(Another) laptop robbery, this time in S & R Macapagal

I was about to park my car to buy a pair of tires in S & R Macapagal (Aseana Business Park) last night when I chanced upon this angry scene.

A group found out too late that their brand new Montero SUV had been broken in, its glass windows smashed. In a relatively well-lit parking lot with security guards. Losses included a brand new Acer laptop and money in six figures.

The victim (not in picture) was mainly mourning the loss of his laptop, placed in a knapsack, which contained important work records. We learned he’s a vice president of Volvo cars based in Singapore.

It seems only a few weeks ago when we wrote here the rash of laptop robberies in vehicles. This is the reason why I’d never venture out of the house these days with the Mac, even for the sole reason of “looking good while using wi-fi in a tony coffeeshop.” The prevailing moral lesson is that you should never leave your laptop and other gadgets in your car, even if you just have to pee for five minutes, or less.

SUVs and other luxury vehicles seem to be the preferred targets. The newer the car, the better.

While it is easy for victims to scream “inside jobs,” I doubt if people inside are so brazen as to sh*t in their own backyard. There seems to be a pattern as to the kind of places being targetted by the criminals. And it appears that they’ve mastered the art of doing their job as noiselessly as possible, even with guards around.

Another tip that the police gave in last night’s incident was to take note of the plate numbers of the cars beside you, on all sides, most notably the right and the left. It seems the parking lot thieves, who reportedly hire ‘rent a cars’ park beside their intended targets to cover up what they’re doing.

Anyway, that’s again another senseless statistic in the metro. We’ve been warned 🙁