Vehicle Break-ins At Popular Park Prompt Warning From Howard County Police

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Howard County Police are warning residents to lock their vehicles when parking at Centennial Park in Ellicott City and to take valuables with them when possible. According to the police department, there have been a handful of break-ins reported at the park.

Gwen Everett received an alert about a $2,000 purchase made on her credit card at the Home Depot in Ellicott City followed by another $5,000 worth of gift cards and tools, reported WMAR. If she hadn't received the alert, she'd never have known that someone broke into her car and stole her credit cards out of her purse.

“Take all your credit cards and valuables, cash, any electronics---take those out of your vehicle if you can, lock your vehicle, hide your valuables,” Seth Hoffman, a department spokesman, said. “Do anything you can to make it harder for these people, because a lot of times, they’ll just move on to the next car, if the car’s locked or they don’t see anything in plain sight.”