TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo police have issued a warning as you finish up your holiday shopping.
Patrolman Clifford Warstler spent Friday afternoon taking a look at cars in the parking lot and passing out vehicle report cards.
"Right now, it's a busy time of the year. People are gonna come out here, they're gonna park their vehicle. They want to be able to go in the mall, shop, go out to their car and everything will be great," Warstler said.
Unfortunately, that's not always the way things go. In your rush to finish shopping, you may be leaving the door open for criminals to ruin your Christmas. The vehicle report cards warn drivers they could fall victim.
"Property in plain view, keys left in the vehicle, windows and doors unlocked... we're gonna just glance over the vehicle and we're gonna give it a pass or fail," Warstler said.
Many of the cars Warstler checked in the mall parking lot were OK, but some did fail. He said, at first, he wasn't sure how people would react to the brief inspection. Usually folks are worried they've gotten a ticket, but are then thankful once they realize what the card says.
"I think it's a good thing because, with it being this time of year, a busy time of year some people are in need and some people are not. By them doing this, it reminds them not to set yourself up for failure," shopper Margaret Ellis of Toledo said.
The back of the yellow card provides education for drivers including some dos and don'ts to hopefully protect yourselves from a Grinch.
"There's always gonna be victims, but if the majority of the population knows that you can prevent a lot of this, then that's our hope," Warstler said.