いやなニュース
一週間前、マンションの駐車場に置いておいた車が盗まれました。黒のプリウスです。初め信じられなかったのですが、今盗まれたことを現実として受け取るようになりました。世の中、いろいろな事が起きるけれども、車を丸ごと盗まれるなんて、考えられない。
警察官二人と刑事一人が家に来ていろいろ事情聴取していきました。二時間ぐらいかかりました。警察によると、黒のプリウスが一番盗まれやすいそうです。黒いし、音が静かだからです。夜、黒装束の三人組が来て、一人は見張りで、六、七分で盗んでいってしまうそうです。盗んだあと、その車を使って、次の犯罪を犯し、見つかりにくいところに放置しておくそうです。
女房も私も免許を車の中に置いておいたので再交付してもらわなければなりません。再交付代3,500円、写真代600円がかかります。本当に悪い奴らがいるのです。
三日前だったか、中日新聞に「プリウス窃盗団逮捕」という記事がありました。４人組で、この６ヶ月間に２０～５０台盗んだ模様と書いてありました。私の車も中に入っているかもしれません。なんという奴らだ。警察で徹底的に取り調べてもらいたいものです。
今日（２７日）保険会社の調査員が来て2時間も事細かく事情聴取していきました。最近体調がおかしくなってしまいましたが、こういう痛みは、犯人は全然感じていないのです。これが怒らずにいられますか。
9年間も乗ってきた愛車だったのに。事故やら怪我でなかったから、まだましと思うしかないのでしょうか。
My Prius Has Disappeared
My car was stolen from my condominium parking lot about 20 days ago. It was a pretty black Prius. I bought it nine years ago and had driven it only about 25,000 kilometers. At first I couldn’t believe that it had been stolen, but gradually I came to realize that it had been. I know there are many bad people in the world, but I had thought bad things would happen only to others and not to me. How can you believe that your car suddenly disappears like smoke?
Two policemen and a detective came to my house and asked many questions. Where did you last drive it? Did you have anything valuable like cash cards? Have you noticed any suspicious people around you recently? Was the parking lot equipped with security cameras? After asking their questions, they went to the parking lot and looked for any clues.
According to them, black used Priuses are the easiest cars to steal because the thieves know everything about them: how to unlock them; how to replace the computer code. The thieves clad in black come to a parking lot in the dead of night and steal a car within five minutes. One of them is a lookout. After stealing the car, they use it during another crime and leave it in an out-of-the-way place like the beach or the forest. The police’s questions lasted more than two hours, which completely exhausted me.
My wife and I had put our driver’s licenses in our car. We had to go to the Hirabari Automobile School and renew them. It cost 4,100 yen including the photograph fee each. This was an additional expense.
About three days after the incident, the Chunichi Newspaper reported that the Aichi Prefectural Police had arrested an automobile theft ring consisting of four people including a woman. They were trying to steal a Prius. They had stolen 20 to 50 cars during the past six months. My Prius might be one of them. I hope the police will investigate the theft through and through.
A week later an insurance investigator visited us and asked a great deal of detailed questions. Where did you last fill the gas? Which gas station did you usually use? Do you have some documents that prove that you filled gas in the gas station? Which automobile dealer do you use? When did you last renew the automobile insurance? Do you have the insurance documents? How much did you pay for the car originally? How much insurance money will you be refunded? Who drives the car most often, you or your wife? After a tremendous number of questions, he and I went to my vacant parking stall and took pictures. His investigation lasted more than two hours. It was really exhausting. My wife and I became sick. The thieves do not feel any of the pain that we feel. How unfair and how irritating!
One of my friends said to cheer me up, “It could have been worse. If you had been in a car accident, you might have been injured or killed. It was lucky you didn’t get in one.”
Was I lucky?
(Just two days ago, the same newspaper reported that the number of automobiles stolen in Aichi Prefecture from January to October this year is 1,704, the largest number in all the prefectures in Japan.)
