Tips to protect your car and property from break-ins

Car break-ins increase during summer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While you're working on your beach body, crooks are stalking parking lots, banking on the fact you left your purse or wallet in the car before darting into the gym.

It happened to a Southside mother, who walked out of the gym to find her car window busted out and her purse gone. Summertime is one of the most common times of the year for these kinds of smash and grab robberies.

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Haley Griffith said thieves broke into her car in less than 90 seconds.

"I thought it was weird that they stopped right by my car, made the U-turn and then pulled up in the parking spot next to me," Griffith said.

She described the car she thinks the crooks were riding in as white, and said that it could have parked anywhere else, but chose the spot right next to hers. It was about 8:30 in the morning, she said.

She had just run into the Fitbody Boot Camp, which is tucked behind a strip mall on St. Johns Bluff Road.
She was in and out in less than 15 minutes.

"My purse was in the back seat with the gym bag, and they took that," Griffith said. "They were on the floor board."

She lost hundreds of dollars in gift cards, three pairs of sunglasses and a new purse. She estimated the break-in cost her about $1,500.

The way the white car appeared to be looking for hers when it pulled in suggests she may have been followed to the gym from the bank.

"She's by herself. For that reason, she may have been followed to her destination," said News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith. "There are other parking spaces for him to go to, but he only stays there for a minute or two, so that's also suspicious. Burglary detectives will tell you that the busiest time of the year for them is during the summer months."

For that reason, Smith said, never leave your purse or wallet in your car. Thieves stake out gyms and banks looking for easy prey. If you have to go to the bank, make it your last stop of the day, not your first, and pay attention to the people and cars around you.

If you do go to the gym, don't make the mistake of leaving your car keys on top of your locker. It's easy for crooks to snatch them and make off with your car.

"I wish I hadn't left my purse in and I wish I had parked a little closer to the front door," Griffith said.

While it is not known for certain if the crooks followed Griffith from her bank in Arlington to her gym, we do know that just last month, JSO warned of a string of car break-ins involving victims who had been followed from their bank.

Individuals with information about the crime outside Fitbody Boot Camp are asked to call police or CrimeStoppers at 866-845-TIPS.


About the Author:

Jennifer, who anchors The Morning Shows and is part of the I-TEAM, loves working in her hometown of Jacksonville.