catching a thieving rat in the act

The other thing is consider filing a civil suit against the mother. That can also work wonders. If she rents the house, also include the landlord in the suit.
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I despise HOAs, but if you are in one, look at the regs. Momma's little kiddies may be violating "the rules" enough to get the HOA to throw her out.

Check your locality's public nuisance laws. If applicable, talk to the landlord & explain that you do not want to sue him for violating said laws, but if he does not get rid of Momma you have no other choice. If no landlord, go after Momma directly.

If you "think" that Momma's little kiddies broke your truck window, sue her in Small Claims Court for both the cost of repairs & your lost time. Be sure to have receipts to back up your claim. Worst case is you are out the small amount of $ it costs to file & have process served. If Momma fails to appear & you have receipts you are almost guaranteed to get a judgement. Collecting, howevcer. may be difficult. Consult your local sheriff on seizing & selling property (distress sale) to settle the judgement.

Review your local "curse & abuse" laws & see the magistrate for warrants.

If kids are under 18 see the juvenile court for complaints/petitions. While the kids may not get any real jail time or other meaningful punishment Momma will at the least have to go see either the judge or a juvenile officer to discuss the matters. Having to that a few times may be enough for her to tell the kiddies to quit misbehaving.

Do not let them get away with their misbehavior! Do not let them drive you away!

Make life intolerable for them to the same or greater extent that they make life intolerable for you. Use the laws & the system to your advantage.

Sure, it's a pain in the backside - initally. The payoff takes a little time.

stay safe.

skidmark
 
"...if I took a baseball bat to their kneecaps?..." You get arrested, charged with assault with a weapon(that's what it's called up here) and likely lose all your firearms. You could try going to a judge and getting a restraining order.
As to cameras, there are security cameras that connect to a computer. No film involved to limit how long they last. Just some cable and software. Not exactly inexpensive, but not horrendously expensive either.
"...her cigg. butts in my yard..." Any littering by-laws where you are?
"...have to shell out $150 to replace a window..." What did your insurance company say?
 
In 2 years I had 7 vehicles with smashed windshields and stolen audio systems. The Fort Worth police's advice was to have good insurance. In other words, "you are on your own". I actually tried to catch them a couple of times but I am too old and slow, and in reality, my blood was at such a boil, I would have almost assuredly done something I would regret afterwards. I finally gave up calling the police, it did nothing but make me furious and more cynical (if that's possible). The last time it happened, my wife called them, knowing that my son would want to file an insurance claim for stolen property. The officer was totally baffled when I informed her that this had happened numerous times before. She said, "there are no reports on file", to which I repied "That's right, why would I bother to call you, I have good insurance, just as you advised, and calling you is about as usefull as teats on a boar hog."

Maybe that did something, but in the last 2 years nothing else has happened. Good luck, you need it.
 
half-price assassin has it right.

Start here: https://www.txabusehotline.org/PublicMain.asp and get creative.
This secure website is being provided for you to report suspicions of abuse/neglect of children or abuse/neglect/exploitation of persons 65 years or older and adults with disabilities. The Texas Family Code 261.101 requires professionals to make a report within 48 hours of first suspecting abuse, neglect or exploitation (for licensing only) of children. The Human Resources code Chapter 48 (48.051) requires a person having cause to believe that an elderly or disabled person is in the state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation to report the information required immediately.
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In our shop we use a DVR (digital video recorder) with color infra red cameras. Our system allows the owner or manager (anyone authorized) to see what the cameras are seeing over the internet. It records and in total darkness. Walmart has a cheap version of it like 4 or 6 camera (wireless) for 350.00 or so. Not internet capabilities but it can be recorded by a vcr and in total darkness.

Knothead suggested planting an inoperable but real handgun in the car in hopes of upping the charge. This will up the charge to armed burglary if they steal it. Just the ticket to solve your problem for a few years.
 
9mmSnoopy
the civil suit idea is something to consider, but these people dont have squat, think TRAILER TRASH and you will get the picture, they are renting the house, so maybe they wont be there forever, i do know the people that they rent from, couldnt hurt to talk to them, but as long as the rent check doesnt bounce, i doubt he would care.
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You might look into suing the land lord. A good lawyer could present things to him in such a manner that he might become inclined to think about kicking the bums out.
 
If you're into dogs, you could get a big one, stake him in the ground, with a rope long enough to go around the length of the truck.

Another option, get an alarm put into the truck. Its expensive, but your response time will be reduced.

A third option, purchase an alarm that gets "tripped" when a pin is pulled out of it. There are many different styles that have powerful signals. You can then run wire across the property, so that if anyone enters, the wire will pull the pin on the alarm, alerting you, and scaring them off. This should prevent any future damage.


http://www.hi-vel.com/Catalog__18/Perimeter_Alarm_Systems___Acce/perimeter_alarm_systems___acce.html
 
There are ways to solve problems, if you are a thinker you can solve them. You need a piece of mind. Take a vacation and let things wind down. Find out who the real estate management company is, chances they don't know what a wreck they are causing the house these trash live in I can garantee you that. Chances you would do a landlord a favor if you would just go to the courthouse or some other and find out who the landlord is and just find a reason to evict these rats. The land lord would probably be onyour side in this case just to rid them. On average no one wants rats for tenants except rats (landlord rats). You can figure that one out in two seconds. There are ways. Pipe in CS Gas in the middle of the night would be a great clue to you but I can't suggest that because that would be breaking the law.:D
 
I have seen this numerous times. The only way these pukes are going to stay away from you is to make their life hell just for looking your way. That's the only way people like that get the message. One of them needs a skateboard shoved up his ***. Or you could put some m-80 firecrackers in the bottom of their grill and cover it with mesquite chips...that would be worth watching the next time they cooked out.

I really think sending the landlord a letter from your lawyer will go a long way in getting rid of them though...especially if you can get your other neighbors on board with an all out legal assault.
 
although the legal route is safer, if this was my problem I would be using blanks or the tripwire type devices. Assuming it's legal in the area (although it's probably not from the sounds of it, in a neighborhood-like area that is). Also, I liked the paintball idea too, even more if you can manage to get some of those balls filled with mace.
 
Some creative ideas here...I like how some of you think. Are you guys in a single family home, condo, townhouse, apartment?
 
i like the trip wire alarm idea, but arent they going to eventually see the wire?

once that happens, it would be useless.

i already know the landlord, there was a Mexican family living there, they were good people, they moved out but still own the place. they have never had any nice and quiet people renting, the last family they had living there had the cops over several times, because they were fighting with each other. not the best of neighbors, but atleast they didnt bother me. that bunch looks like the Waltons compared to this current batch of crap.

i think talking to him and maybe a lawyer is the next move.

in the meantime i left some cheese(a bicycle) out for the rat with a video camera running. are they stupid enough to hit me 3 nights in a row?
 
I knew a man with the same problem. He hired a teenager,(read "out of town hitman), from out of area. He just beat the stew outta the punks. The message was leave the neighbors ALONE. They got the message.

About your video camera. Hook it up to a VCR and set the tape time to 6 or 8 hours. It will give you something to look at.

I do know the rage you feel. I have an F-150. Got the super cab...with the two small doors for rear seat access. The punks broke that door window to get a $140 radio two years ago. Ford LOVES those windows...to the tune of $700. I used after market...still $500.

Yea...I wanted to shoot 'em too...and probably would have If I had caught them on the act. I know...not good.
Mark.
 
What about investing in some cheap outdoor motion activated lighting? Get one of the big jobs that hold 3-4 250 watt or higher spot beam lamps, with directional motion sensors, and aim them in the general area. Soon as they get near, the floodlights will bang straight on them, and it may scare them into thinking you are home, at least a few times until you can set up some better defenses.

I would seriously consider a big, mean, loud dog, securely tied, but with enough cable to roam a wide area of your property without leaving it. Getting their marbles chewed off by such a creature will no doubt deter their late night activities. :D

As for the ciggarette butts, just wait till the middle of the night and empty your trash cans on her lawn a few dozen times. (after removing any paper or identifying material obviously) They won't be able to prove it, and nothing says keep your crap off my lawn like a few dozen cans of nasty garbage. :eek:
 
I know a fellow whos family owns a building in Philadelphia that was next to a rental home w/ similar tenants. They needed to get the landlord to remove these people because they were harassing the Korean family that rented their first floor - really making their lives hell.

Well the other landlord didn't want to deal with it.

So my friend's family began petitioning for condemnation, reporting code violations, storage of hazardous materials, pretty much any type of filing that would trigger a review and possible inspection.

You can apparently do most of this by just filing forms, and some of these reports are kept anonymous, at least in Philadelphia. You don't need an attorney either.

The property doesn't need to actually have anything wrong with it. Once the bureaucratic process has begun there's going to be a certain amount of red tape for the property owner simply to determine whether the process is warranted. This equates to time and money, and the potential that fines will be levied.

The result was that the other landlord eventually buckled and sold the property.
 
I think the only reasonable solution would be to move. The courts favor the bad boys and would punish you if you took agressive action. The paint ball gud idea has merit but the boys would be claiming that you shot them on their property rather than yours. An order of protection along with the cameras that could show the trespass might help.

My son had a buddy who could not get rid of some young men who refused to pay the rent. In California it takes about six months to kick out tenants. He hired an outlaw motorcycle gang to take care of it. They walked into the home by kicking down the door and told the boys they had two weeks to get out. The boys responded by placing fake bombs around the place, My son then called the police about the bombs that appeared real and they hauled them off to jail. The house could then be secured. They didn't return. They were a couple of freeloading dope heads.
 
Spade,
I can vouche for anyone in regards to MCs. We have a couple patch holders from the dominant MC here in the neighborhood and even though they are rarely seen, our neighborhood is pretty dang safe. Someone would be crazy to knowingly crap in their backyard (the neighborhood).
 
Snoopy first off I would post the property with a few NO Treepassing signs and ask about the current laws regarding this , here in Missouri criminal tresspassing would cost them hundreds of dollars for each offense .

Next I would do a search for the X10 camera it can be had for $79.99 and it comes equiped to hook up to your VCR with a motion sensor .

Third I would ad a motion sensing flood light or two to the yard .

If the cops refused to do their jobs after a few pictures send the tapes to the local TV news and see if they will run a story on why the cops refuse to do their jobs , and even write a few news papers also .

Mount the camera up high near the guttering to keep them from reaching it and destroying it .

Forget the search here is a link .

http://www.x10.com/products4/overture/security_camera_vcr_lpdb_2.html

Best of luck hope it works out .
 
Although imagination is a great thing I am at a loss for some of these answers. Breaking the law is a BAD idea in any fashion. I don't think it would be fun to have someone actually try some of this and then have it fall back to you for even mentioning.

The game camra isn't a bad idea if you can mount it high enough. Talking to a lawyer and even filling out a report or complaint with the township is a good start.

But if it comes down to it moving would be the best option. You know that the landlord lets scum live there repeatedly. So what makes you assume that the next batch of neighbors will be any better.

Honestly I think everyone should check this nonsense and even the mention of unlawful activity.

Capt Charlie says it best.

You are an embassador for the world of firearm owners.
 
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