[xk] Good News and Good News

XK
1

In June, 2004, I wrote in that some unknown person had
broken into my garage and stole the set of Weber
carburators from my Ferrari. Luckily, my XK120 was not
touched. Then in January, 2005, someone broke into my
garage again, and stole the engine compartment lid
touched. I always thought it was the same thief both
times.

The police didn’t really bother investigating these
crimes. There were too many other things for them to
do, usually involving doughnuts and Starbucks coffee.
I have been doing the investigation myself, talking to
people, asking questions, and finally I developed a
lead that brought me to a Ferrari restoration shop
this past Saturday morning. In that shop were my
parts. I could identify my engine compartment lid from
the special order paint. There were only two cars of
my model that were ever painted my color, Metallic
Chestnut. One car is in Italy, and the other is mine.
I finally got the police interested, and the shop
owner (who is honest) has given the police the name of
the suspect that sold him the parts. He is also
returning the parts to me. The police are putting
together a case against the suspect, and they will be
arresting him soon.

I’m sure everyone is curious now who the suspect is;
he is one of my neighbors. We both had an interest in
old cars and motorcycles. I am surprized that he would
rob me in this way. The good news is I got my parts
back, and the other good news is the thief is going to
jail.

For those of you that do not know what my profession
is, I am a Firearms Specialist in the Santa Clara
County District Attorney’s Crime Lab. Before that, I
worked for 11 years with the United States Treasury
Department, and before that I worked for the Alameda
County Sheriff’s Department. The moral of this story
is; if someone steals from me, I will hunted them
down, and I don’t care how long it takes. I don’t
forget, I don’t forgive, and I don’t take prisoners.

If anyone is going to be at the XK Club’s reception in
Monterey on August 19, come up and say hello.

Ed Petersonfrom my Ferrari, and luckily again, my XK120 was not

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2

Ed, that’s great news. Nice piece of investigation. You said that the
“honest shop owner” is going to return the parts to you. I imagine that will
be after the court case. Is the shop owner going to be out of pocket, or is
there some process where the ill gotten monies can be recovered from the
miscreant?

Regards
Len Brighton
150fhc S824101BW
Wheelers Hill
Victoria Australia 3150
(15 miles south east of Melbourne)

Len’s web site address.
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/minerva45/

3

The parts are being returned to me today. First they
will be inventoried by the police department, then
photographed, then released to me. The owner of the
shop admits that he made a mistake by not asking any
questions, and he willingly turned over the parts and
will take the loss. He paid $450 dollars for the
parts, and he estimated that the parts were worth
$4,500.

The shop owner is starting a major restoration of an
early Ferrari, and you can be assured that he can hide
an extra $450 in the restoration cost. I don’t feel
sorry for him.

I am still in shock that my neighbor was the one who
was breaking into my garage. He used to drive by my
house in his restored early 50’s Velocette. He always
seemed like a good guy. I sure was a fool. Charles,
are you listening? What we need is some old-fashioned
Texas justice involving a short rope and a tall tree.

I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since my garage was
first broken into in June 2004. Last night, I slept
like a baby.

Ed Peterson (with a big smile on my face)__________________________________________________
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4

Good on yer Ed!

Too bad we all seem to have folks in the neighborhood like that! Watch
for their kin to “get even”.

regards,

Rick