When you head out to Plaza Fiesta for shopping or playtime, go ahead and leave your valuables at home or take them in with you. But don’t leave them in your car.

A thief broke into a van parked at Fort Mill’s Plaza Fiesta Sunday night, stealing $325 in electronic equipment, $100 cash and a plastic tub of purses worth about $200, according to a York County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

I know I’m guilty of occasionally leaving my MP3 play in plain view in my car when I think I’ll only be gone a few minutes – but a few minutes is all it takes for someone to complete a smash ‘n’ grab.

My favorite story though, is when I lived in the DC area. I drove with a friend of mine to a club. She drove a soft-top Jeep Cherokee with a removable stereo. We were so familiar with the area and felt so safe that we didn’t even think twice about whether to leave the radio or take it in with us. My friend decided she didn’t want to carry around her stereo all night, so we left it.

At the end of the night we came out and got in the Jeep. My friend asked, “What am I sitting on?” It was the tape that had been in her stereo. Someone stole the stereo, but took the time to remove the tape in the player! I guess the thief didn’t like techno.