Topic: RECOVERED!! My friend's Red '87 was stolen from Clovis, CA yesterday evening

[BigMike]

My buddies Red 1987 Pickup was stolen from the Ashlan/Peach Costco parking lot (in Clovis, CA) around 6pm yesterday evening. He was inside shopping for about 30 mins and when he came out his truck was gone.

Details: 1987 Toyota 4x4 standard cab, long bed, Red in color, round rear bumper, two receiver hitchs on front end for rack.
Dent in Driver side rear quarter panel. Passenger door is slightly different red in color from the rest of truck.
Round sticker behind driver headrest on window says USHPA. Wheels are aluminum centerline directional with almost new Radial TA's.

If you see this in town please post up or call us at the shop: 559-252-7295

If you have friends in Fresno/Clovis/Madera/Kerman/Corsegold/Prather...Fowler/Kingsburg/Visalia/Hanford/Tulare/Chowchilla Share this and let them know to be on the look out! Thanks!

BigMike

[superyota]

I'm a bit further north,  but I'll keep an eye out in the sac area.  Hopefully it shows up sooner than later.

[BigMike [OP]]

Thanks Edwin

[zembalayan]

I will keep an eye out in SF and the Bay Area.

[TimberlineBryce]

Ill post this on the Fresno Area 4wd Parts Exchange Facebook group...

[BigMike [OP]]

Thank you everyone

[cruiserfj45]

I am all over town with my job.  I will be looking out and it is posted in my club forum.

[BigMike [OP]]

Thank you Jacob

[Rocksurfer]

If it happens to make it this far south I'll let you know.

[MAGIC]

I'll be looking on the central coast. Hope he gets it back before they destroy it. Tom

[BigMike [OP]]

Still no word yet..

[cen-cal crawler]

Eyes open in south east fresno and west fresno.

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[BigMike [OP]]

Update from the owner:

"Police officer finally called back on this, no usable video from Costco parking lot, no news yet on the truck or it's location. I will keep you informed if I hear anything."

[cen-cal crawler]

I was downtown in ome of the hospital parking lots and caught a glimpse of a bright red toy pick up. I drove back and into the parking lot and was dissapointed when I seen the ifs suspension. Any who dont be afraid to approach a suspected stolen toyota if you see it sitting in a parking lot by itself. Just cruise by it and take a quick peek. It could bring a toyota home fpr someone

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[BigMike [OP]]

His 87 is IFS. Of course its too late now, but was it a single cab long bed, and do you remember the passenger's door being a slightly different shade of red?

Thanks
Mike

[cen-cal crawler]

It was short bed and had tg sticker rear driver side window.  Couple other stickers as well back window

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[cen-cal crawler]

I whooped out my phone and double checked the forum picture you posted it was close real close but I was confident it was the wrong truck. I dont have any fear of being confronted by the owner or police I just show them the forum post and it usually works.

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[BigMike [OP]]

We received a phone call from someone claiming to be my friend with a message that his truck had been recovered. He didn't leave a name, and I called my buddy and he hasn't answered/returned my call. that it's this one!!

It was short bed and had tg sticker rear driver side window.

Thanks for the help but can't be that one, it wouldn't be worth stealing.

BigMike

[kneedownnate]

And then?

[BigMike [OP]]

So far nothing. I'll call him right now, please stand by....


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[BigMike [OP]]

CONFIRMED!!

Truck has been recovered and is in great shape!!

I'm on my phone so I'll keep this brief:
8:30 this morning the Fresno Police Department called Park with the good news. The vehicle was discovered after residents near Maple and Church Aves reported it abandoned for a number of days.

Damages include only the following:
1) Stolen radio that (A) had no face plate and (B) didn't even work, resulting in damage to the radio bay, and
2) Finger printing graphite from the police dept alllll over the vehicle that he'll have to clean (hardly a complaint!).

Everything else was intact including his nice wheels and new-ish tires.

Additional notes are that the truck does have a kill switch but Park stopped using it because he considered it a nuisance. He said he'll never make the same mistake again and can't thank everyone enough for all the support over this.

So if you've got a kill switch and it's "not worth the time" to use, please reconsider if that's worth loosing your pride and joy over!!

Thanks again to everyone! This was the first time in a long time that I've had to report a friend's stolen vehicle and I have been blown away from the support and number of eyes on the look out. Networking like this has come a long way and it is comforting to see everyone's participation in this regard.

Hopefully I won't be making another thread like this for a long time,
BigMike


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[Rocksurfer]

Wash that print dust off as soon as possible or it will bake on and as hot as it has been lately it won't take long.

[superyota]

glad to hear he got it back in one piece. 

[fordh8r]

Hopefully I won't be making another thread like this for a long time, OR EVER AGAIN
BigMike


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Fixed it for ya, Mikey. 

That's great news! Hope those  enjoy their new radio.  Really glad to hear he wasn't just recovering a hull of a vehicle. 

[BigMike [OP]]

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[Snowtoy]

CONFIRMED!!
Additional notes are that the truck does have a kill switch but Park stopped using it because he considered it a nuisance. He said he'll never make the same mistake again and can't thank everyone enough for all the support over this.

Glad to hear he git it back as well, that is a hard way to learn a "Murphy's Law" lesson.
He might want to add a mechanical lock(like the autolock) to his anti-theft system as well.  It will prevent the lazy thief from going past the scouting phase.

[cruiserfj45]

The club.  Not too hard to get by but keeps the thief with a old Toyota key from hopping in your truck.

[camhays556]

glad to hear it got recovered! Is there a thread on killswitches, and can they be purchased after market??

[Snowtoy]

Yes, you can buy them, or make one yourself, all you are doing is interrupting the ignition circuit(either the pos or neg side), which can be done with an accessory switch.  An anti-theft system works best when it is layered, i.e. standard car alarm system, secondary kill switch(ignition or fuel pump), then a mechanical lock like the autolock, that goes around the brake or clutch pedal, pull coil wire or efi fuse, etc.  Of course this still isn't 100% protection, they can always show up with a flatbed, or strip it where it is at, but it should keep most of the honest thieves(as my dad calls them) from bothering you.

[BigMike [OP]]

As Snowtoy mentioned there are multiple ways about killing/immobilizing your rig and having multiple levels is huge. My multi levels are kill switch, club, car alarm, and on both of my vehicles.

Another tip to mention is including a secondary kill switch located outside of the cab, something only intended for long term storage (as its impractical for daily use), but if you consider the thief rummaging around under your dash for hours when infact the kill device is located under the bed on the passenger's side of the truck....

Also don't forgot about the pad lock: Weld a loop (half a chain link) to your transmission handle and another to your Crawl Box or t/case handle, and when you want to disable your truck, shift it into Reverse + Low Range and slap a Masterlock pad lock in there. Even if they fire it up, they'd be stuck in reverse low range!

Of couse as mentioned, if they really want your truck there isnt much ya can do short of living inside it. Information on kill switches have been asked before but it's best to only post vague responses, otherwise even the layman thief would know what to look for and how to bypass such devices.

BigMike

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