A Word to the Wise

You've probably done this before. I know I have. I've left my car with the engine running while I ran into the house to grab something I've forgotten. Yesterday morning, my wife's uncle was warming up his vehicle to drive to work when he realized he'd left his cell phone in the house and dashed inside to retrieve it. When he went back outside less than a minute later, his vehicle was gone. Sacramento police responded quickly to his call and immediately began to seach for the stolen vehicle, but they still haven't found it.

Fortunately the vehicle stolen was not the family Camry but a creaky old Nissan Pathfinder that my uncle-in-law bought second-hand for $1500. Yet, he is not a rich man. He works very hard for a modest income that has to pay a lot of family expenses, and he put that old Nissan to good use. The loss was not insignificant.

So, a word to the wise. Don't leave your vehicle, no matter what it is, running unattended for even a moment in even the "safest" neighborhood, or you might very well never see it again.