Car Prowl Bonanza
Every time I read Seattle police incident reports, I'm surprised as a reporter and amazed as a resident.
On any given day, there are dozens of cars that are broken into all across the city. In every neighborhood, at all times of the day, thieves pry, break, and force open cars. They steal gym bags, GPS devices, CD's, clothes, medications, you name it.
And this time of year car prowls are seeing a bonanza in the form of Christmas shoppers.
A Clallam County family just learned this the hard way. According to an incident report I read this week, the family had done all their Christmas shopping in Seattle during the day and at night parked in a lot at the corner of Spring and Western Avenue. They left all the bags in the back of the SUV. When they came back sometime later everything was gone.
Even though I read about car prowl victims every week, I myself sometimes leave a bag or two in the backseat of my car. So I know it's hard to always follow the advice of leaving absolutely nothing in your car. But that is the only way to guarantee you don't get anything stolen.
So, here's another reminder. I hope this Christmas shopping season I don't read about you being victimized.