezer. :lol:
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Replacing the items will be on current value, not past value, and that's going to be an issue with some of the items that will be hard to replace. [/quote]

I think it would depend on what type of coverage you have. I would think getting the current value would be beneficial for the most part, for the rare games espeically and assuming you didn't spend $50 on games that are now $7.
 
[quote name='sblymnlcrymnl']My house was robbed back when I was a freshman in high school. Along with the usual items, they took the coke out of the fridge and the meat out of the freezer. :lol:[/QUOTE]

coke-can.jpg

cowwithsnownosefe5.jpg

k?
 
I was thinking that it was pretty funny that they used your luggage, and I got a crowbar... but then I thought how terrible that would be, if it happened to me... and I got a twizzler.
 
I say it was a 2-3 man job. One for look out, and 2 to get the shit. Trashbags aren't going carry all that weight. This is NOT the perfect crime... someone screwed up and left evidence behind. I believe certain companies can track a computer once you report it stolen to them where as soon as they long into the internet, it sends data to home base with that computers location and then they alert the authorities.
 
That sucks man. I'm sorry to heat about that and hopefully karma will catch up with you and pay you back (in the good way, like winning the Powerball or something).

[quote name='crystalklear64']However, you saying this has prompted me to go out and buy a big ass trunk I can lock all my stuff in. Sorry for ya.[/QUOTE]

So the thieves can just steal the whole trunk and take less time than it would snagging everything?

Our best security system has always been our dogs. We used to have a Miniature Schnauzer who would knock the living hell out of anyone who came anywhere near "his" house and wasn't friends with us. We also had a German Shepherd who was a really meek dog and would run away and hide, but man, did she have a bark. As long as she didn't see you/you didn't see her, you would have thought a junkyard dog lived in our house.

When I graduate and get my own place, it's my goal to have two dogs, a Miniature Schnauzer and either a German Shepherd, Doberman, or Rottweiler. That would be close the best security system possible.
 
[quote name='kell']I think it would depend on what type of coverage you have. I would think getting the current value would be beneficial for the most part, for the rare games espeically and assuming you didn't spend $50 on games that are now $7.[/quote]Current value isn't an issue for common games, though for things like PD Saga, Suikoden II and the other rare games, it can be a bit of a problem in getting them replaced.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']
The one issue with the insurance company will be the fact that you may have a list of the items that are missing, though without any photographic evidence, they tend to be more than a little dickish about replacing stolen items. That's been told to me more than once by a couple different insurance agents. Something I'm going to do when I get my basement redone and everything up on racks for easier display.[/quote]Yeah, my parents have started taking pictures of pretty much their whole house every 6 months or so, in case of any sort of disaster. I'll likely do the same when I get a house, though it would probably be smart to keep updated pics of my electronics/games/movies in the meantime.

And I think in general you should get current market value for your items, which will probably let you rebuy whatever you feel the need to - though how they determine market value for things like games is anybody's guess.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Current value isn't an issue for common games, though for things like PD Saga, Suikoden II and the other rare games, it can be a bit of a problem in getting them replaced.[/quote]

I guess it depends on how the insurance company deteremines the current market value. With Ebay there seems like there is always an opportunity to replace the rare games, the hard part might be convincing the insurance company that Ebay represents the current market.
 
It's horrible getting stuff stolen. 2 1/2 years ago my XBox and almost all my games were stolen from my house. The fact I lost all my game saves and progress was worse than losing the games and system. I bought a memory card with my 2nd XBox, and back up saves every few months and leave the memory card hidden in a drawer so if it ever happens again, I won't lose my saves. My 2nd XBox has a Samsung drive versus the Thomson the 1st one had.

If you plan to get a new 360, I would do the same thing and get one of those 512MB memory cards just for backing up saves and keep it hidden somewhere.
 
Just got off the phone with my powder keg personality friend and he gave me a lot of ideas I was thinking about too, but had not enacted yet.

I need to come down harder on the police. Question why they aren't asking around, checking the area, or questioning anybody. If there were other break-ins before, they're obviously not doing anything. I need to talk to the sheriff, then county police, then the mayor's office if I need to. This is the LAPD though, so you know what that means. My friend offered to yell at them for me though since he doesn't take s*** from anybody. He let the NYPD have it when he lived there.

As for the landlord, they've denied other break-ins, and other residents say they know of at least one, so the management was flat out lying to cover their asses. There's got to be some liability in there and also not providing a safe area and secure windows. I need to go to the housing authority if I don't get any results. Start taking names of other residents for class action or to find those thugs.

I am NOT going to take this lying down. There's now a fire ignited in me. I doubt I'll get my stuff back, but I'd feel a whole lot better if those guys get caught.
 
[quote name='botticus']Yeah, my parents have started taking pictures of pretty much their whole house every 6 months or so, in case of any sort of disaster. I'll likely do the same when I get a house, though it would probably be smart to keep updated pics of my electronics/games/movies in the meantime.

And I think in general you should get current market value for your items, which will probably let you rebuy whatever you feel the need to - though how they determine market value for things like games is anybody's guess.[/quote]Keeping a list somewhere is an important first step, though it's been told to me by multiple agents that pictures can't lie. For the bigger items, like LCD TV's, newer console, and the like, it's even more important, especially with the changing value of such items.

Current market value for most items won't be an issue, it's the oddball items that can turn out to be a real problem, since most places won't expect to be handing out more than retail price for some items.

[quote name='kell']I guess it depends on how the insurance company deteremines the current market value. With Ebay there seems like there is always an opportunity to replace the rare games, the hard part might be convincing the insurance company that Ebay represents the current market.[/quote]That should be quite the interesting conversation. "Sure, Mr./Mrs. Insurance Agent, this game's value did appreciate 200% since I purchased it." :D Right now, for some games, there might be no other recourse save eBay for valuation of some games.
 
Looks like someone beggin to get his "Shit pushed in".

I'd stay away from showers at peoples houses.

[quote name='GunstarRed']Just got off the phone with my powder keg personality friend and he gave me a lot of ideas I was thinking about too, but had not enacted yet.

I need to come down harder on the police. Question why they aren't asking around, checking the area, or questioning anybody. If there were other break-ins before, they're obviously not doing anything. I need to talk to the sheriff, then county police, then the mayor's office if I need to. This is the LAPD though, so you know what that means. My friend offered to yell at them for me though since he doesn't take s*** from anybody. He let the NYPD have it when he lived there.

As for the landlord, they've denied other break-ins, and other residents say they know of at least one, so the management was flat out lying to cover their asses. There's got to be some liability in there and also not providing a safe area and secure windows. I need to go to the housing authority if I don't get any results. Start taking names of other residents for class action or to find those thugs.

I am NOT going to take this lying down. There's now a fire ignited in me. I doubt I'll get my stuff back, but I'd feel a whole lot better if those guys get caught.[/quote]
 
Hey man the same thing happened to me about a year ago. He got caught and I jsut got a Subpoena to testify against the bastard on Sept 12.

Do you have homeowners/renters insurance??? your stuff may be covered.

Also you should work your ass off to get into teh district attorney or assistant DA and get them to get a warrant to search the place. Tell them who you suspect and why, what you know about them and if its good enough a judge may find probable cause and issue a warrant. It may not be easy and you may have to reallyy hark on the cops/DA but you can probably get it done if your persistent.

Condolences man, I can relate, good luck nailing the bastards!!
 
That really stinks and makes me think about what I can do to keep this from happening to me. I have all my expensive games locked up, gut my complete non cd games and put the boxes/manuals away, and make sure that games that are not in rotation are in a inconvient area to get too (such as behin DVDs, in the corner of my entertainment center, in unmarked boxes etc. It is really getting out of hand because I am well over 1000 games if I include duplicates/triples etc. It may be time to sell.
 
If you're insurance company will give you monetary compensation, use the prices listed on Amazon. Particularly the highest. It worked for a friend of who lived down in Louisiana. Who had all his things stolen. Had boxed SNES games, dozens of RPG, shooters, and other titles up to the PS2 gen

He bought a DDR cabinet.
 
I'm sorry to hear about that. A break in is a big fear of mine. I've got games, and guns to lose.

A few questions: What part of LA do you live in? That makes a difference whether the LAPD or (weaksause) Sheriffs are involved.

Did you have RENTERS insurance? I sounds like you do, which is good. How much does it cover?

Do you have pics of your collection? Then rest assured.
 
I Lost a bunch of stuff from the hurricane (looting) so I know how you feel man.


Just keep getting it traced and you will find something at least.
 
[quote name='shnizzle66']I Lost a bunch of stuff from the hurricane (looting) so I know how you feel man.


Just keep getting it traced and you will find something at least.[/QUOTE]

i really don't get why the fuck people loot during a natural disaster. ... I hope people like that get shot by other people and die for that type of shit. When I saw this on tv when Katrina hit, man did I want to take a gun and go down there a shoot some of those bastards.
 
My friend got robbed a few years ago and got paid more than the stuff was worth, mostly because he got used games and they paid them out as new, I had the scan of the payout but lost it in my Hard Drive Crash of 07.

We smoked up and headed to Best Buy where we bought all new shit. Good times.

You don't want your stuff back that someone took from you, it's like a reminder if the event, what you want is new shit that's better than the old shit, so it's like a rebirth, a phoenix from the felony.
 
Oh the one thing he lost that really sucked was original Bob Marley picture some one took at a festival a long time ago. They didn't even steal it, they took it out of the fram and ripped it in half. They must of hated his music.

He got it off ebay and didn't pay too much but it's now one less artifact of days passed and that sucks.
 
sorry to hear that OP

a few years ago i went on a road trip with some friends, stopped by a friend's place on the way home cause they were filming a music video [ oakland | warehouse district ]. while we were inside, some drug addicts/hobos broke into my friend's car. stealing some luggage, a high end camera, whole cd collection, etc.
 
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