Crime Trend: Purses Stolen From Cars

Police are constantly advising people not to make themselves easy targets, by, for example, leaving valuables in their car. It seems that whether a car is locked does not make a difference these days.

Take these two recent incidents, which took place in the parking lot of Philadelphia Sports Club in St. Davids:

• On Friday, Jan. 4, a car was broken into between 4:30 and 5:20 p.m. A Coach "Madison" satchel valued at $400 was taken, and in it, a $100 Coach wallet, $250 in cash, various credit cards and a driver's license. According to the police report, the owner of the car originally had her bag in the back seat, but moved it to the front seat when she had to get something from the car.

• On Saturday, Dec. 29, a car was broken into between 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Taken was a Louis Vuitton purse valued at $800, a Burberry wallet valued at $800, a Louis Vuitton checkbook holder valued at $100, various credit cards and a driver's license.

A car was broken into on Friday, Jan. 4, between 3:30 and 10:50 p.m. in front of Five Guys in the Wayne Square Shopping Center. Oddly enough, the computer inside the car was not taken, according to a police report.

On Saturday, Dec. 29, a car's window was smashed between 10 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. on the east side of Wayne Square Shopping Center next to Chipotle. The victim was an employee at a business in the shopping center. Taken was a black Guess purse valued at $50, a U.S. Green Card, a Social Security Card, and a credit card.

A car was broken into in a parking lot behind the Villanova Nails salon on Lancaster Avenue in Villanova on Sunday, Dec. 16. According to a police report, the passenger side window was smashed between 2 and 6 p.m. A large brown leather purse that contained a wallet was stolen. Within the wallet was the standard stuff — cash, credit card and driver's license — and a little less typical — a Green Card.