When My Window Was Smashed

Having your car broken into, and your personal belongings stolen from it, doesn't seem like a big deal until it happens to you. At the end of this story I am going to ask for your help, if you would like to cut to that part, please follow this link: Gofundme

From the beginning

I drove into the city (Providence, RI) on 7/10/21 to DJ at The Colosseum, a nightclub. This night I was just the opener DJ, meaning I would DJ from 10pm-12am then stay until almost 3am to get paid. I parked my car on the street as I always have when opening, to save the $15 out of my $100 pay that it would cost to park in a lot.

I had left some miscellaneous equipment in the car. My tool bag with a hammer, and some cordless power tools, which I had used for work during the day. A large heavy speaker which I had lent out that day for a family baby shower. Lastly, my camera bag, which I needed for a wedding I was DJ'ing the next day. I intended to bring the camera equipment into the club and take some photos to keep myself busy after my DJ set, but I was running late and ended up not going back outside to get it. Knowling this was a possibility, when I left the car, I hid the bag and put a coat over it.

My camera bag contained the majority of the camera equipment I had built up over the past 5 years, lenses, a camera body, filters, video microphones, etc. Easily $2,400 worth of equipment. You probably can see where this is going...

When I returned to my car

My rear passenger side window was shattered all, glass was everywhere, my front passenger side window had two hit points, but did not break because it was laminated glass. At first, I looked to make sure the speaker was still in the car, relieved that it still was, along with my tools, I closed the door and asked the other people on the block, who I noticed were sitting on the curb, if their windows were broken too.

As it turns out, every car on the block had their window smashed and anything of value stolen. iPad's, Camera's, Immigration papers, all gone. At this time, I recalled that I had left my wallet in the car too, so I checked my center console and found my wallet, still there, with all my credit cards and cash still in it. At this point, you, the reader, are probably thinking that I am an idiot for leaving this much valuable stuff in my car. I will say, now is not the time or the place even though you may be right, $h1t happens and people forget to take things out of their car.

Back to the story, right around this point, I remember that my camera gear was in the car. (OH $HIT) I look for it to find that my coat had been moved and the bag stolen. At this point I know the police need to get involved so I ask if anyone has called and they said yes they were on their way. No sense in me calling if someone already else has, they are already short staffed.

The police arrive

A few moments later the police arrive, two cars, two officers total. They inform, me and the other people on the block that we have to file a police report online (this is after I mentioned that over $2,000 in valuables had been stolen). They refused to be of any more help than that at the time.

The next day

I woke up, went to the online reporting website and found out that if more than $1,500 in value had been stolen, you can't use the online form. I had to call the police station to find out that I had to come in to file a paper police report.

At this point I'm going to cut to the chase, I filed the report, car insurance got my windows replaced, and it is now a month and a half later, my case hasn't been investigated at all, and the detectives will not return my calls/voicemails asking for basic information. My friends dad, a long time Providence police officer told me that the detectives are likely too busy with shootings, stabbings, and homocides, to investigate my case at this time. While I understand all of this, I just wish that they would return my call, and take 5 minutes to answer my questions about if/and or when I should expect to hear anything.

How I felt after

Having your car broken into by a stranger is a scary thing, for a while, I felt "dirty" and was grossed out by the thought that a stranger had been in my car and had taken my stuff. I frantically checked Facebook, Craigslist, etc every morning to see if I could find my stolen camera equipment but after a month, I figured I would probably never see it again. I decided to have a friend, DJ Ominous fill in for my next set at the club, becuase I was not ready to go back downtown. Beyond this, I don't have many words to describe how I felt besides gross, awful, and disgusted.

The next time...

...I parked in Providence on Friday for my first day back at the club in 1.5 months. I reluctantly parked on the street, this time in a very well lit area that I could see from the second floor of the club. I had no valuables in my car, and I turned my dashcam to face the windows and left it running all night. I figured it was better to risk my battery being dead, then have my window smashed again with no evidence besides the smashed window.

At this point you may be asking why I didn't just pay to park in a lot. In reality, I know people who have had their window smashed in parking lots too, I also know that the attendants usually leave at 1am when clubs stop letting people in, so there is still a 2 hour window for people to burglarize cars.

I don't make money off my camera gear

...and I recently left my low paying day job to pursue being a full time DJ, which makes it hard for me to rebuy so much camera gear. While I have been doing good as a DJ, I still have bills to pay and the winter, when I will have virutally no events, is right around the corner. If you can, please consider donating to my gofundme campaign to help me buy new camera gear to replace the stolen items. Even if you can spare a dollar or two, I would greatly appreciate it. If you would prefer to venmo me you could also do that, my venmo is @djalexbrown and my phone number ends in 4224.

Link - Gofundme

Thank you for taking the time to read this far, I hope my story has an impact on you... don't leave valuables in the car on the street.

Sincerely, Alex.