Purse, Gym Bag Stolen in Same-Day ‘Smash and Grabs’

Police are repeating warnings against leaving valuables in plain sight in vehicles after another pair of smash and grabs in Carmel Valley and Del Mar Heights.

On Tuesday, a gym bag left on the backseat of a vehicle in a dirt parking lot at Clews Ranch and Carmel Country roads was taken after a window was smashed between 7:45-8:30 a.m., according to a post on the San Diego Police Department Northwestern Division's Facebook page.

Later that day, between 6:20-6:30 p.m., the window of a car at Del Mar Cleaners at 2644 Del Mar Heights Rd. was broken and a purse left inside the vehicle was taken.

"Do not leave anything in your vehicle. Even for only a minute," police stated in the Facebook post. "Window smashes can occur very quickly and all it takes is for the suspect to be in the right place at the right time to notice you left a bag or purse in your vehicle."

In four other recent smash and grabs, thieves took a briefcase, two gym bags, a laptop and a computer bag. One of the incidents was in the same dirt parking lot on Clews Ranch Road where a gym bag was stolen on Tuesday. 

After the other four incidents, police warned that locking your car isn't enough to ward off thieves.

"Even if you lock your vehicle, but there is property inside the vehicle in plain sight, the suspect will usually quickly break the window and take the property," police said.