- City
- Manhattan
- State
- NY
AS I've stated in other posts, I live in Manhattan, New York. My scrambler is my daily driver and I park it on the street usually right outside my house. I live right off park avenue, which is residential neighborhood that is (supposedly) super safe. So last night I couldn't sleep. At home I noticed that the silicone to seal my rock light pods finally cured so they were ready to install. Around 5am, I went out and started working underneath the truck wiring them to the bottom of the chassis on the drivers side first. At around 6am, as I'm still fully underneath the drivers side, I see two feet in tattered sneakers approach the passenger side of the jeep and pause a second. Then I hear the passenger door open and I know this isn't just a admirer of my girl. My adrenaline starts kicking in so I slowly climb out from underneath the trucks driver side and see this figure bent over under the dash with his hands up behind the speedometer cluster area. He was making a ton of noise so without him noticing, I grab a hatchet that I had stored behind the drivers seatback pocket and come around to the other side. I immediately assert in some less-than-friendly words that I was the owner of the car and that if he didn't come out with his hands up there would be consequences. He quickly jumps out and pulls out a paring knife and asks me if I was "Ready?". I immediately lift the hatchet above my head in an aggressive stance. The second he saw my weapon, he dropped his knife out of fear and immediately realized he no longer had the upper hand. I made him get on the ground and empty all of his pockets but he had no ID on anything except the largest bag of AmondJoy's I've ever seen in his backpack (the man has good taste). I flagged a dumptruck over and called the police three times over the course of the next 45 minutes but no one showed up so I released him and sent him on his way, without the knife. Finally when they arrived, they sent out a search party and apprehended him 30 minutes later.
It was a terrible terrible experience and I hope none of you have to go through such a strenuous situation. I don't condone violence in any way and always think it's better to just give up your personal belongings that risk any harm. Luckily this situation went in my favor and as a result, I suffered no injuries,my car has had no damage done, and one less car thief is out on the streets.
Here are some pictures I managed to take once I was able to go back inside my apartment and get my cellphone.
Crime scene
Police
The paring knife
My hatchet
Police Report with my info redacted
It was a terrible terrible experience and I hope none of you have to go through such a strenuous situation. I don't condone violence in any way and always think it's better to just give up your personal belongings that risk any harm. Luckily this situation went in my favor and as a result, I suffered no injuries,my car has had no damage done, and one less car thief is out on the streets.
Here are some pictures I managed to take once I was able to go back inside my apartment and get my cellphone.
Crime scene
Police
The paring knife
My hatchet
Police Report with my info redacted
We usually stay on 52nd and 3rd Ave.
I would love to be able to go the garage route but monthly garages around the city are insanely expensive and your car always ends up with door dings or missing trim pieces. The garage right next door to my place is asking $575 per month, so that's obviously out of the question. If my rent gets any higher, I may just end up sleeping under the truck every night with the hatchet as my cuddle toy! 
