JUPITER, Fla. – The victim does not want to be identified, but wants to share her story so other seniors in the community can be aware.
“I went to the bank and I took out some cash,” the woman recalled. “I don't really do cash, but I was going to go to an event where I could have used a lot of $1s, $5s, and $10s and so I had a nice little white pouch about that thick of some bills,” she said motioning with her fingers to show a half inch.
The woman walked out of the bank and locked the money in the glove box of her car. She stopped at Publix and left the area.
“I went to the stop there to take a right to go onto Military Trail and there was quite a backup,” she explained. “I did notice a gray SUV behind me and I don't even know why I noticed it but I remembered it.”
Just a little ways down the road another driver alerted her that she had a flat tire.
“I thought ‘oh these tires are three months old,’ I can't have a flat you know.”
She called roadside assistance and had her car towed to Tire Kingdom in Jupiter. Her car can be seen arriving on a flatbed truck on surveillance video. But taking a closer look at the same video a gray van is caught on camera pulling into the neighboring parking lot and dropping off a passenger. A man gets out and the gray van pulls across the street to another parking lot. Several minutes pass and after her car is unloaded off the truck, a man appears and heads straight for her car. The gray van returns, as the man tries to get into the victim’s locked glove box. The gray van maneuvers to block site of her car as the thief pries open her glove box and takes her cash. The thief leaves on foot and the van pulls back across the street, races through the parking lot to pick him up down the street.
“Now I believe that these people followed me and may have slashed my tire. What else could happen? Now I don't feel comfortable at all because these people really have put a thought in me. It could be anytime, anywhere, anybody, and we shouldn't have to live like that. These people need to be caught.
Now she wants other seniors to be on the lookout.
“Be aware and know you’re safe somewhere where there’s a lot of people.”
If you recognize the person or car in this video please call the Jupiter Police Department at 561-746-6201. To remain anonymous and receive a possible cash reward, contact Crime Stoppers at 800-458-TIPS (8477).