BlizzardX23's Deuce STOLEN and RECOVERED

[BlizzardX23]

So, I was using my truck as a film equipment carrier yesterday from location to location. We started at a Jr. High where we shot scenes for most of the morning...then we left to go downtown to start shooting at Fishes and Loaves Homeless kitchen.


We parked my truck at the kitchen entrance after their lunch hours (not during any meals) and we went in and had some pizza. I walk outside after pizza and everything was good...walked back in, grabbed a water and asked where they wanted us to bring the equipment in and put it.

We start walking outside and right when the door opens, I see the truck rolling back...in my mind, I'm thinking "FCK!! the truck is rolling backwards somehow" so I start to run through the door to hop into the driver seat and stop the truck. Right as I get through the door, I see smoke POURING from my exhaust, and the truck starts driving forward. People are yelling and I realize someone is STEALING MY TRUCK!!!

I start running after it and I'm just about to jump up on the passenger side and go through the window...but right before I jump up, the truck stalls and dies. Then I run around to the driver side and the homeless guy (who had been staring at us from across the street since I got there) runs out and back to his bike. I grab the bike with one hand, and Im trying to call the police with the other. He's going on and on yelling at us all, and telling me "YOU DONT PARK A 5TON THERE!! YOU DONT PARK A 5TON THERE" Obviously CRAZY...

Police FINALLY get on the **** phone so now Im trying to give them my location which I didn't know it and had to ask everyone else...while holding the back wheel of this guys bike, and make sure he doesn't run....(hectic) I let them know the guy stole my vehicle and we have him there with us and so he says "IF I WANTED TO STEAL IT, I WOULD HAVE DROVE THROUGH THE FENCE AND GOT AWAY....I WAS JUST TEACHING YOU A LESSON!"

(The truck died...stalled...probably because he put it in 5th instead of 2nd)
Anyways, after about 3 minutes, the guy pulls this big chain off from around his neck (which I spotted when he jumped out of the truck,) wraps it around his fist and starts swinging it....I back up and he gets on his bike.

I start running after him but stop...ask the guy who invited me to the film shoot (our Camera guy/Director of Photography) "What do you want me to do..go after him...stay?? What would you do"....he says "do what you gotta do" so I start sprinting down the street after the guy on his bike.

All of a sudden, another person in our film crew gets in there car and peels out, heading towards us, yells for me to get in, so I get in then we hit the main street...we make a guess that he went left...then saw him after an immediate right into a neighborhood. We go after him and he rides up onto a bike trail near the river. We drive up there in my buddies Oldsmobile, he then cuts down a hill and into a field...we'd lost him!

We get back, police are there, my guys have my truck wheel chocked...and already halfway unloaded.

I'm not the kinda person to just stand back and let someone get away with something, I believe in punishing those that have done wrong, and most people know I'm tough, and an *******. I stand up for people in our school against the Dean and Academic Director when I feel students are getting screwed, and people know I'll get physical if I have to.

The ONLY reason why I didn't tackle the guy when he was running from the truck and beat the holy **** out of his ass was because we were NOT working on a student project. It was a professional set, and I was a guest on their set. I did not want to look unprofessional by beating people up. Had this been ANYWHERE else on MY set or a friends set where I was not a guest, it would have ended A LOT worse for the guy.

We don't have many pictures or video because it all happened so quick, but here's what I have so far...There is a video of the guy pull his chain, I'll have to find that for you from my friend.




Picture 1 and 2
- Loading the truck with equipment to transport to next shooting location

Picture 3
- Me backing the truck, handing the wheel chocks to park it

Picture 4
- Me chasing after the guy after getting the "go ahead"

Picture 5, 6, 7, and 8
The cops finally arriving to ask their questions and get the story.

Picture 9
The only pic not shot behind my back lol

 

[EMD567]

Thats scary. Maybe time for a battery cutoff switch.

 

[BlizzardX23]

YEP! exactly, a hidden battery cutoff!

I didn't have the steering wheel locked since we were unloading and I was going to go park it somewhere else.
But then I was thinking, If I did lock the steering wheel and he tried to steal it anyways, he would have ran over the cars in front of it...Then there would have been major damage. The only damage done yesterday was he somehow ripped my passenger seat!!! (Now I HAVE to replace it...springs are coming through now!


btw, there was about $30,000 worth of equipment in the back when he took the truck!

 

[998Junkie]

The ONLY reason why I didn't tackle the guy when he was running from the truck and beat the holy **** out of his ass was because we were NOT working on a student project. It was a professional set, and I was a guest on their set. I did not want to look unprofessional by beating people up. Had this been ANYWHERE else on MY set or a friends set where I was not a guest, it would have ended A LOT worse for the guy.

I've been to and see many filming locations in L.A. and they always have a retired or rented local LEO. I guess they didn't think they would need one.

I'm glad everything worked out. I'm sure you are already working on the upgrade list to prevent it from happening again.

 

[BlizzardX23]

It was a professional set, not a high budget set....most of, if not all of the crew donated their time. It was NOT a Hollywood type set or anything. LA is a different breed, that's not what most lower budget sets look like.


And yep, Several things are on my upgrade/modify list....two things just jumped to the top. Hidden Battery Cutoff, and to fix my parking break which I believe the cable broke.

 

[Old Lincoln County Iron]

And I've been asked why I am so secure with my M915A1's. I padlock both doors and the steering wheels even
though they require a key to start! Better safe than sorry.

 

[BlizzardX23]

to be honest, I wasn't going to lock up the entire truck while we are unloading it...even if I had that ability


But yea, I know what your saying about making sure its secure. I would like locking doors...for when its parked

 

[998Junkie]

But yea, I know what your saying about making sure its secure. I would like locking doors...for when its parked

Don't forget you kind of have locking doors, if you left the windows part way down and then pulled the inside down or up (I can't remember which) it will lock the outside handle. Only a person in the know would know how to deal with it. But leave the window part way down so you can reach inside to open it.

 

[DUG]

I have a bracket set up to lock my transfer case in neutral.

 

[linx310]

So, I was using my truck as a film equipment carrier yesterday from location to location. We started at a Jr. High where we shot scenes for most of the morning...then we left to go downtown to start shooting at Fishes and Loaves Homeless kitchen.

You should "volunteer" a few days at the homeless kitchen...wanna bet he stops by for a meal. When he comes in just hide and call the police.

 

[rat4spd]

I have a bracket set up to lock my transfer case in neutral.

You dont need that bracket, you've got Steve on your shoulder watching.

 

[fuzzytoaster]

He11 of a story. Glad it didn't get much worse as I understand your situation. I'd have done everything in my power to stop the threat too. Was the parking break engaged? I know it wont hold most trucks but I've seen a few where they are more than tight enough to hold the truck.

 

[3dAngus]

Sounds like a MV enthusiast.

Hope they get him. He must have had some kind of knowledge of 5 tonners and military vehicles, just to call it out as a 5 tonner, and be so bold as to jump in a MV without prior knowledge. Sad to see how many of our fellow soldiers have fallen, if not overseas, then right here at home upon their return. Probably a former vet.

 

[plym49]

I agree that the perp was likely ex-Service. He knew how to start the truck, knew where first was, and (fortunately) was rusty or nervous enough to miss the shift into second. He also called it a 5-ton. Maybe in the Service the Sergeant wailed on him because of something he did with a truck.

You did right in how you handled it. No matter how in the right you are, clients do not like drama. SInce no damage was done and nothing lost, you are whole. And what would the cops have done? He would be in and out in a flash.

It's a great story, though, and I am glad that you and your gear are OK. I have been admiring your use of this vehicle as a grip truck. My son, a young teen, is into film making and he also loves my Deuce. So maybe someday your setup will have a twin. Anyway, again, congrats.

 

[Heavysteven]

If they find the guy make sure and write a letter to the da asking him to prosecute. Don't let them give a slap on the wrist or probation. Imagine a 12,500 6x6 in a police chase. I think you did the right thing by getting him out of the truck.

 

[simp5782]

The homeless kitchen idea is a good one, but instead of calling the police I would make sure he got the "special sauce" on his food. Glad I live in Montana, I leave my keys in my 5 ton all the time. I have gotten in the habit of leaving my keys in my F250 with my rifle in the front seat and pistol and windows down.

 

[spicergear]

"Hey you stupid scab, it's a DEUCE, NOT A FIVE TON!!!"

 

[velociT]

I applaud your restraint. Of course TX and CA laws are different, but had I stumbled onto the same thing, I'd likely need a new hard-top cab.

 

[135gmc]

I always have a battery cutout switch on my vehicles - I figured that out after I took my M37 to a show and had to keep chasing people out of the cab - the usual excuse was "I's a taxpayer - I paid for this truck!". They could never seem to figure out that the US Govt sells trucks. A battery cutout went on next, then locking door handles - it turns out that truck utility companies sell a lockable screw-on door lock handle that fits in place of the non-locking normal truck lock

 

[saddamsnightmare]

October 17th, 2011.

BlizzardX23:

Now is the time to: 1. Use the chain to lock the wheel;2. Fabricate the little iron horseshoe with holes to lock out the engine kill handle; and 3. Fabricate the bracket that goes on the floorboards and allows you to padlock the emergency brake in the applied position. When you figure there's a heck of a lot of people out there that know how to start and drive a deuce or a five ton due to their Army training, you just got lucky your homeless guy forgot the shift pattern or you would have been recreating that scene with the Mercedes truck in "Raiders of the Lost Ark".....
It doesn't take all that much time or money to fabricate the three items above, and a battery cutoff switch does nothing more then the items above to prevent the truck from being stolen. You could also fabricate at bracket and hinge to hold either the shifter to transfer case lever in nuetral and padlock it there also. For those of us that don't live in L.A., its another reason to appreciate the country as there are fewer folks to steal your stuff and when they try, the laws are more ameniable to using whatever force it takes to stop the theft....