Hi Ladies...Wanted to share this with you b/c is actually just happened a few days ago...in Mississauga....this is not a joke and you need to know..!!
Subject: You always think it will never happen to you but it happened to me....................
Hi everyone.
You know you always get those emails with stories and cautions about things happening in parking lots and to be careful etc. and you always think that it would never happen to you? Well I also thought that until it happened to me.
Yesterday, April 27th I decided to go to the bank at lunch to get U.S. cash for my vacation starting this Friday. I don’t get travelers cheques anymore as they are a hassle to cash and you always seem to have to keep cashing them just to have cash in your pocket. For a few years now I have only been taking cash.
I went to the branch at Rockwood Mall in Mississauga at just before 12:00 noon and purchased $3,250.00 U.S. At the time I felt uncomfortable having the teller count out all that cash right there at the wicket (and not being too quiet about it either) with customers beside me at other wickets and in line. So I thought when I went out I would carefully take note of my surroundings and immediately went to my car which was close and locked the doors. I was starting to make a quick phone call on my cell and looked up to see a guy in a car beside me honking the horn and motioning to me, I thought he wanted my ideal parking space so waived that I was not yet leaving. Well he was very persistent and kept trying to get my attention. I started to worry as I had all that money on me. He finally got out of his car and yelled to me that he saw someone just slash my passenger rear tire and keep walking. I didn’t even see this guy do that because I was probably dialing the phone. I of course got more concerned and was not going to get out of the car and decided to phone 911. I did not get out of the car until the police came (3 cruisers with the lights flashing) and this guy stayed right there so obviously he wasn’t the “bad guy”.
To make a very long story short, it was two guys working together (no not the guy who told me my tire was slashed). I guess they staked me out at the bank and one of them followed me to the car and walked by and slashed my tire and kept walking. The second guy comes along and tells you that you have a flat tire (this guy came along to the guy who saw it (his name is Tony) and asked him for some money, he was cleverly pretending to be a panhandler and was probably hoping the guy would just keep driving away and then I was a sitting duck). Tony initially wanted to follow the guy who slashed my tire but wanted me to know what happened so he didn’t leave me until he was sure I knew. If Tony hadn’t seen what happened and hadn’t stayed until the police came I would have gotten out of the car when the second guy came along and told me that I had a flat tire and who knows what would have happened, he could have just taken my purse along with my vacation money but more importantly, my identification and credit cards OR I could have been hurt. The police said that I was lucky that all that ended up happening was getting a flat tire.
I was very shaken up by the incident but mostly because I realized how lucky I was that Tony came along and cared enough to do what the did, he said it was just the right thing to do. What could have happened I try not to think about. I cannot thank Tony enough.
I am telling you this because I want you to know that it can happen to you and to be very careful, I always trusted people and think that everyone is good but after this experience I will now be very cautious. So if anyone comes up to you to tell you that you have a flat tire, be very scared and call the police or someone you trust and don’t get out of the car for anything. The police told me that they like to target women in parking lots and this was in broad daylight in the middle of the day in a very busy parking lot and I was only parked about 8 spots away from the mall door.
Please share this with your daughters, sisters, mothers, friends etc. I can happen anywhere. This is not a “story”, it happened to me yesterday.
Diane Viola--
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