An Open Letter to the Thief

On Tuesday, December 8th, I made sure to wait for the monstrous car line to die down before I made my way out to my car. Getting my keys out of my bag before opening the car didn’t even jog my mind. My car was always unlocked. I justified this because it is Scituate High School. Nothing bad happens at Scituate High School, right? My wallet wasn’t typically in my car, so there wasn’t anything of much value that could be stolen. Much to my shock, my car had, in fact, been robbed that afternoon. As I got into my little Civic, I saw everything ripped from my glove compartment and center console. Mrs. Hall’s warning about locking my car rang throughout my head like a menacing wake up alarm. All of my change tips were stolen. This was two weekends of working double shifts at a local pizzeria. It must have been $60 in spare change. Most of the pennies were sorted through and left in the cup holders. From that day forward, I would always lock my car doors.

After looking at some security footage, it didn’t look good. I would probably never get my tip money back or catch whoever did the crime. After further research, it seemed there were more victims. Two other seniors, Mike Vegnani and Noah Bucher, were robbed, too. Vegnani commented, “Some person stole three beanie hats, all the money in my wallet (around $30) and then left a ton of change on the driver’s seat — to leave a mark or something.” In all cases, the cars were left unlocked, leaving easy access for a thief.

The only thing gained from this experience was a lesson: lock your car. Although, I wish I could get my tip money back, a lesson is always valuable.  Even though we’re in a small bubble, Scituate, there is still reason to lock your cars.