MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An accused car burglar was caught on camera snatching a purse from an unlocked vehicle. Car burglaries are increasing in the area, and thieves are taking advantage of easy targets.
The burglary happens in an instant. A woman pulls up, gets out of her vehicle and grabs a purse from the unlocked car. Esenari Rayo was inside, dropping her daughter off at daycare while it happened.
“It doesn’t take me more than ten seconds to drop her off and get back in my car. In ten seconds, my purse was gone,” said Rayo.
She thought the drop off was so quick she didn’t need to lock her doors. She say she has learned her lesson.
“Lock your doors. Whether you think it’s just like ‘oh, I’m going to go in quickly. I’ll be back out quick. Nothing is going to happen.’ No,” said Rayo.
Car break-ins are happening all over. In Bartlett, there were nine reported last week. The door were unlocked in five of the vehicles.
Laura Williams always locks her car doors. Her kids go to a different daycare where another woman’s purse was stolen from an unlocked car last week. This is her advice to keep thieves away.
“Don’t have anything in there to see,” said Williams. “A lot of people actually leave their car doors unlocked because they figure ‘hey, if my car is going to get broken into, I at least don’t want my window to get smashed.”
Police say that’s a bad idea that could get your car burglarized and possibly stolen. They say it’s best to keep your doors locked and your stuff out of sight. Rayo wishes she had done both.
“Absolutely. Yes. Lock my doors. You know, I don’t even want to carry a purse with me anymore because I’m just like, wow,” said Rayo.
She’s haunted by a mistake she won’t make again.
