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El Paso Police: Thieves Target Busy Parking Lots

Posted: 5:50 pm MDT October 24, 2007Updated: 9:08 pm MDT October 30, 2007

El Paso Police said they find cars, trucks, and SUVs targeted in parking in the busiest areas, and the places where they know you won't be coming out for a while.Ryann Fierro thought the last place her car would get broken into is at the gym, the EP Fitness off of James Watt Drive."I was working out in the middle of the day with a lot of members there, and all of a sudden my car got broken into, and nobody saw anything," said Fierro.Police said that's exactly the type of situation thieves look for, busy places where you leave your car alone for a while."You have the shopping areas in the Pebble Hills side of El Paso, Tinseltown area, a lot of restaurants, a lot of businesses in a concentrated area," said Officer Stephen Plummer with the El Paso Police Department Auto Task Force.What surprised Fierro was how fast the thief worked."This happened to me in a matter of 15 minutes, when I walked in, and then they called me 15 minutes, and I walked out, so it could happen anytime, anywhere," said Fierro.As we showed you in a KFOX special assignment in July, a car thief can break into a locked truck in no time at all; it only takes about nine seconds.Police say Fierro made one major mistake, making her car an easy target."They took my purse, my credit card, my drivers license, luckily I only had like $10 in there," said Fierro.All that was located in a gym bag in plain view."We urge you to hide your goods, when you put items in your vehicle, put them in your trunk, if you have an SUV, cover them up," said Plummer.Fierro said she'll be more careful from now on, and she warns others to be aware."Always keep an eye out, everywhere you go," said Fierro.This is not the first time KFOX has reported about cars getting broken into at the EP Fitness on James Watt Drive. KFOX contacted EP Fitness numerous times over the last week and a half about this story, but they did not return any of our calls.The El Paso Police Department said the two easiest ways to protect your car from a thief: take your keys, and lock it up, a mistake many El Pasoans make.

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