pitzerwm
Active member
I am located in the High Desert; Victorville, CA but the area includes Apple Valley and Hesperia as well
I have a security camera system so the information is based upon what I recorded on camera.
I have had 3 incidents over the last 6 weeks.
Incident #1
Two black males in white chevy or gmc late model pickup drove into the bay; and opened all of their doors (they had a truck with the small rear access doors)
They had a Honda type generator for power
They used a high speed grinder to cut the security bar and my locks off. I do not have a vault; older car wash.
They broke in on a Sunday at 2:30 PM in the afternoon; pretty confident
They hit 2 of my meter boxes before driving away
Incident #2
Yesterday, Sunday, 8/31 our coin box was hit again
This time there was a Hispanic looking man and a woman driving the same type of truck as in Incident #1
They opened their doors like in the first case but used a battery powered high speed grinder to cut the bar and locks
They broke in at 5:50 PM in the afternoon when it was still lighted.
They did not know that since incident #1 I put alarm sensors on all of my coin boxes and lids so once they removed the box, the alarm went off
Fortunately, I took the money out in the morning so there was little in the box this holiday weekend.
I feel there is a gang of thieves hitting the car washes in the area with the same method. The truck looked similar so I think they may all be working together but switching crews to do the breaking. Please amend and place this in your crime alert for other self service owners.
Incident #3
I do not know if someone tried to drain my hoppers in my Hamilton gold series (3 hoppers/2 Coinco validators on 8/30 or 8/31. Have you heard of anyone being able to trick the system to dispense the coins without stringing? I did not find any evidence of stringing in the validators. Lucky for me, I use dollar size tokens and they got jammed in the coin chute so the hoppers got jammed and shut down the machine. I have never had this happen to me with a Hamilton in over 17 years of business but thieves are creative.
Do you think this was a machine error or an attempt to drain the hoppers. If it was thievery, can you tell me what I could do to prevent this issue. I remember, Etowah valley equipment having a coin shutoff if too many coins are vended at one time. Are you familiar with this device or is there others that I can apply. I will be going to the WCA later this month and if you are there, I would like to spend time with you on this matter and pick your brain.
I have a security camera system so the information is based upon what I recorded on camera.
I have had 3 incidents over the last 6 weeks.
Incident #1
Two black males in white chevy or gmc late model pickup drove into the bay; and opened all of their doors (they had a truck with the small rear access doors)
They had a Honda type generator for power
They used a high speed grinder to cut the security bar and my locks off. I do not have a vault; older car wash.
They broke in on a Sunday at 2:30 PM in the afternoon; pretty confident
They hit 2 of my meter boxes before driving away
Incident #2
Yesterday, Sunday, 8/31 our coin box was hit again
This time there was a Hispanic looking man and a woman driving the same type of truck as in Incident #1
They opened their doors like in the first case but used a battery powered high speed grinder to cut the bar and locks
They broke in at 5:50 PM in the afternoon when it was still lighted.
They did not know that since incident #1 I put alarm sensors on all of my coin boxes and lids so once they removed the box, the alarm went off
Fortunately, I took the money out in the morning so there was little in the box this holiday weekend.
I feel there is a gang of thieves hitting the car washes in the area with the same method. The truck looked similar so I think they may all be working together but switching crews to do the breaking. Please amend and place this in your crime alert for other self service owners.
Incident #3
I do not know if someone tried to drain my hoppers in my Hamilton gold series (3 hoppers/2 Coinco validators on 8/30 or 8/31. Have you heard of anyone being able to trick the system to dispense the coins without stringing? I did not find any evidence of stringing in the validators. Lucky for me, I use dollar size tokens and they got jammed in the coin chute so the hoppers got jammed and shut down the machine. I have never had this happen to me with a Hamilton in over 17 years of business but thieves are creative.
Do you think this was a machine error or an attempt to drain the hoppers. If it was thievery, can you tell me what I could do to prevent this issue. I remember, Etowah valley equipment having a coin shutoff if too many coins are vended at one time. Are you familiar with this device or is there others that I can apply. I will be going to the WCA later this month and if you are there, I would like to spend time with you on this matter and pick your brain.
