Burglar Hits Cars Along Busy White Horse Pike in South Jersey

Holiday shoppers in Absecon have more to contend with than long lines at their local stores this Thanksgiving week as three times on Monday burglars broke into cars parked at shopping centers here.

"I always thought this was a safe area," said one shopper. "I've never seen anything like that happen before."

"You're out holiday shopping, you aren't thinking about that, right," FOX 29 asked another shopper.

"I wasn't, but now I am," he said.

The string of car break ins started around 2 p.m. Monday afternoon and went on into the night.

First, the burglar hit an Infiniti at a liquor store, smashing the window and ransacking the car. A little later, another car burglary was reported at a TD Bank parking lot, again the window was broken and the car was ransacked. Finally, police say thieves broke into a Jeep in a Rite Aid parking lot and stole several items.

"No valuables in the car, can't leave anything in the open. Leave it in your trunk, under your seat," said shopper Bill Wroble of Absecon.

This mini crime spree is not the type of publicity store owners want to see as the holiday shopping season kicks off.

Store owners and their customers are hoping police make a quick arrest.

"People are just heartless," Sandra Brown said as she headed for her local gym at one shopping center.

Customers parking their cars here were on guard and taking precautions by not leaving anything valuable in their cars.

"We don't really keep valuables in the car," said shopper Bill Denver. "But it's a good idea not to leave anything exposed anyway. My cellphone or whatever."

"I'm gonna be more secure with my car and watch my surroundings," another shopper added.

Investigators are not saying just yet whether they believe the same suspect is responsible for all three break-ins. But the crime scenes are literally all within a quarter mile of each other.