Point Reyes Light - October 9, 2003
'Car Clouters' go on a coastal rampage
By Dave Mitchell
Car clouters ransacked vehicles from Muir Beach to the San Geronimo Valley, from Stinson Beach to Tomales, from Marshall to Nicasio, this past week. Victims of the crimes described them not only in English, but also in Spanish and Hebrew.
The car clouting, a term some police officers use for smashing the windows of parked vehicles in order to burglarize them, occurred mostly on or near public parking spots along Highway 1.
However, one occurred on Lucas Valley Road in Nicasio and another on Meadow Way in San Geronimo.
In fact, the first car clouting reported this past week came from Meadow Way last Thursday when a resident said the ashtray, which held a few coins, had been stolen from her parked car during the night.
No particular targets
Deputies said the burglaries did not appear targeted at any group or type of vehicle and that at least one of the car clouters might well be someone traveling through the area.
The second West Marin clouting reported Friday occurred along Highway 1 near Stinson Beach. A motorist told officers she parked her convertible along the highway for only five minutes, but during that time her cell phone and her purse containing her wallet, credit cards, and identification were stolen from the car.
Deputies described some of the burglaries as crimes of opportunity, and indeed the car clouters were equal-opportunity criminals.
Hebrew-speaking victims
At 5:48 p.m. Sunday, the Highway Patrol told deputies a burglar in the Slide Ranch area of Muir Beach had smashed the window of a parked car belonging to a group of Hebrew-speaking residents of Fremont. In what may have been the most costly case in West Marin this past week, the burglar stole luggage, a cell phone, a video camera, and clothing from the Fremont group.
Spanish-speaking victims
The most hardened car clouter, however, was probably the burglar in Tomales who broke into the two motorists’ vehicles, which were parked on Church Street while the drivers attended mass.
The victims, who are both Spanish speaking, reported the crimes to Tomales firefighters at 6:59 p.m. Through a translator they told deputies that their passenger-side windows were smashed while they attended church.
Half an hour earlier, a woman notified deputies that someone – possibly a vandal or a burglar who got away with nothing – had smashed the windows of her car while it was parked along Highway 1.
In yet another Marshall incident, a woman notified deputies from Point Reyes Station at 5:33 p.m. Monday that while her car had been parked at Millerton Point in Marshall, a burglar had smashed a window to steal a black, nylon bag as well as a cassette player and headphones.
Deputies at 1:15 p.m. Monday received word of a second car clouting in Muir Beach. Stolen in the burglary at Pacific Way and Highway 1 were two cell phones, a purse, a computerized datebook, and other items.