Many years ago, I needed to stop in a local old business district where the businesses had no off street parking. So I was forced to park in the neighborhood near by. Someone took exception to where I parked. When I came back to get my car, there was a spot right in the middle of the windshield on the lower edge that looked like it had been hit by a hammer. Pure and simple vandalism.

Nearly as long ago, I drove a 79 Datsun (Nissan) station wagon. We didn't know it when we moved in, but there was a half-way house (house for convicts transitioning back into society) just a block down the street from us. As unknown to me Datsun and Toyota were the number one and two most frequently stolen cars, due to the design of the locks. Any flat blade screwdriver could force the lock to turn on both the door and the ignition.

One day, I found my car in a grocery store parking lot, across from the half-way house. Another time I was awakened by the police at 2:00 AM. The officer asked if I owned a brown 1969 station wagon. I said yes and then he asked where it was parked. I told him it was in my driveway. He shook his head and informed me that someone had reported that the car was parked in front of there house around the block from the half-way house. They reported it because they had just returned home from their swing shift job and heard someone turn off the car by standing on the break and dumping the clutch. It seems that a screwdriver can be used to turn the ignition on, but the mechanism won't let it be used to turn it off. The officer offered to go park behind the car to keep it there until I could get dressed and come get it.

I bought a device that locked between the clutch an steering wheel, different than "The Club" but rendered the vehicle undriveable. I took to leaving the car unlocked because using a screwdriver to force the lock in the door messed up the lock. Having replaced it, I didn't want to have it damaged just for the thief to discover they couldn't steal the car. When I installed my anti-theft device, I left the packaging on the seat. The next day, I got in the car to go somewhere and the packaging was gone. As I drove away, I saw it laying in the street about a half a block away.