A mother and her two teenage children say thieves stole items from their car, including their house keys, and then went to the family's house in Montgomery County and stole jewelry.
The mother, who does not want to be identified, said the trouble began when she and her daughter parked their car at a Westfield Montgomery mall garage Saturday around 5 p.m.
"It's an overwhelming amount of emotion," she said. "I'm feeling scared; I'm feeling sometimes helpless."
Her car was unlocked, and she said two thieves broke in and found her daughter’s debit card, ID with their home address and house keys.
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"When I checked back to see if it was there, it was gone. My heart went into my stomach because my address was on it," the daughter said.
The victims said the two men tried to use the card at the mall, but it didn’t work.
"I kept getting notifications on my phone that they were trying to use it, but the transactions were declined," she said.
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The mother then called her teenage son, who was at home, to let him know about the car break-in and warn him that the suspects had their address and house keys. Concerned, he left the house and called police. Meanwhile, the mother and her daughter drove home and found the front door unlocked.
"We started walking inside, yelling my son's name, didn't hear anything," the mother said.
The victims said inside they saw the two suspects and immediately ran outside.
The pair of thieves got into a car, which police said was stolen, and then they drove off. Cell phone video shows Montgomery County police arriving at the house seconds later. The mother said the thieves got away with some jewelry.
While police investigate, this family said they learned a valuable lesson.
"Lock your car," the mother said. "Don't leave your valuables in your car."
Monday night, police were investigating if surveillance video captured the suspects using the stolen card at the mall. They urge anyone with information about the case to give them a call.
CORRECTION (May 25, 2021, 7:41 a.m.): An earlier version of this story said the suspects stole the family's car. The suspects allegedly stole items from the family's car, and later drove another car that police said was stolen.
