Suggestions needed to secure apartment parking garage

Here's the story.

Nice apartment complex, underground parking with areas with metal bars several feet tall for ventilation, etc with less than 25 units in the building in Burbank, CA.

A seemingly paranoid tenant complained several months ago about undesierables and 20-somethings taking too much interest in the cars parked underneath and this has been going on for almost 6 months now.

Until recently, this was hearsay when a motorcycle jack, 2 resonators for my car, and possibly small items like car covers, rags, etc were taken from the parking garage (there are no lockable cabinets) and this happened less than a month ago.

Two weeks ago, I swore I saw someone who was peeping in while my roommate and I were doing general maintenance on our cars.

Yesterday, a different tenant talked with my roommate and was informed what was going on and to pass it on to the other tenants. We haven't put up a warning yet.

Today while out on the balcony having a smoke, I saw two gender unspecified 20-somethings taking a more than passing interest in the cars parked underneath.

They seemed to be on just a casual BS walk, weren't smoking or talking much, stopped under my balcony (we're a corner building, I'm just behind the corner on the side so I can't see the front of the building), and they started crouching, weaving, and pacing to get a better look at what was parked underneath. I took notice and watched them for 10 seconds and I stood up and said sternly, "Can I help you with something?" One of them looked up at me, then at his friend, and his friend who was carrying a basketball looked away from the both of us. They turned to head back the way they came, took a parting glance, and didn't say a word to each other and headed around the corner down the street and towards the front of our building.

I alert my roommate, I go downstairs to the front of the building casually and I don't see them at all. The door at the bottom of the steps leading to the parking garage opens and the so called paranoid tenant comes up the steps. I tell him what happened, we share a chuckle, shake our heads and exchange a knowing stare. No one takes this kind of interest for someone parking their car, especially in a pretty non-special lot of cars, unless it was someone who was already familiar with the cars and checking things out to see what the other tenant was doing.

As far as valuables down there, we're not allowed to keep anything and there is no storage cabinets at all. These concerns were brought up to the on-site manager a couple weeks ago by us, by the paranoid tenant several times, and now this incident just happened.

Video cameras would be an expensive deterrent and provide piece of mind but the building owners will likely not go for that unless we threatened to leave. Besides having insurance and making sure the vehicles are locked, what other suggestions does anyone have to ward off this kind of behavior?

There are no ultra pricey vehicles down there. The one tenant who is paranoid works odd hours or part time and has a pretty new A8, and has noticed the most of this activity. There are 2 newer BMW 330's, a new hybrid or alternate fuel vehicle, two LS series Lexii, two XJ sedans belonging to my roommate and I, and a Mustang GT and a motorcycle also owned by my roommate.

Blacking out or obstructing the parking garage view will just make these scum more interested.

I'd like to brandish the Mossberg to get the point across, but this is only a couple of the low lifes that are taking more and more interest on whats in the garage.

Besides riding the on site manager, what is considered appropriate action by apartment building owners besides putting up notices after we've taken what percautions we can? I don't take justice into my own hands, and as good as it would feel to give back to the community like that, I feel my hands are tied on this one.

Thoughts, anyone?

Sunny

 

Joe, that sounds like a great idea! That way, I don't have to threaten anyone. Bob, unfortunately I would need to conspire with the other tenant who sees more of the activity to take some pictures for the idea to work, it has merit.

Thanks guys, keep the suggestions rolling in.

Sunny

 

Thanks! I did a quick google search for the image of a mossberg shotgun, close enough to get the point across in the thread