Who leaves their wallet or valuables in their car?

[Anonymous]

I’m baffled at the many posts on Next Door and neighborhood FB where people “warn” others to lock their cars and not leave valuables around after their own car was left unlocked or burglarized the night before. They warn their neighbors to be on the lookout and typically post a video from their ring camera.

I mean, if you go to the trouble of installing a ring camera, how do you leave your wallet in your unlocked car?

Who are these people? And why are there so many of them?

[Anonymous]

I have a single anecdote - my pet sitter, who lives in a quiet Baltimore County suburb, stayed overnight at my NWDC house and left many valuables in her car in my driveway. Gone the next morning

[Anonymous]

I typically do, but my car is in my garage which is locked.

[Anonymous]

Many of my neighbors leave their keys in their unlocked cars. At least 5 of them have had their cars stolen. I live in 22207, a safe neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

I live in the Midwest and don’t even have a key to my house.

When I lived in DC I never locked my car (or left anything in it). If you locked it, criminals would smash your window so I would just as soon they take my stuff without causing damage. Not sure if I would still do that…I might be worried homeless people would sleep in it.

[Anonymous]

It might be a one off. I once left a diaper bag on the floor if the backseat of my car while I ran quickly into a shipping store. It didn't have my wallet or phone in it (I had those on me) but it had some cash, an expensive breast pump, a couple favorite baby toys, clothes, and the bag itself was nice. I thought I'd locked the car but I had my baby and a package in my arms and guess for got to double check it was locked. I was inside for 5 minutes tops. When I came out the bag was gone.

I'm not in Nextdoor but it's the kind of thing that makes you want to tell others just to remind them you should always double check that the car is locked even if you are only stepping away for a minute and that leaving ANYTHING in your car is a temptation to thieves. I'd lived in the city for many years at that point and considered myself savvy but we all have lapses in judgment sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting this, because this has always baffled me too. It has happened to the same neighbor multiple times. You would think he would learn after the first time. I live in south Arlington where it is known that crime is on the increase. I don't understand people.

[Anonymous]

This baffles me, too.

That said I did leave my backpack (w/ wallet and laptop) in the car for about a minute, while I went to grab some yard waste bags from the rec center. But my car was locked, and black backpack blended in with my black seats. And it was 1-2 minutes max.

People who leave bags overnight?! That's just careless and completely avoidable.

[Anonymous]

Literally people do it every night. Police dispatcher who takes the calls…..

[Anonymous]

The average person has the attention span and executive functioning capabilities of a 4 year old. So yeah, lots of people.

[Anonymous]

Not New Yorkers. We lock family members out of the house, routinely, because we always lock the door.

[Anonymous]

I rarely lock my car. There’s nothing in it to steal.

[Anonymous]

My inlaws...keys in the unlocked car parked in the open garage attached to the unlocked house. Help yourself

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I rarely lock my car. There’s nothing in it to steal.

How about the car?

[Anonymous]

I get why you would think it is preposterous to leave one’s vehicle completely unlocked - even more so when there are valuable items inside.

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