Published: August 24, 2008 12:00 am            

Victim of auto theft seeks justice

Norman man had two vehicles stolen right out of his garage

Ron English woke up the morning of Aug. 14 to discover two vehicles had been stolen from the garage of his home.

"It was a real shocker," English said. "You don't know the range of emotions my wife and I have been through. The thieves were only one door away from being inside the house."

"I'm a senior citizen and I feel violated. Having something like this happen makes you feel insecure in your own home. I've never felt that way before," English said.

English and his wife Brenda live on Harrogate Drive in west Norman.

"This is usually a quiet neighborhood. None of my neighbors noticed anything. However, in discussing my loss I find that a number of my neighbors and friends have had thieves go through their parked cars," he said.

"There probably are more incidents like this than the city would care for us to report. Most folks will not report the random entry to their parked car. So the majority of the incidents go unreported -- thus most of our neighbors are not aware that a problem exists. That is until the thieves strike their car or their home," he said.

At about 7 a.m. the morning of the theft, English said he received a call from a the Norman Police Department, asking if he owned a certain model Honda SUV.

"I answered in the affirmative. She then asked the question that startled me -- 'Do you know were that vehicle is?'

"I assured her it was in my garage. When she asked that I go verify that it was there, my heart raced as did my feet to the garage. To my shock not only was the Honda gone, but my Toyota was missing as well," he said.

The officer seemed shocked English was missing two cars, he said. She told English the Honda had been found, parked about four blocks from his house in the driveway of another home.

"The owner discovered my car in his drive when he was leaving home for work and couldn't get out of his drive. The car seemed in good condition. A few dollars taken from the change tray and the keys seemed the only things missing," he said.

English said his 2002 Toyota Highlander has not been recovered. "It's a Limited Edition silver SUV with only 50,000 miles on it. It's in excellent shape and I had just put a brand new set of tires put on it," he said.

Although his insurance will pay a portion of the vehicle's worth, English said it wouldn't recompense the car's full value, nor would it replace "other personal items that have meaning beyond money."

"For instance, I had my old Bible with over 30 years of study notes taken along with the car," he said.

English said he thinks there's a good chance the SUV is still in the metro area. He is offering a $500 reward for its return.

"I am willing to accept a tip that leads to the car being returned safely with no questions asked of the person providing the tip. What I would really like to happen is the guilty party be caught and removed from our streets so that this does not happen to another Norman citizen," he said.

English said he thinks the theft was committed by local thieves.

"I believe with all my heart that car is being used or is parked on one of our streets. Someone knows who took the car. There had to be more than one person involved -- remember, two cars were taken.?

"A car thief could change my tag and, unless the car is wrecked or used in another crime, he could drive that vehicle for several years without being caught. That shouldn't happen.

"I feel violated -- because, indeed, I have been. This is Norman, Oklahoma. Our citizens should be able to go home and to bed without fear that upon waking their property has been stolen," he said.

Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com

        

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