My 24 year-old daughter is being stalked by an old boyfriend who has the keys to her car. There doesn’t seem to be a way to prevent him from entry, but I would like to install something that might alert her to his presence. Does anyone have an inexpensive reliable alarm system suggestion? We would like an alert if any part of the car was touched, I think, if that is practical. It would only be used at night outside her condo.
Any alarm system would be negated by the fact that the creep has the keys. If he’s stalking her, she should report it to the police.
She could put a piece of tape in an inconspicuous spot on the door so she’d know if it had been open. It would work and cost next to nothing.
If I were you, I would:
Notify the police
Have your daughter request a Restraining Order
Change the locks (at least the door locks) on the car
Depending on the car, the trunk and doors may use the same keys. I suppose the car does not have remote keyless entry (RKE). It may cost less to change the locks than install an alarm. I’d get more comfort from new locks.
And if the ex really is stalking her, she must have the justice system stop him. He needs to know that it is unacceptable behavior. Call tonight - the cops work 24/7.
Send a registered letter with receipt notification and tell the person that you want the keys returned and if they are not, you will report to the police that they are stolen and who you suspect took them. Also, tell the person that if he has any thoughts about duplicating the keys, the police will be knocking on his door first. If he known to be violent and unreasonable, then change the locks. Why should you have to spend your money on an alarm for such a person? A letter is only a few dollars.
If you really want an alarm, you can get a fairly OK one installed at Best Buy in the $250-300 range with horn honking, lights flashing, and remote entry. They can vary the sensitivity of them. We put that in my son’s car and hit the tire with the snow shovel and the alarm went off.
I would really really though consider just having the locks rekeyed if they do not have the chip. Check with a local locksmith on that one. You have to be really careful with people like this though and while restraining orders etc. might be in order, simply the police are not in a position to protect people. You have to do that yourself.
Everyone’s a lawyer, but the legal advice you should be taking should be coming from YOUR lawyer.
As for the car, certainly call an automotive locksmith first and see about re-keying the door locks. Then call Circuit City or Best Buy, or your favorite car stereo installer and see about an alarm. Compare the prices, make a decision. As was said, 200 - 250 doesn’t sound unrealistic. Most inexpensive aftermarket alarms do not deactivate with the door lock, so you shouldn’t have to worry about that. If it’s a decent alarm and is professionally installed, your insurance may give you a slight discount.
Pit Bull
QUOTE: “you will report to the police that they are stolen and who you suspect took them”
If indeed the daughter provided the keys to this jerk, then stating to the police that the keys were stolen would be an act of making a false report to the police–and that in itself is a criminal act. I respectfully suggest that making one’s self liable to prosecution for filing a false police report is not a very good way of acting against the boyfriend.
A restraining order is the way to go. I’ve been in Court many times and witnessed just such a scenario, old boyfriend or old girlfriend with a grudge. Don’t take the law into your own hands. Oh, BTW . . . the offender has to pay costs and will go to jail if he violates the Order. Rocketman
VCD, read my post again; I did not advise going to the police; only to write the letter. In a meeting with the police, the details of this situation can reasonably be expected to become revealed and I am sure that the police will advise the lady of what they can do to help.
Tell me too, why can’t something be considered stolen if a reasonable request to return the property is ignored? What other status would you give to property in unauthorized hands?
unfortunately your options are expensive.
you MUST change the locks, the ignition, the keyless entry (if equipped) and the remote code.
the other suggestions about restraining orders, and legal advice are really honest. take the advice.
good luck.
If you want an alarm look for one that says “with pager.” Those types of alarms will alert you when your car is being broken into, or even touched, but not set off a siren/horn (unless you want that, too). This is much better for most folks because no one pays attention to car alarms blaring their horns, except maybe to call the cops on the car owner for disturbing the peace.
I also second all the advice about consulting the local police and possibly a lawyer about restraining orders, etc. If you have not already done that. You don’t necessarily have to proceed with that stuff, but it is best to know what your options are in your own local area.
Any alarm system would be negated by the fact that the creep has the keys.
There are car alarms that you need to disable by pressing a button. Put the button in a non obvious place and it will go off after 20 seconds after the car door is opened. The alarm is NOT disabled via the keys.
Not to disagree but the police cannot protect you all the time. The 20 yr old deputy sheriff in Wisconsin that shot six kids would not have been stopped by a restraining order. A stalker is a particular personality that needs to be professionally dealt with and unfortunately the police and the courts are not equipped to provide that. If the guy has a temper, all the worse.
We had a cop in our small town that was stalking his ex-girlfriend. What a sleeze. The police chief didn’t do a thing to control this jerk either. After the girl made a complaint to the State authorities did SOME action was taken against this cop. When he went to court for the stalking complaint…the Judge had him turn over his badge and gun. The police chief still did NOTHING…even went on record saying he was a good cop and that the judge overstepped his authority. He was arrested a year later in MA for beating up another cop who stopped him for DUI.
LOL, in the little town where I grew up the local town government had the chief of police and his buddies arrested by the state police. Don’t you love small towns?
Officially, I would have the car re-keyed and install a cheap alarm.
Unofficially, I think I would go have a little chat with the lad.
Any feed/ag store will sell you a “fence charger” for $30-$40 dollars. Wire it up so the Car becomes the “fence”. Kind of like a Taser for cars. Any alarm/remote starter shop will wire up a hidden switch for you to turn it on and off.