Const. Chris Hunter stuck a glossy card advertising a vehicle theft warning in the driver’s side window frame of a grey VW Jetta in West Edmonton Mall’s parking lot Wednesday afternoon.
The car had an iPod visibly hooked up to charger near the console–a thief’s dream, Hunter said.
The car’s owner wasn’t the only irresponsible driver in the parking lot. Hunter’s quick survey of the vehicles near West Edmonton Mall’s Summerlea Station showed many drivers had left iPods, cellphones, shopping bags full of groceries and merchandise in view.
"People are just not getting it," police Supt. Joe Marshall said.
"They are not buying into the fact that if they leave things in their vehicle or come back to their car to put Christmas gifts inside, people going by are going to steal them."
Marshall recommended drivers park in well-lit, high-traffic areas whenever possible and hide electronics, gifts and CDs in trunks.
Marshall said he was pleased to pull up next to a vehicle Tuesday that had a sign that said all valuables had been removed. But when Marshall glanced inside the vehicle, he could see valuables, he said.
"People don’t take the time to put stuff in their trunk. People think it won’t happen to them," he said.
"If you put your stuff away, they will go after someone else’s car."
Of 8,975 vehicles broken into in Edmonton between January and October of 2009, 1,987 of those thefts were in West Division.
ciltan@thejournal.canwest.com
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