JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local mother says her purse and diaper bag were taken from her car while she was at a Southside park with her son.
She said one of the windows was smashed in and no one at the park heard a thing.
The woman, who asked to be identified only as Lisa, said she thinks the thieves got away with it because bushes, trees and a building block the view of the cars from the swing set, where she was pushing her son.
"It's always a habit for me. I never, ever keep my purse in the front seat or in view," Lisa said. "I'm always looking over my shoulder, I never go to a park if there's nobody there."
She said the parking lot was full at 1:30 in the afternoon Thursday when she took her son there to play for about 40 minutes.
She said when she went back to her car, she found the rear driver's side window busted and her diaper bag and purse missing.
"My purse was jammed under the seat, but I'm assuming when they went in and grabbed the diaper bag, they saw my purse under the seat," Lisa said.
The thieves didn't waste any time. They used one of her credit cards at a Target on Southside Boulevard to buy Visa gift cards for nearly $500 each. One went through; the other didn't.
"It was so strange, because my husband called me, before I knew this happened, and said, 'Did you just spend $500 at Target?' I said, 'No, I didn't,' and he said, 'They locked our account.' That was 10 minutes before I walked out to the car and realized, 'OMG, someone took my purse!'"
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said you should always try to park your car where you can see it and be aware of your surroundings.
"You can't see where her car was from over there at the playground," he said. "Someone could be in the car, in the wooded area, or near the dumpster, and just watching out to see how you secure your items or where you secure them."
Smith said if you have belongings, you should try to put them in a good hiding spot before you get to your final destination. He said it's a good idea to hide it in a place where people can't see it, maybe even cover it with a jacket.
Lisa said officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office came out and took fingerprints off the handle of her door. She said investigators were also able to get a description of the men from surveillance footage at the Target.
JSO said the suspected thieves are two black men. One of the men has a goatee and was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. The other was wearing a white T-shirt and white shorts.
The men were seen getting in and out of a newer white car, possibly a Hyundai, in the Target parking lot.
Anyone with information about the theft or the suspected thieves is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.