She dashed in — someone broke in.
The Victim: Michele Broughton
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 27
Time: 5:50 p.m. and 5:55 p.m.
Location: 2700 block of South Hampton
Michele Broughton was picking up her kids from preschool just as she would any other day. It’s a nice daycare/preschool, she says, and her kids like the facility. She parked the car, locked it, and ran inside. After checking out her kids, she came back to a most unexpected scene. Glass littered the inside of her car where someone had smashed in the driver’s side window.
“I went in maybe five minutes,” Broughton says of that day.
Her purse and cell phone were stolen. However, Broughton says she doesn’t carry much cash, so it wasn’t a major loss financially. About the same time, another car in the parking lot was broken into, and Broughton says she has since heard of more of this type of break-in at schools and daycares in the news.
The event has given her a bit of a creepy feeling, but she is trying to stay positive, realizing that things could have been worse had she had more valuables in the car.
“We bounce back as quickly as we can,” she says.
Major Edwin Ruiz-Diaz of the Southwest Patrol Division says this is a common method of car burglary. Although these offenses usually occur when a car has been left at a location for some period of time, it is not uncommon for a thief to simply wait for the right opportunity to come along.
“It can take less than a minute for a suspect to break into a car. We recommend that residents keep all valuables out of sight whenever possible to discourage thieves. We also suggest making sure the vehicle is locked and in a well-illuminated area at night. There is no guarantee these measures will keep residents from being a victim; however, actions such as the ones described can make a vehicle a less appealing target.”
