(VIA KOCO Oklahoma City) – In late March while out running daily errands an elderly man, Arthur Washington, did not expect the fiasco to unfold that did. from Oklahoma City, Mr. Washington was just taking a normal Tuesday afternoon trip to the bank when a thief tried to use one moment of lost concentration to gain access to almost all of Mr. Washington’s valuables. While at the bank Arthur went into a representative’s office, he left his house and car keys on the bank’s counter. With this opportunity a man in the lobby walked up to the counter and stole Mr. Washington’s key ring. Once in possession of the key ring, the thief went to Mr. Washington’s car, but rather than take his car the thief took some papers from the car’s glove box. Mr. Washington may have counted himself as lucky that his vehicle was not stolen, but this thief was one step ahead.
Using the papers that he had gotten from Arthur Washington’s car, the thief was able to identify the home that Mr. Washington lived in. This is an obvious security concern because that same thief also had the keys to Arthur Washington’s home. A few days following the theft, Mr. Washington’s wife heard someone outside of their home at 2 A.M.
‘the Cadillac is in the garage, but we have the key to the garage’ – Suspected Thief
After hearing this outside of his window Mr. Washington went to call police, but the thieves quickly disappeared. At this point Mr. Washington did something that he should have done immediately following the theft. This was to have all of the locks which he lost keys to re-keyed. Re-keying is a service that a locksmith can complete for you, which not only prevents lost or stolen keys from being used to open your locks, but saves you money when compared to changing the entire locks. Rather than worry about what this thief was doing with his keys, Mr. Washington now has peace of mind that his home and valuables are safe. The thief has still not been caught or identified, so it was in Arthur’s best interest to have everything re-keyed. For some vehicles the cost can be high to have an ignition changed and doors re-keyed, but compare that to the headache that a stolen car is and the cost is minuscule. Think that an ignition change and lock re-key for your car maybe too expensive? In order to save money talk with one of the Phila-Locksmiths about the options of having your doors re-keyed, without changing the ignition. The thief would still have a working ignition key, but if you keep the doors locked and they are re-keyed that thief will not be able to access your car. This is a money saving option and is not as secure as having your ignition changed as well.
This story should be a lesson to both Arthur Washington and other individuals that re-keying your vehicle and locks when your keys are stolen is a top priority. Luckily for Mr. Washington, and his wife, they were able to scare the thieves off the first time, but next time it would be wise to have a re-keying service completed immediately, especially for any exterior doors to your home, which would at the very least, help secure your home.