Someone just keyed my car in front of me...
Discussion
I walked out of my house earlier with my housemate and noticed that my car had been scratched down the driver's side. The car is parked on the road, opposite my house. We walked around my car to see if there was any more damage, but there wasn't. I thought it looked like someone had keyed it, but as the scratch was on the driver's side and the car parked on the left of the road I thought maybe someone had just scraped it. Either way, I was quite annoyed.
We walked to the shop 5 minutes away, and as we came back down the road we see this guy come out of the house outside of which my car is parked, walk past my car whilst touching it and open his car to get a mug out of it. As he came back he deliberately walked past my car when it would've been easier to just walk diagonally from his car to his front door. As he did this I heard a "scrrrrrrrrrrr" noise, and my housemate saw him running his hand down the side of my car. Unfortunately I was on the other side of the car so I didn't see it, only heard it.
So I ran around to the side that he was on and saw that there was a brand new scratch on the passenger side door, so I said to him "Did you just key my car?!", of course he said no, and said "why would I do that?". I said I don't know why he'd do that, and told him we'd just seen him do it, to which he held out his hands with the mug in and said "with what?". Now obviously he had he car keys as he'd just been to his car. He then walked into his house.
I wasn't sure what to do then, but I rang the police and they said they'd send someone over tomorrow evening.
Now - I'm not sure what to do from here. The only evidence we have is that I saw him near my car, and heard the noise, my housemate saw him do it, and the scratch appeared in the 10 minutes it took for us to go to the shop. Obviously I'm certain he did it, but it's not really enough to get him convicted on is it?
Is it wise to do this anyway? I don't want the situation getting out of hand, although that's a bit of a wet response. The car was only my 106, but I don't want him messing with my motorbike, which is parked on our driveway. He looks like a dodgy guy, and his son (?) looks like a prize a
hole too, so wouldn't put it past them to do something stupid.
Incidentally I've never had any contact with this guy before, and I can only assume he's annoyed as I've parked outside his house.
We walked to the shop 5 minutes away, and as we came back down the road we see this guy come out of the house outside of which my car is parked, walk past my car whilst touching it and open his car to get a mug out of it. As he came back he deliberately walked past my car when it would've been easier to just walk diagonally from his car to his front door. As he did this I heard a "scrrrrrrrrrrr" noise, and my housemate saw him running his hand down the side of my car. Unfortunately I was on the other side of the car so I didn't see it, only heard it.
So I ran around to the side that he was on and saw that there was a brand new scratch on the passenger side door, so I said to him "Did you just key my car?!", of course he said no, and said "why would I do that?". I said I don't know why he'd do that, and told him we'd just seen him do it, to which he held out his hands with the mug in and said "with what?". Now obviously he had he car keys as he'd just been to his car. He then walked into his house.
I wasn't sure what to do then, but I rang the police and they said they'd send someone over tomorrow evening.
Now - I'm not sure what to do from here. The only evidence we have is that I saw him near my car, and heard the noise, my housemate saw him do it, and the scratch appeared in the 10 minutes it took for us to go to the shop. Obviously I'm certain he did it, but it's not really enough to get him convicted on is it?
Is it wise to do this anyway? I don't want the situation getting out of hand, although that's a bit of a wet response. The car was only my 106, but I don't want him messing with my motorbike, which is parked on our driveway. He looks like a dodgy guy, and his son (?) looks like a prize a
hole too, so wouldn't put it past them to do something stupid.Incidentally I've never had any contact with this guy before, and I can only assume he's annoyed as I've parked outside his house.
Do nothing immediately.
Wait several months for it to all blow over.
Then one night at random, obliterate his vehicle with sledgehamemrs and breezeblocks (will need several mates for this).
Worked for me in my youth. I did it to a bloke on the day I was moving away. He was nearly in tears, I looked him in the eyes and said "Karma: what a bh, 'eh?". The look of hurt on his face was pure extasy.
Moral of the story - don't fk with another man's car. And, what goes around comes around.
Wait several months for it to all blow over.
Then one night at random, obliterate his vehicle with sledgehamemrs and breezeblocks (will need several mates for this).
Worked for me in my youth. I did it to a bloke on the day I was moving away. He was nearly in tears, I looked him in the eyes and said "Karma: what a b
h, 'eh?". The look of hurt on his face was pure extasy.Moral of the story - don't f
k with another man's car. And, what goes around comes around.If your housemate saw him do it and can positively identify him as being responsible then you might be onto a winner.
Testing the keys for paint is a non-starter. Paint samples are not unique to individual cars, only a type of car and even in the event that they took his keys and got a paint sample from them there is still no hard proof that the paint from the keys is definitely the paint from <i>your</i> car. Testing the keys for paint is a non-starter anyway because it's astronomically expensive and would only be done if he scratched your car and then murdered you as well.
The ID of the offender from your housemate is the best bet.
Testing the keys for paint is a non-starter. Paint samples are not unique to individual cars, only a type of car and even in the event that they took his keys and got a paint sample from them there is still no hard proof that the paint from the keys is definitely the paint from <i>your</i> car. Testing the keys for paint is a non-starter anyway because it's astronomically expensive and would only be done if he scratched your car and then murdered you as well.
The ID of the offender from your housemate is the best bet.
GTIR said:
Why didn't you just fking chin him!?
Maybe he thought he might have got a good hammering in return.king chin him!?Funny how people on PH are often suggesting/recommending getting physical with someone they don't know. Years ago I lived in a quite a hard town and had heard about this guy that all the hard cases were frightened of. When I finally met him (under friendly circumstances) I was appalled, he looked like the kind of bloke who even I could handle, easily. Quite scary stuff, that, it taught me a valuable lesson, don't pile in just because you think you are on to a winner, you might not be. I think the OP was sensible.
GTIR said:
So you/your mate saw/heard him scratch your car and you did nothing?
FFS!
Why didn't you just fking chin him!?
Jeezushchrist.
He was in his house/on his step when I was talking to him, so about 20 feet away from me. My housemate's a girl, so she wouldn't be much help, and it was in broad daylight in the middle of the street. Don't particularly want a criminal record and to lose my job over a keying... Although if I could guarantee I'd get away with it I'd have loved to have smacked him.FFS!
Why didn't you just f
king chin him!?Jeezushchrist.
Anyway, I did do something, I rang the police. Although whether that actually does anything is yet to be seen.
Edited by Mellow Matt on Monday 24th May 21:24
Mellow Matt said:
Thanks for the tips guys! I like the eyeballs idea!
Unfortunately his car is a piece of st megane and battering it would probably improve it, so that revenge
might not have the desired effect.
He has left his sunroof open though...
Brick through his front window every week with a note saying "Are you sure you didn't key my car?"Unfortunately his car is a piece of s
t megane and battering it would probably improve it, so that revengemight not have the desired effect.
He has left his sunroof open though...
Mellow Matt said:
He has left his sunroof open though...
Easy. One tin of sardines emptied into the sunroof, followed by a couple of seagulls, and block up the sunroof. Within 2 minutes the inside of the car will be wonderful concoction of seagull st, bits of sardine and the stuffing from the seats. TheEnd said:
I've been told the cops will takes his keys and check them for paint traces.
Either that, or that's just what they tell people, and in reality will just take a statement and do FA about it
From my experience the part in bold is what they would likely do and even that probably only over the phone. Either that, or that's just what they tell people, and in reality will just take a statement and do FA about it
Not even worth reporting it IMO.
Mellow Matt said:
Is it wise to do this anyway? I don't want the situation getting out of hand, although that's a bit of a wet response.
Dangerous Dan said:
...one night at random, obliterate his vehicle with sledgehamemrs and breezeblocks (will need several mates for this).
Hah, very apt names!On a serious note, that sucks, Matt. I think you're doing the right thing in getting the police involved, and I hope you can get something done about it. Good luck!
Dangerous Dan said:
Do nothing immediately.
Wait several months for it to all blow over.
Then one night at random, obliterate his vehicle with sledgehamemrs and breezeblocks (will need several mates for this).
Worked for me in my youth. I did it to a bloke on the day I was moving away. He was nearly in tears, I looked him in the eyes and said "Karma: what a bh, 'eh?". The look of hurt on his face was pure extasy.
Moral of the story - don't fk with another man's car. And, what goes around comes around.
I must admit i like the boomerang effect, what you throw out comes back.Wait several months for it to all blow over.
Then one night at random, obliterate his vehicle with sledgehamemrs and breezeblocks (will need several mates for this).
Worked for me in my youth. I did it to a bloke on the day I was moving away. He was nearly in tears, I looked him in the eyes and said "Karma: what a b
h, 'eh?". The look of hurt on his face was pure extasy.Moral of the story - don't f
k with another man's car. And, what goes around comes around.Speed Matters | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff