Re: Vandalism

["John Ward" <jtward@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>John,
>
>I was faced with a similar situation about a year ago - driving to work
when "thock", "what the
>f__k was that?".  I turned around and watched these middle-school kids
throwing rocks at anything
>that passed.  I called Fairfax County's finest (VA) who responded promptly
and took my report.  I
>was fortuneate enough to have noticed the perpetrator and noted that if he
took a bus, he was a
>middle-school student due to the time of day, etc.
>
>The damage was a chip in the pass. front window which is minor, but again,
it's the principle of
>the whole thing.  Figuring on just living with the chip (both in the window
and on my shoulder), I
>went about my business.  Later that day, I rec'd a call from the officer
who located the kid.  Not
>wanting $$ for this, just wanting to instill a sense of responsibility for
one's actions, I didn't
>press charges.
>
>The surprising twist to this story is that the kid called me to appologize
for his actions.  That
>one almost knocked me down - especially in this day of "don't damage the
child's creativity"
>thinking.  At least there's one set of parents that are actually concerned
about their child's
>development.
>
>The window still has a chip but then again, the whole car looks like s__t -
it's my daily driver -
>sue me.
>
>> Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 00:56:43 -0400
>> From: "John Ward" <jtward@domain.elided>
>> Subject: Re: <E36> vandalized :(
>>
>> >I had something similar happen if this makes you feel any better.  About
a
>> >year and a half ago I had a crazed construction worker throw a snow
shovel
>> >at my car (One of those big blue ones with the curved plow like blade).
>> >Luckily it was my old '88 Audi 80 quattro, not my '92 535i, which up to
>> >then had a pretty good paint job.  The reason I can think of he threw it
>> >because my car was rather loud because it needed some new mufflers and
he
>> >didn't like the way it sounded or looked driving threw his construction
>> >site.  I stopped and he  started going to pick up the shovel again, so I
>> >decided the hell with this and just drove and called the police.  Ended
up
>> >getting 1800 dollars in damages.  Just luckily the shovel, and rock in
your
>> >situation didn't go through the window.
>>
>> Mike, thanks for the story. Makes me feel a bit better knowing I'm not
the
>> only one who has had somebody with a major disrespect for material
objects
>> take it out on them. A crazed construction worker? Ha, I would've rather
had
>> that given the choice.... then I'd sue the hell out the company he worked
>> for.... a 10 year old is a little bit harder to make pay reparations. :-)
If
>> they find him then maybe his parents will foot the bill, but I think the
>> odds of that are slim. Bet the snow shovel incident didn't look pretty.
I'm
>> going to see if perhaps Dent Wizard can't deal with it, if not it'll be
off
>> to the bodyshop and my car will be gone a few days. I'm glad the rock
didn't
>> go through a window either... and especially not hit me in the head. Then
I
>> might have lost control and totaled the car when I ran over the little
>> bastard. <evil grin, just kidding> My windows happen to be tinted which
>> would make them a bit harder to shatter... at least I hear, wouldn't want
to
>> find out. My muffler is a bit loud after 121k, but still in great shape.
>> Perhaps the kid just didn't like the sound of it eh? I've noticed BMW's
make
>> a bit more noise than other cars so perhaps that was it. ;) I had my car
>> repainted at 116k since highway mileage had taken it's toll on the
original
>> paint (clearcoat was gone, had about 200 dings all over the car, mostly
on
>> the front end). I also had to have those E36 headlights replaced, kidneys
>> too. I debated Ellipsoids but put more US headlights in since I don't
really
>> drive that much. (maybe 10k a year) Strange thing is my last car I had 2
>> years and never had a problem with dings. Then again it was a Honda and
>> nobody noticed it. People are much more malicious when it comes to BMW's
>> sadly enough. When I was 10 we'd already had several BMW's in the family
so
>> I had the utmost respect for them. I can never imagine throwing a rock at
>> one on purpose! Argh! I hope the kid at least gets a spanking for this
one.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> John
>>
>> 1990 750iL
>> 1992 325iA
>> BMW CCA #150800
>
>- --
>Matthew Yip
>mgyip@domain.elided
>
>'88 M5


Matt, glad to see you at least found who was responsible. I honestly didn't
think I'd find out. Well, guess what? This morning I get a call from the
principals office... they tracked down the kid and he confessed! This was a
private catholic school and not a regular public school... otherwise I don't
think they would've even followed up on it. Well, I get a call from the
kid's mom. Both his parents want to see the damage, but hopefully they will
be willing to pay for it. It looks minor, but naturally bodywork doesn't
come cheap. Cost to fix from two different estimates was $128 and $159
respectively. I'm getting it fixed strictly because I can't stand to look at
it and my car is otherwise perfect. Like you said it was the principle of
the whole matter. Even if he didn't do any damage he still deserved to be
punished for chucking rocks at poor bastards on their way home from school
and work like me. :-) Now I just have to see if they pay, I'll post here
again when I find out how it goes.

Regards,

John

1990 750iL
1992 325iA
BMW CCA #150800

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