SuzieC

10th & Delaware Ave and Concord Mall...

How's that?

yeadonite

Wow! I go to the Concord Mall (they have a chick-fil-a) alot, Shipyard Shops at the Riverfront, Christiana Mall, etc. I leave my elderly mom in hte car. I do all my shopping there because it is Tax free. I will now pay more attention when I am there. Now you see how I was pickpocketed when I was younger.

maitaitom

No, but I had my car stolen in Long Beach, CA, about ten years ago. Unfortunately, for me, they found it.

frankdaddy

True story about pick pockets in NYC. I have been working in NYC for over 25 years and this is a true subway story.
I am sitting in the train when it pulls into the station. I see two woman tourists from out of state stepping on to the train. Out of the corner of my eye I spot someone leaving the train just as they were entering bumping the 2 woman. The two woman stop and step aside the doorway and move towards me both standing in front of me. This took all of about 25 seconds. When the train starts to pull out of the station they both get look at their pocket books and both of them were open. They realize they are missing thier wallets. In the time it took for them to enter the train the wallets were gone. Absolutely amazing. I have been riding the trains for 25 years and that is the first time I have ever seen something like that and I didn't even see it. The most common way for tourists to get pickpocketed in NYC is when they are stopping to see the street entertainers. That is a very common time for them to work.

travelbeach

I think it happens far more in Europe. It seems the police in many European cities just trun a blind eye to this problem. Its not as frequent here in the States. What one poster said about Madid is so true. Why the hell don't the police do something? If such things happened in Boston or New York you would have vigilantes beating the crap out of the sleazebags.

tondalaya

Every major city in our country has that problem. Only exurbanites would be unaware.

bellastar

frankdaddy-that's an amazing story about the NYC subway incident=

here's another NY story-
A friend and I were having lunch in a NY coffee shop-her purse was slung over the back of a seat jsut across from us, with her coat COVERING it, and it was lifted right in front of our eyes! We are both fairly streetwise, but we didn't even see this happening 3 feet away!

Travelbeach, I don't agree with your comments about "The police turning a blind eye to the problem in European cities". This happened to me in Rome once, and the police were very helpful.

I also don't agree with your statement about "vigilantes beating the ____ out of....etc" referring to Boston and NY. Have you ever actually experienced this, or was it a scene from a movie?
Have you visited either of these places recently?

karens

While walking through Greenwich Village one evening several years ago, I watched a group of youths walking through the crowd and casually placing their hands into women's purses. I don't think they were successful - they certainly weren't discreet.

I have had my purse grabbed off my lap while riding a Philadelphia subway. I was in college and my college wasn't exactly located in the best part of town.

My quiet suburban area has episodes of cell phones, etc. being stolen out of cars. Apparently the thieves go up and down streets and open doors to cars parked on the street and help themselves. The police were constantly advising people to please lock their car doors, but said it was hard to get people to do so. After living in the city for a while, I can't imagine ever leaving my car unlocked on the street, but it's a different mentality out here.

Right now the local LA Fitness club is experiencing a lot of problems. It seems every day a car window is smashed and a wallet or cell phone taken. I guess the thieves know when you pull up to a gym in the AM or after work, you have everything with you, and once you head into the gym you'll be gone for at least 30 mins. or so. The facility's location is right near a Turnpike entrance, so the thieves could be over 20 miles away in any direction after half an hour.

KathrynT

Sure, I've been pickpocketed twice. Once on a crowded bus and once Christmas shopping mid-day in a toy store. Luckily, I caught the second pick-pocket with her hand reaching into my purse!

frankdaddy

Here is one more for Bella star which I forgot but just remembered. It happened about 23 years ago when I was walking on the street in New York City during the day. I was between sales calls and I hear someone yell to stop this guy running witha manbag in his hand. I look up and see him run right by me and I figure he is almost out of breath so I can catch up to him. I take off with my briefcase and run and after him and he turns the corner I catch up to him and grab him around the waist. He was out of breath so I was just hanging on to him. Finally a mob comes up and grab the guy. It appeared that a tourist from out of town had his man bag on the floor and this kid comes up and snatches it. Well, after I hand him over to the mob one guy grabs him and starts dragging him back to the man whose bag was snatched. The pounding this kid took made him scream for the police. The guy was banging him around till the police fianlly came. The kid couldn't wait for the cop to save him. Well 2 weeks later I was on the phone on the street and guess who comes bopping up the street. Yup that's right the kid who took the pounding. I ducked and waited for him to go by. Needless to say my wife was furious that I did that and put myself in harms way. I would never do that agin but that's the way I did things back then.

TripleSecDelay

Good man.

Sean74

First off, congrats to Jane for getting her wallet back; that's poetic irony for any pickpocket, having your mark lift the very item you stole. As for myself, I was recently pickpocketed by a group of young women in a mall. They surrounded me, the most attractive in front, while her accomplices went and basically cleaned my back pocket out. I've been to Ireland twice, both times there were instances where I had cash practically hanging out of my pocket, and was not picked at all. (In fact, I found a note in my pocket from the woman running the b&b we were staying at, explaining that she had found this hanging out of my pants pocket and she slipped it back in.) Of course, this all occurred in the country and not a urban area like Dublin, where I would have lost it for certain.

kgh8m

Christmas 1994, Macy's in Manhattan. I was in high school, and a friend who was originally from New York and her mom took 5 other NC girls to Manhattan. We parked in an NYC parking garage to see the Statue of Liberty, and came back to find the car door's lock had been "popped" and the one bag in plain view was missing. The van had out of state plates.

The next day, all of us girls were in Macy's, trying on clothes in the dressing room, and because there was a group of us, we kept leaving the dressing room to show each other the clothes. My tri-fold purse was on the floor of the dressing room, buried beneath my clothes, and not visible. But after leaving Macy's, I no longer had the $85 in my wallet, so I believe someone in an adjacent stall, took my cash (as the tri-fold wallet purse was across my body and under my coat at all other times). So sneaky!

But luckily, no other troubles in many, many trips to NYC.

miguelgcuadra

There were many cases in Miami with Europeans being attacked right off one of the major highways. There have been no incidents in a couple of years, thanks God.

soccr

My aunt reached the top of the escalator from the Metro up to Union Station in Wash DC. A woman in front of her dropped some packages and the man behind her got into her bag and took her wallet. However, the police managed to nab and with her help convict the pair after it became clear they were "working" the Metro.

soccr

Just noticed "de-pocketed's" 3-yr. old post. Apparently they came back.

Sean74

These teams of pickpockets are sharp; they have all the time in the world to practice, and plenty of opportunities if in the right area. The girls who got me were able to unzip my back pocket and remove my money clip with $43 dollars, and I had no idea it was happening. Ironically, I put the money there because the side pockets of my windpants weren't very deep. Those pants have since been given to Goodwill.

ira

My wife had her purse snatched in the parking lot of a restaurant in Annapolis.

Fortunately, there was a policeman on duty nearby who heard my calls of FIRE.

The perp was arrested. The judge gave him six months probation.

Sally

I live close to New Orleans and often go to the French Quarter. I have several times observed pickpockets and scam artists at work there. We warn our visitors to be careful of their belongings and more important, to stay in the safe areas- don't go near the Desire housing project or wander in the cemetary!

I love New Orleans, but you have to be a lot more careful there than in any city I've been to in Europe!

letour

I've had both good and bad luck: one night in New Haven, years ago, a friend of mine and I were held up at knifepoint, but we managed to elude what was a gang of attackers. Cross country running training likely helped! Ever since then, I've always been vigilant when walking urban streets after dark and will sometimes cross the street to avoid an oncoming pedestrian.

Around that same time, I traveled alone to Europe and was hitchhiking (not something I would do today!) through Britain. I'd received a great ride from a lorry driver and after climbing down from the truck at the end of the day, I realized that I'd likely lost my wallet/passport etc. in his truck. I went straight to the police station to see what I could do, when, before I could barely utter the first words to describe what had happened, in walked the lorry driver with my wallet in his hand! I took him out to the nearest pub, and we shared a number of stories over a couple of pints. A great travel memory!

Finally, I patient of mine was pickpocketed last spring in Boston at the Park Street station. It was during the school vacation and it occurred just before her subway pulled into a busy station, which serves as a crossroads for different subway lines. So, her experience is another lesson for me--be cognizant of youths around you, and be especially vigilant just before the train pulls into a station. After reading some of the other entries here, it seems that's often when a pickpocket seems to strike.