In the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping it is easy to become distracted.  This is what thieves count on.  Midnight madness, black Thursday and all other sorts of sales going on, provides a great opportunity for thieves to steal items when you are coming out of the store or even break into your car.  This type of robbery and vehicle theft is common during the holiday season.  Here are some tips for you to prevent this type of crime from occurring this holiday season

• Late night/early morning shopping — There are many sales that occur in the middle of the night.  Consider having someone go with you for this late night/early morning shopping.  That way you have someone to share the fun of shopping with while still having a person with you when you are going to and from your car.  If you can’t find someone to go shopping with you, ask one of the employees to walk you to your car.  They are more than happy to do so.  Several malls provide officers to walk people to their cars.  Ask to see if that mall you are at has such a program for the holidays.
• Hide your belongings in your car.  — If you have items in your car, like a GPS, phone, presents, and etc, hide those items so they are out of sight.  Better yet, if you really don’t need those items, take them out of your car and leave them at home while you do your holiday shopping.
• Consider reparking your car —  Yep, thieves have their eyes on you.  You are loaded down with all of your presents and you think let’s put them in the car and continue shopping.  Thieves see people leaving the items in the car then leaving to shop some more.  Thieves then break into the car because they know you aren’t coming back for a while.  If you put your purchases in your car, consider moving your car to another area of the parking lot so the thieves think you have left.
• Lock your car door and close the windows —  Such an easy thing to do to deter thieves yet many times thieves gain access to your vehicle simply due to an unlocked door or open window.  (Also remember to do this when you are parked at home in the driveway or street.