Not a Pretty Picture

[escape]

Noticed this car missing 4 tires and snapped this on my way to work yesterday morning. You don't often see this on the street anymore. Back in the late 60s, it was common to have your car battery stolen. Then to add salt to the wound they would go back to get your new battery replacement. In the '80s and 90's it was car stereos. You would walk down the sidewalk and pass cars with their windows broken to gain entry. Once I passed a car with its window broken and taped to the windshield was a sign that read, "No Valuables" Underneath was written, "Just Checking." Not a Pretty Picture, a documentry photo.



[IMG]b6883363-c86f-4c25-9614-dd4de11f725f by pongo now, on Flickr[/IMG]

[lovelife65]

WOW, brazen!!! How would someone be able to steal the tires off the car without jacking it up and getting noticed? In a rural area possible, but in the middle of NYC?

I know areas of hiking in WA and OR have car prowlers at popular trailheads. Some people would leave valuables in plain site, and come back from a hike with busted out windows. I used to remove everything from the car, and leave windows down.
Someone in your situation is being an ass. Leaving a note that says "Just checking". Too bad there isn't a way to 'discourage' such jerks.

[pschlute]

Locking wheel nuts is one way to lessen the chances of having your valuable wheels stolen. A serious thief will have a collection of specialised bits, but the casual ones won't.

[escape]

I was surprised to see this. My first thought was why didn't they drive it off somewhere and do a complete strip job. Kind of unusual. Now I'm thinking maybe it was a film porp. Maybe they shot a scene at that location. Stealing tires is so 1950's. I had planned on taking a picture each day as it was dismantled. It was gone this morning which is also unusual. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a film prop. If anyone sees the scene in a movie in a year or so let me know. Now that I think about it, It had a weird license plate on the back. Starting to look more like a movie prop.

[escape]

WOW, brazen!!! How would someone be able to steal the tires off the car without jacking it up and getting noticed? In a rural area possible, but in the middle of NYC?

I know areas of hiking in WA and OR have car prowlers at popular trailheads. Some people would leave valuables in plain site, and come back from a hike with busted out windows. I used to remove everything from the car, and leave windows down.
Someone in your situation is being an ass. Leaving a note that says "Just checking". Too bad there isn't a way to 'discourage' such jerks.

This took place during the huge crack epidemic during the mid-'80s that swept the city. Not like it was anymore. Now it's more like a theme park, a mecca for tourists. Prior to the pandemic photo. Now it's empty.

[IMG]IMG_6902 by pongo now, on Flickr[/IMG]

[rpcrowe]

We had a car break in epidemic a few years ago in my area where the thief targeted vehicles parked in supermarket parking lots that had women's purses left in them.
After eventually being caught in the act, the thief confessed that he would look at women leaving their car without carrying purses. Most of the time the purses had been left poorly concealed in the car...

[xpatUSA]

Noticed this car missing 4 tires and snapped this on my way to work yesterday morning. You don't often see this on the street anymore. Back in the late 60s, it was common to have your car battery stolen.

An odd thought connects me to the common complaint about camera, cellphone, etc. batteries: that they're all different, whereas car batteries are produced in relatively few standard sizes making them quite saleable in the black market.

I seem to recall that in 60's England, there were only two battery sizes -Car and Truck.

[escape]

This is not a pictu re of tire theft. It's a photo of a movie prop. The local police told me that a lot of filming is done in this area. including the TV series Law and Order. A lot of things just didn't add up. When I took the photo I walked around the car to see if the other two wheels were missing. Later after posting I recalled that I had stoped to look at the rear license plate. It was a washed out white with the numbers hard to read. It had no state identification. That finally convinced me that it was a movie prop left behind for removal. It also led me to think about how we make assumptions about what we see.