Tulsa Police investigating rash of purse thefts

A rash of car break-ins in Tulsa. The thieves aren't taking the cars, but whatâ€™s inside them. They hit cars at LaFortune Park and the movie theatres at 41st and Yale. <br><br>News on 6 crime reporter

Monday, August 11th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A rash of car break-ins in Tulsa. The thieves aren't taking the cars, but whatâ€™s inside them. They hit cars at LaFortune Park and the movie theatres at 41st and Yale.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright says women do it all the time, leave their purse in the car then go exercise or run an errand, some even leave the windows cracked because of the heat, they just never think it can happen to them, but it does and in the blink of an eye.

Martha Kirk exercises outdoors several times a week. Like lots of other people, she does so at Tulsa's LaFortune Park, that's why she didn't think twice about leaving her purse in her car during her 40-minute walk. â€œI got closer to my car and saw it had been broken into and of course, my purse was gone, but, they left the cell phone."

She called 911, but the damage had been done, in broad daylight, with her car alarm blaring. "I immediately started beating myself up for leaving my purse in the car. But, I had it tucked up under the dash, it wasn't completely right in the middle of the floorboard."

Martha isn't alone, we noticed book bags and purses sitting out in the open in just the few cars we peered into, if we can see it, so can the bad guys, and prevention is so easy. We often hear, I don't have time to put my purse in the trunk. But it takes less time to do that then get a window repaired and change all your accounts.

"$200 for the window and a whole day at the credit union changing accounts and on the phone to credit card companies. It's just turned my whole life upside down and the anger you try to pretend isn't there, is." Martha admits she never thought it would happen to her, even when her children warned her, now she plans to heed that warning and hopes others will too. So many criminals are simply opportunists; they want what they can see.

So the idea, is don't let them see anything valuable and it's not just purses, but also CD's, tools and golf clubs.