LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville woman is warning people to hide their valuables out of sight when they leave their cars after she experienced theft firsthand.
This Louisville woman, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the incident, parked at the Pope Lick trailhead, locked her car, and started down the bike path.
“My son and I were going to take a nice little evening bike ride,” she said. “As we were turning into this grassy knoll area along where the concrete path is in the trailhead, I heard this big bang.”
She turned back to the parking lot and saw that a man had broken into her car and taken her purse. He took off in his car.
“In about 15 minutes I had gotten notifications that my credit cards were being used at the Walmart Super Center and they just kept trying every single card,” the woman said.
A park ranger helped her and she filed a police report, but park staff are asking people to look out for any incidents.
“We do have rangers who are on duty throughout the day and staff who patrol the parks,” Director of Communications and Marketing for the Parklands Anna Rosales-Crone said. “But it is 4,000 acres and a lot of area to cover, so we appreciate all visitors keeping an eye out for suspicious activity.”
Unfortunately this is not the first instance the Parklands has seen theft. At the end of June, there was a string of break-ins at the parks.
Since January, LMPD confirms there have been 31 reports of thefts from vehicles in Beckley Creek Park.
Rosales-Crone said since the parks are public, they aren’t immune to theft.
If you can, leave your valuables at home. If you can’t, make sure they are with you on the trails or out of sight.
“It’s something that’s easy to forget,” Rosales-Crone said. “When you’re coming out to a park and you just want to enjoy yourself, it’s something that not everybody will remember. It’s something that will really go a long way in making sure that this doesn’t happen.”
The Louisville woman left her purse on the seat of her car, which was locked. But she wants to let others know what happened, so it doesn’t happen to anyone else
“Just know that anything that can easily be seen in the front seat of a car can easily be grabbed,” she said.
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