Paula Garcia says she's worried about someone stealing her or her son's identity. She reached out to us in hopes someone will recognize what was captured by that camera.
As with many crimes it just takes a matter of seconds for a man to approach Garcia's black sedan, smash the window and run off with more than just a purse.
"For somebody to just break into my car like that with people around, it's heartbreaking," she said.
She told Action News when she stopped at Winton's Vista Pharmacy in southeast Fresno Monday she didn't realize she left her purse in the car. "I had all [of] my son's information, I was signing him up for preschool, so like social security card, birth certificate, all my income, everything was in that purse," she said. All of that including $700 in cash to pay her bills was gone.
A security camera mounted to the building overlooking the parking lot caught the crime. Garcia and a store employee say cars are often broken into in this lot.
She posted the video on the ABC30 Action News Facebook page in hopes someone would help her catch the crook.
"I work very hard for what I have, and I made a fault by leaving the purse in the car, and that doesn't give anyone the right to take it," Garcia said.
Garcia was given surveillance video by Vista Pharmacy. She's also filed a police report and turned the footage over to investigators. Police say if you see a crime in progress to call 911. Police also say never leave valuables out in the open in your car.
