Watch Out for ‘Smash and Grabs’ Over Holiday Weekend

A daytrip to the beach—especially with kids—can require lugging around too much stuff to keep track of.

Food. Clothes. Extra clothes. Phones. Chargers. Tablets. Cash.

All of these things can prove useful while you're away from home all day, but they are also easy targets for thieves. Recently, local police warned about several "smash and grabs" in the community, where thieves smashed car windows to break into cars and take valuables left in the open.

"Suspects will walk by and check cars to see if they are unlocked and look inside. 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," the San Diego Police Department's Northwestern Division stated in a post on its Facebook page.

"This goes for leaving empty bags in plain sight also, they don’t know what is in the bag but are willing to break your window for it. Most vehicles’ alarms will not sound when your window is broken. The best way to prevent a smash and grab is not with the alarm, but to NOT LEAVE PROPERTY IN THE VEHICLE FOR THEM GRAB."

Here are four recent smash and grabs, according to posts on the division's Facebook page:

• "On Wednesday, 06/19 between 8:30 p.m.-8:30 a.m. the next morning, another vehicle smash a grab occurred on the 2200 block of El Amigo Road. A briefcase was taken from within the vehicle."

• "On Tuesday, 06/25, between 8 am.—3:30 p.m. a vehicle smash and grab occurred in the parking lot of Ashley Falls Elementary School. A gym bag was taken from the backseat of the vehicle."

• "On Sunday, 06/23, after 7 p.m. and sometime during the night, a vehicle was broken into on the 3500 block of Caminito Carmel Landing. The rear passenger window was smashed out and a laptop and computer bag here taken from within the vehicle."

• "On Monday, 06/24, at 7:45 a.m. the victim parked and locked their vehicle in the dirt parking lot to Clews Ranch and 11400 Carmel Country Road. At 8:30 a.m., the victim returned to her vehicle to discover her car’s rear passenger window had been broken out and her gym bag was taken from within the vehicle."