July 13, 2006

Local purse snatching con at Almaden Center inspires victim

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics lists 42,820 reported incidents of attempted and completed purse snatchings for the year 2004. The Almaden Times April 27 issue detailed my own experience with a purse-snatcher in New Almaden, and unfortunately the thievery continues.

“We all think of Almaden as safe but we have a false sense of security,” said Annette Mackaness regarding the theft that happened to her on June 25 in the Almaden Safeway parking lot. “I want everyone to know the details so they don’t get careless and have to suffer the consequences like I did.”

“We all think of Almaden as safe but we have a false sense of security,” said Annette Mackaness regarding an incident that happened to her on June 25. “I want everyone to know the details so they don’t get careless and have to suffer the consequences.”

Mackaness had visited the Safeway at Almaden Center (Almaden Expressway at Camden Avenue) on Sunday between 6:30 to 8 p.m. to grocery shop. A bag boy asked her if she wanted help out to her car but she said “no” as she felt she could load the items in the back of her minivan herself which was parked only a half dozen spaces in front of the store.

She remembered later that a well-dressed, short stature, Hispanic man, between 45 and 60-years-old was walking very close to her out to her car. She turned around to see who was in her personal space and he grinned at her and said “Hi.” Mackaness thought it was strange but didn’t think too much of it at the time.

She believes that when she got to the car she put her purse in the front seat of her vehicle.

After loading her groceries into the back of her minivan, Mackaness brought her shopping cart to the return space provided in the parking lot. At that point two young Hispanic women exited a brownish-gold colored, older Chevrolet Suburban and started swearing at each other in Spanish. Looking back at the incident, she feels that this was when the man must have stolen her purse and she believes the women purposely caused a diversion. Mackaness got into her vehicle and closed the trunk from the inside remote and drove away. It wasn’t until she arrived home and emptied the groceries from her minivan that she discovered her purse was missing, as well as a container full of CDs she kept on the front seat.

Mackaness filed a police report online and visited Safeway the next day to tell them about the purse snatching. A woman shopper overheard the conversation and said the exact same thing had happened to her neighbor at the same Safeway store three weeks prior.

“When a crime happens please call us right away so we can canvas the area, interview witnesses and look for clues,” said San Jose Police Department [SJPD] Capt. Jack Farmer. “If the crime is not reported right away it makes our job more difficult to catch the bad guys.”

SJPD is investigating the crime. Almaden Safeway store manager Chris Cancilla said that purse snatching “does happen” and “the mall does have security that roams around.”

Since the incident Mackaness has heard similar stories from friends and neighbors: purses stolen out of a car parked in the person’s own driveway, snatched from shopping carts while the owner is picking an item off the shelf at Costco, car windows smashed in a church parking lot, purses snatched from inside cars while mom’s get out to drop off children at school or at kids’ sporting events or wallets picked out of handbags.

“It is a pain to have to reinvent the contents of your purse: checking accounts, ATM cards, credit cards, driver’s license, etc.” said Mackaness. “I carry pepper spray and am ready to use it. It really is infuriating that we have to be so defensive but it is best to be aware.”

An anti-crime activist now, Mackaness has even included a section on “What to do if your Purse is Stolen” in her guidebook “The Girlfriend’s Guide to All Kinds of Cool Stuff,” which is available by e-mail at girlfriendsguide@sbcglobal.net.