So now that I have calmed down and things have been resolved, well kind of anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know to be careful parking there.

I went down on Saturday to watch the game with one of my friends and had to park in that side (old marina) lot. I've parked there before and it was filling up so I wasn't that concerned. Well when I came out to my car at 11:30pm I found my rear passenger window had been smashed and ALL of my professional camera gear had been stolen (along with my swim/lifeguard bag which was worthless)!

Cops came (an hour later), cars was wet so no prints could be recovered, and I was devastated!

Sunday morning on my way down to the Deerfield sheriffs office my father calls to tell me the theirs posted my camera and some gear on craigslist for sale with a phone number to contact (pictures and all)!!! I tell the police and after threatening to go to this guys house myself they finally start looking into this.

Thankfully yesterday we got a call saying most of the items were recovered (minus some minor gear and the $400 camera bag) but they havent  made an arrest yet because the guy said he didnt know the stuff was stolen! :/ I mean I didn't know that was a legit defense?

Just beware parking down there. Lock all your stuff away! I shouldn't have had mine in the car period but nothing was visible and they still broken in to my '03 Corolla:/

I think I'll be finding a new watch party venue.  

Wow, close to home horror story…

But glad to hear you got most of the stuff back!


On a side note:

Went there once, and that was it for me. Not impressed woith the food, and not going back…….

I was parked over there first time I ever had to park way out  left around 10:45 It was kind of dark over that way. There were a lot of cars there from that fight after our game too. Duffy's should do a better job of cleaning and lighting up the parking area to deter those sort of things

Manager needs to be contacted and told that FAU watch party's will move somewhere else if problem isn't addressed.

walty12 said

Manager needs to be contacted and told that FAU watch party's will move somewhere else if problem isn't addressed.

How does the manager prevent this?  You park at your own risk.  If anything, this is clearly the OP's fault for leaving camera equipment exposed in the vehicle.  Either leave it at home or put it in your trunk.

Yes it's my fault because I broke the law.  : I didn't know it was illegal to leave items in your car.  :-\

Look I already said it shouldn't have been there but it was. I used it earlier in the day. End of story. I got enough grief from the useless police about it. And again NOTHING was in plain sight.

As for the reasoning of my original post I just wanted to raise awareness to other Owl fans to make sure they learn from this. I was told that there used to be a lot of break ins in that parking lot a while ago but none recently, well until this past Saturday. That side marina parking lot is dark and just try your best not to park there.

Just a heads up.

If anything, this is clearly the OP's fault for leaving camera equipment exposed in the vehicle.  Either leave it at home or put it in your trunk.

Idiots speak without knowing the facts. The items were not in any view. It was sheer luck that the scumbags found it.

Now, if we could get the unimpressive Broward sheriff's office to actually arrest the slime from whom the gear was recovered, and who had it listed on craigslist within two hours of the theft … It's bad enough that we had to do their investigation for them ad point them right at the theives.

I've had my car broken into before as well. Not at that duffy's in fact it was right in front of my house. They went looking for my GPS which thankfully was in my house. Either way, I don't see how this is her fault? She said in the original post that there was nothing in plain view and it wasn't like she's driving around in a $90,000 car where someone would know she has money.

People just have no lives and think it's ok to steal someone else's property. I love how they can't arrest the guy because he didn't know it was stolen. I would believe that, if he was the one who bought it off of craigslist, not the one selling it within hours of the camera being stolen

SigEp77 said

walty12 said

Manager needs to be contacted and told that FAU watch party's will move somewhere else if problem isn't addressed.

How does the manager prevent this?  You park at your own risk.  If anything, this is clearly the OP's fault for leaving camera equipment exposed in the vehicle.  Either leave it at home or put it in your trunk.

Lighting?  Security Guard?  Police stopping by?  Come on.

Interestingly, the Vietnamese guy I identified as the craigslist seller and, later, from whom Broward sheriffs retrieved some of the gear, has had lots of addresses near Fort Lauderdale, mostly in the same Sunrise/Tamarac/Lauderhill neighborhood of the scumbags who hit my daughter head-on last February and ran from the scene, causing us a total loss of the $10k car, with no insurance payoff.

We did our own investigation on this guy. We know everything from his SS number to his latest address (lives with a BUNCH of people), the fact that he has a 2011 leased Civic Coupe, works in a nail salon, etc.

Clearly, he knows or is in concert with the black males (according to the sheriff's office) who smashed in her 2003 Toyota's windows at Duffy's and stole more than $5,000 worth of gear. Items from other thefts were also recovered. Did the scumbag not know they were stolen either?

Did I mention that ther Broward sheriff's at first refused to act when we showed them the photos of our gear and gave them the phone number of the perp we had already contacted? They finally moved after I told them they would catch him or I would do it - and it would be messy.

The Vietnamese guy might not have committed the theft, but he is just as guilty for being the "fence". He needs to talk or face the consequences and pay ther damages (including a $250 window, hundreds of dollars in lifeguard/swim coach gear and bags, $400 camera bag and several hundred dollars of still-missing lenses and accessories, $200 pair of riding breeches and more).

If he does not own up and do the responsible thing, then comes a probably useless civil suit and, finally, the commencement of "Operation Ass Kicking". Oh, and Immigration will be informed as well.