MONROE, CT — Thieves targeted vehicles in parking lots over the past week, smashing windows to steal valuables out of some and stealing catalytic converters off others.
Police Lt. Greg Smith reminds drivers not to leave valuables in plain sight when leaving their vehicles and encourages people to call police if they see someone acting suspiciously in a parking lot.
A couple went into the U.S. Post Office at 270 Monroe Turnpike together on Monday, Feb. 7, and came back 10 minutes later to find the passenger window of their Toyota RAV4 was smashed.
A purse was stolen off the front seat. Police said it contained two pairs of glasses, several credit cards and $40 cash. The incident was reported at 9:08 a.m.
On Thursday, a man told police his Toyota RAV4 was parked outside Stepney Baptist Church, 423 Main St., when someone broke a window and stole a backpack that was inside the vehicle.
On Wednesday morning, a woman told police she parked at Century Plaza, 535 Monroe Turnpike, and ran into Big Y supermarket for 15 minutes. When she came back, she found someone had stolen the catalytic converter off her Honda Element, police said.
The incident was reported around 11:21 a.m.
On Wednesday, a man told police he parked his Ford Excursion in the Center One Eleven parking lot, 380 Monroe Turnpike, and came back to find someone stole the catalytic converter off his vehicle.
SUV goes into a ditch
A man was driving his Acura RDX on Cutlers Farm Road Tuesday morning when he tried to pass another driver slowing down in front of him, according to police. But his vehicle slide down an embankment in process.
Though both airbags deployed, police said the driver was not injured. However, his Acura had to be towed due to disabling damage.
The driver was issued infractions for operating a vehicle with a suspended license and driving too fast for conditions.
The incident occurred around 7:43 a.m. Firefighters also responded to the call.
It wasn’t PayPal
A man filed a complaint over identity theft Tuesday after a scammer sent him an email purporting to be from PayPal to steal personal information.
The email claimed someone was attempting to use the victim’s PayPal account to purchase $500 worth of Bitcoin. When he called to dispute it, the representative took down some of his personal information and hung up on him, police said.
The victim realized it was fraud, cancelled all of his credit cards and contacted the three major credit bureaus, according to police.
Geez: crime running rampant in broad daylight in parking lots. No one saw a thing? Not good for Monroe. We must be easy pickings. Best to shop out of town I guess.