For the past year and a half or so, I’ve been driving my 2002 Ford Focus all over Southern California (see the LAPD crime maps)… Never had a problem. Then, when I moved back to Redmond, WA – home of Microsoft – my personal crime rate goes up. On Thursday morning I found that I was one of three unlucky people in my neighborhood to experience the old fashioned "smash-and-grab" form of auto-burglary. That’s where the thief sees something they want, smash the window, grab it and take off before the glass has even settled.
For $200, I got the window replaced by a mobile company that came to my office. The GPS that they stole will cost at least that much to replace.