Confronted Someone Breaking Into My Car Last Night
 

Last night I took my (young adult) kid into San Francisco for dinner.

I drove his car (2017 VW Golf wagon). Any time I go into the city I know not to leave even a charger cable visible in the car and I moved a thermos and beach chair into the trunk before we left.

Driving through the city I mentioned "A lot of people say SF is full of tents and human feces. Look, there's none of that anywhere" (true on our route).

Parked at the curb in a residential street and went to the restaurant. While being seated I said "did I lock the car? ... I must have, no way I would forget to."

I should've gone to check, but it was a three block walk and we were seated. I thought no big deal.

After dinner walking to the car we came around the corner, I beeped the key fob, saw the lights flash on our car, but the drivers door was wide open.

Everything after this, happened really really fast.

I was at the driver's side of the car face to face with a guy who looked kinda like Joe Burrow. He was standing by the open door, holding the entire contents of the glove box and center console.

I said, loudly, "Hey this is our car! that's our stuff!"

He immediately put everything on the roof of the car and stepped back.
"I'm sorry man. I'm sorry. Okay...I'm sorry. Just trying to get by."

I said "Not us. Not tonight. it's my kid's car, man. There's nothing."

Dude walked off briskly.

That was it, over as fast as it happened.

Basically it was a $4 pair of liquor store sunglasses and a stack of old car repair receipts and expired registration slips and old UC Santa Cruz parking passes.

Now, we'd all like to think we're a bunch of badasses on here. And I've played out robbery or mugging scenarios in my head plenty of times, imagining me the hero. I'm 6'2" 240 Lbs, bald (no goatee) but I've been told I have a mean resting face.

I'm no badass. But I've been told I have an "Imposing look"

I checked that my kid was OK. He said yeah. I apologized for not locking the car.

Probably the most tame car robbery incident I could imagine, and I am glad.

I'm a bonehead for forgetting to lock the car. And more so for not going back to check.
I'm lucky we walked up when we did but he really would not have stolen anything of value. But I don't want anybody having anything with my name and address on it.

Just glad I didn't try to tackle the guy or escalate it. And lucky he didn't have a knife or other weapon. Dude looked like he was late for his shift at Chipotle. No hoodie, not tweaker face. Didn't even seem on drugs.

Just saying, it didn't go as I would have imagined but I'm glad it didn't, especially with my son there.

The owner of a restaurant in a decent part of town in KC was shot for trying to stop the same thing a couple of weeks ago.

Can't be too careful these days.

Societal decay everywhere you look.

Sad!

This homeless guy not live anywhere near you?

At least you met a polite thief

At least you didn't step in human feces!

My dad once found a guy crouched over on his front seat taking out his car stereo after breaking into his car around 40 years ago when he was an elite 6'4, 260 pound athlete. He sat on him, yelled for someone to call the cops (as there were no cell phones) and kept him there until the cops arrived to arrest him. It sounds like your thief at least had a better day than that one did back then.

At least he didn't shit in your car.

Well he was going to. Just a couple minutes too soon.

Next time this happens to you remember to say "Meet me at the George Brett statue after the final whistle, pussy"

And if he does travel all the way to KC to meet you then you have a great opportunity to kick his ass without your son there.

SF is a shit hole.

Glad that deescalated quickly. I'm sure your adrenaline spiked hard and quickly with your kid there.

I would strongly recommend you grow the goatee before you think about going into the city again so people will understand you mean business. It's just smart.

Nah, I disagree. It does have shitty places just like KC, Miami, Vegas and any other big city.

Found the issue

What I've gathered from this story is that criminals try their best to look like Joe Burrow so that they can adequately represent what failure looks like for civilized society.