Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 11, 2012 at 1:28pm

Man that sucks!

I feel your pain.

I had my garage broken into about 4 years ago and the thieves took off with about $3000 worth of tools and "scrap aluminum" in the shape of very expensive and hard to source motorcycle and bicycle alloy parts. 

They left most of my junk tools and took only the high-end ones.  I didn't have a handy red wagon in my garage though, so maybe if they had that they would have also taken another $200 or so of harbor freight infrequent-use specialty tools and cheap wrenches/screwdrivers.  The folks even knew the difference between higher-end electrical tools and lower-end ones.  Apparently the name Greenlee was recognized...

I don't leave many nice tools in my garage any longer but still have a bunch of bike parts -bulky stuff like wheels, tires, handlebars, and basketcase bikes that need restorations.  It'd suck to get robbed again but my replacement tools are kept in a safer location now.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on July 11, 2012 at 3:38pm

If the tools are readily identifiable, might be worth it to check out the Sunday "Maxwell Street" market over on Canal at Roosevelt.  Sort of like Swap-0-rama for tools.  Most of the vendors will readily return anything you can clearly identify as yours.  

These are not so random, and the thieves are knowledgeable about what they take--my husband's Milwaukee stuff but not the Ryobi stuff.  The thieves have probably been in the neighborhood and gotten a glimpse of what you have when an overhead door is open.