Warning RE: Your Purse in Grocery Carts
Purses Stolen Out of Grocery Carts
The girl came up from behind as my purse was sitting in the seat of the grocery cart….. AND MY HAND WAS RIGHT NEXT TO IT.
I turned to look at the grapes and felt a presence next to me. Turning around I checked for my purse…gone…turned again and there was a girl with long stringy hair and my purse under her arm as she hunched over moving quickly toward the exit.
I kicked off my sloppy clogs which would have tripped me and started running after her. I grabbed her sweater and she pulled out of it. Throwing my hand towards her I immediately grabbed her hair at the nape of her neck I began to pull her to the ground. She was screaming at ME, “Get off me! Let go of my hair!” and I was pulling on my purse. I looked up and yelled out, “Will someone come and help me here?!”
People May See the Crime Happening and Do Nothing
People behind counters and stocking the groceries were just dumb-founded. Within another few minutes of struggling and winning back the purse, a voice yelled out in the background, “I’ll help you!” (It reminded me of Underdog’s voice in the cartoon).
When the short round store manager arrived I mentioned I was letting go of my hold on her hair. He yelled for help and it took five guys to hold her down after I pulled back with my purse. The manager asked to talk with me when I checked out.
Continuing my shopping, a woman from behind a counter came over and asked me what happened. She’d watched the whole episode and thought the girl I was wrestling was having a seizure. Sheesh!
Police Call This a ‘Crime of Opportunity’
The store called the police and there they were with the manager when I checked out. They came up to me and asked me to step outside with them. It actually looked like I was the thief being walked outside.
The police immediately congratulated me for catching the thief and asked if I wanted to press charges. YES! He then told me that if she’d gotten out the door, my identity would have been sold; credit cards sold, everything gone and my life turned upside down.
Here’s my point. Can you believe that after that happened and I continued shopping throughout the store, there were women leaving their purses in the carts unprotected; walking away down the aisles with their purses left behind sitting in the cart. There’s a lot of easy pickings in a grocery store for thieves!
Do These Things When Shopping With Your Purse in a Cart
This is just your reminder to do a few things when you’re shopping with your purse in the child seat.
- Use the child seat belt on the cart to lock through the handle of your purse
- Never leave your purse unattended. I was standing right on top of mine with my head turned for a short minute and the thief took it
- Don’t leave your purse open or your checkbook on the outside pocket of the purse
- Be aware of your surroundings
Try This Awareness Test
If you believe that would not be a problem for you…that no one could get away with your purse, do this little exercise. Place your hand on your purse while it’s in the child seat of the cart. Then see how long it is before you forget and remove your hand and look away. All it takes is ‘a short minute’ to have your life radically changed by a thief.
Have you left your purse unattended in a shopping cart?
Do you have any good ideas for how to protect your purse while you shop?
What if you see that someone has left their purse in the cart unattended? Should you say anything to them?
It would be good to bring it to their attention as a fact, but not as a lecture. You're just trying to alert them.