Our first robbery, that is.
Perhaps tomorrow I will provide the photographic evidence to accompany this post, but for now I am still just plain mad and would rather not look at the gaping empty holes where our car's headlights and turn signals used to be.
Ironically, the former owner of our vehicle warned us that the headlights of this particular model car (a Toyota Ipsum) were in high demand on the black market. He personally went so far as to have the lights cemented/glued in place to hinder the possibility of their being stolen. The cost of replacing them isn't cheap; one turning signal cost us 30.000 Chilean pesos (approximately $60 USD) when the car was repaired following Pedro's accident back in March.
Having seen other Ipsums around town with missing headlights, we knew this was a possibility but it was the furthest thing from my mind when I parked in the same lot as always across from the doctor's office and facing the ocean. The lot was full, but when we returned two hours later only a handful of cars remained. Immediately I caught sight of the maimed car and upon closer inspection Owen even found the screwdriver which had been used for the evil deed.
I called Pedro to report the bad news and then proceeded to interrogate everyone in the immediate vicinity. The family in a nearby van was stretched out on their reclined seats with the doors open to let in the ocean breezes and said they only arrived minutes before and saw nothing. The couple directly in front of us sitting on the seawall and snapping pictures also saw nothing. And the man washing a white van behind us claimed to have arrived only half an hour before and - you guessed it - also saw nothing.
Talk about fuming. Let me just say that it would have taken the thief quite a bit of time and effort to remove those headlights and blinkers, and they are not small. It is not possible that no one saw him doing this. What it is even more frustrating is knowing that when we go to purchase these parts again, we will most likely be buying "recycled" parts ourselves. Not that we could know for sure nor would the seller admit it, but as one friend remarked when I told her of the robbery, unfortunately here in Iquique the headlights for these cars are "custom ordered" - meaning when someone comes looking to purchase them, someone else (in this case us!) loses theirs as a result.
And to top it all off, my devotions this morning were in Romans chapter 12. Do you suppose that "Bless those that persecute you; bless and curse not" (verse 14) applies to car thieves?
Somehow ... I'm afraid it does. (sigh!)
Perhaps tomorrow I will provide the photographic evidence to accompany this post, but for now I am still just plain mad and would rather not look at the gaping empty holes where our car's headlights and turn signals used to be.
Ironically, the former owner of our vehicle warned us that the headlights of this particular model car (a Toyota Ipsum) were in high demand on the black market. He personally went so far as to have the lights cemented/glued in place to hinder the possibility of their being stolen. The cost of replacing them isn't cheap; one turning signal cost us 30.000 Chilean pesos (approximately $60 USD) when the car was repaired following Pedro's accident back in March.
Having seen other Ipsums around town with missing headlights, we knew this was a possibility but it was the furthest thing from my mind when I parked in the same lot as always across from the doctor's office and facing the ocean. The lot was full, but when we returned two hours later only a handful of cars remained. Immediately I caught sight of the maimed car and upon closer inspection Owen even found the screwdriver which had been used for the evil deed.
I called Pedro to report the bad news and then proceeded to interrogate everyone in the immediate vicinity. The family in a nearby van was stretched out on their reclined seats with the doors open to let in the ocean breezes and said they only arrived minutes before and saw nothing. The couple directly in front of us sitting on the seawall and snapping pictures also saw nothing. And the man washing a white van behind us claimed to have arrived only half an hour before and - you guessed it - also saw nothing.
Talk about fuming. Let me just say that it would have taken the thief quite a bit of time and effort to remove those headlights and blinkers, and they are not small. It is not possible that no one saw him doing this. What it is even more frustrating is knowing that when we go to purchase these parts again, we will most likely be buying "recycled" parts ourselves. Not that we could know for sure nor would the seller admit it, but as one friend remarked when I told her of the robbery, unfortunately here in Iquique the headlights for these cars are "custom ordered" - meaning when someone comes looking to purchase them, someone else (in this case us!) loses theirs as a result.
And to top it all off, my devotions this morning were in Romans chapter 12. Do you suppose that "Bless those that persecute you; bless and curse not" (verse 14) applies to car thieves?
Somehow ... I'm afraid it does. (sigh!)
3 comments:
Sorry to hear that Steph. Very frustrating.
I would be fuming too... ARG!
Sorry. That has to be aggravating. We ought to design a way to attach the headlights to the battery so anyone trying to steal them gets a shock treatment!
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