California Surveyors Forums

One of our survey trucks was broken into while the crew was surveying on Golf Links Road in Oakland yesterday.

The thieves got a Leica GS15 rover s/n 15900, a Hilti TE 30-A36 cordless hammer drill, and a Schoenstadt GA-52CX magnetic locator.

If someone tries to sell this equipment to you, please give me a call

Steve Martin, EBMUD (510) 287-1073

In the '80s my dad and his wife bought a house on Golf Links Road. After they got burglarized they installed an alarm with a loud bell. A few months after that they returned home one day to find the bell clanging and the house ransacked. Their next-door neighbor came over and said that when he heard the noise he looked out his window and saw a couple of guys loading my dad's tv into the trunk of their car, but he assumed my dad had given them permission and went back to what he was doing.

Jim Frame wrote:In the '80s my dad and his wife bought a house on Golf Links Road. After they got burglarized they installed an alarm with a loud bell. A few months after that they returned home one day to find the bell clanging and the house ransacked. Their next-door neighbor came over and said that when he heard the noise he looked out his window and saw a couple of guys loading my dad's tv into the trunk of their car, but he assumed my dad had given them permission and went back to what he was doing.

Steve sorry to hear that.

To add some related humor to Jim's post - a few months ago I had my tribrachs and drill taken from the rear of the truck when I left the tonneau cover unlocked a block from my home (atypical of me since I usually lock it. I'm pretty paranoid about stuff getting taken so I was kicking myself for forgetting to lock it).

The tonneau cover was open with two prism poles lying on the street next to the truck since that morning until my wife saw it and alerted me to it in the late afternoon. Long and short of it was a neighbor came out and goes "huh I saw that when I was walking the kids to school this morning and wondered what that was about." Hey thanks wondering silently about that. A text would have jarred me from my tranquility at the home office, so it's good you kept quiet.

Thanks Jim and Bryan.

I've reported the unit to Leica as stolen.

Leica tells me it can be difficult to get the police to respond even when you do have a good lead on someone trying to sell the stolen property.

All this brings up a question: if you were approached on the street by someone with an obviously stolen or otherwise illegally gotten instrument, would you make an offer, say $500, in hopes that the true owner will reimburse you, thereby putting you in possession of stolen goods, or would you just say "No thanks" and continue working or whatever you were doing?
Do you think you could reasonably convince an undercover member of law enforcement that you were just trying to help a friend, even though you don't really know who owns the instrument?

You bring up a good ethical dilemma Dave.

I had a similar situation not too long ago where I got a call at work out of the blue from a guy who said he had two Nikon instruments in like new condition that he got out of a storage locker auction. I looked the model up and they were low end builders instruments, however I would not buy something like that from someone "off the street". I did take down his number though.

Steve

San Francisco is the national leader in property crimes - logging over 30,000 annually. The arrest rate for the crimes is less than 1%. I imagine it is similar in the adjacent communities. Yesterday I read an article, which generously included a photo, of a man defecating in a grocery store. The San Francisco street bathroom scene has been well documented - apparently it is now expanding into the businesses. Strikingly, the grocery store had a public restroom that was open and available.

Sorry for the loss of the instrument. Anyone working (or walking or shopping in a grocery store) would do well knowing their community crime rates and immediate surroundings. The newly elected SF DA has vowed not to prosecute various property crimes. Oracle has accepted these realities and moved their annual conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfchro ... 545144.php

Woolley's comments are depressing, its a sad state when Reno and Las Vegas are safer than the sanctuary city's
of northern and southern California.

Makes me glad I am in cow country.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's solution to the homeless problem was to buy them a one way bus ticket to California...

To cold today for homeless to survive here
this time of year. One of the good things
from below freezing temps, Kills the Bugs.

I had a Leica TS16 stolen, after about a year someone contacted Leica after seeing it on Craigslist. I contacted the police and they actually got it back. We’ve now got an extra one, I’ve been meaning to sell it but have been too busy. If anyone is interested, let me know, it has had very little use and is in great condition.