It seems to be a disturbing trend when you go on the Hawthorne Villager web forum to hear that yet another one of our neighbours had their vehicle broken into. And its not that the cars are being “broken” into, they are opened and rummaged through.
Just recently as a couple of weeks ago, I posted here on this blog Halton Police’s heightened campaign of “Lock it or Lose it” as a reminder for people to lock their doors, hide valueable in their cars and make sure items are secure and safe. Not a few days after that, my wife and I found ourselves victims of that exact crime.
Earlier on this month, we had to take our daughter to Milton District Hospital emergency ward for complications due to a fever she had. After we returned from the hospital (all is OK 🙂 ) we were a bit distracted and went back into the house and forgot to lock the doors to her car. I left shortly after for a meeting at town hall with staff that latest until 1130PM. I had picked up a prescription for Miranda and in my haste I forgot to lock my doors as well. Normally I do a double check and hit my auto lock on my keys but apparently I didn’t.
We woke up the next morning to find my wallet, a few selected items in my car and my wifes purse stolen. Its a heart wrenching feeling to have, especially this close to Christmas and having to replace all credit cards and identification that was stolen. The inconvenience of having to call every bank, every credit card to report them stolen and the inevitable back and forth making sure any charges get reversed. There were some charges on our cards but thankfully it was kept to a minimum. These crooks know what they are doing and dont go overboard … just enough to get what they want.
It just goes to show you, it can happen to anyone…even those who are normally diligent in locking doors and keeping things out of plain sight.
Just this week it was reported that cars had items taken from their cars along Bennett Blvd and now on Mara Circle in ward 6. Hopefully these incidences are reported to Halton Police (as mine was) so they can investigate and possibly track any clues that come about. The more people are aware its happening, the more people can take precautions and stop these crimes in their tracks.
Don’t let yourself be a victim as well. Protect your belongings. Lock your doors. And most importantly, keep your eyes open!