Every week I bring you crimes that are being committed or scams that are happening. Well today I am giving you actual happenings sent in by readers who wanted to share their experience with you. As always we need to be aware of our surrounding but we also need to take responsibility for our own actions so that we don’t become a victim. Here are 2 incidents we can learn from:

Dear Carmen:

Having moved from large acreage and low crime in the Northeast, here I am in Miami-Dade.

Owning dogs, I use to enjoy taking them to Perrine Wayside Park in Palmetto Bay. On July 29, as I was innocently running my dogs, my car was broken into, windows smashed, and the entire inside contents stolen. Called Miami-Dade police and their response was a cynical: "Happens here and Key Biscayne all the time." They did nothing beyond giving me my case card. Taking matters into my own hands, I traced the path of these thugs. They took my card, swiped it and sold the gas, then sold the contents in my purse and car in the parking lot of a nearby gas station; I watched it all on video.

Red alert to anyone who visits dog parks, parks for families, day-care centers or cemeteries. Do not leave anything of value in your car. It happened to me; you can be the next victim. The feeling of violation is overwhelming, the financial loss is significant. Together, we as a community must take a proactive step and be vigilant. Please tell my story to everyone; help put an end to this criminal behavior. Next time, innocent people may be hurt or killed; these thugs carry weapons. We must raise the level of awareness immediately. If my story serves to help one person, the criminals lose and I have succeeded.

Leslie DeMerville

Hi, Carmen:

I was startled when I read your column concerning scam auto repairs. Just the day before, I was approached in the Publix parking lot at Biscayne Commons (147th Street and Biscayne Blvd). As I loaded the groceries into the car, a white SUV pulled up with two men. The one on the passenger side was closest to me and he called out: “We can fix the dents and scratches in your Saturn real cheap.” Well, first of all, I don’t have any dents and they certainly couldn’t see the minuscule scratches on the doors because I was parked in between two cars. I just said: “I’m unemployed; I can’t afford it” and they drove off. I thought it odd that there was no company name or advertising on the vehicle nor did they offer a business card and say something like “here’s our card if you change your mind.”

I don’t know what model SUV it was. It was one of the larger ones like an Explorer or Navigator.

Marguerite

In closing I want to remind everyone that Tuesday, Aug. 14, is election day. Let’s exercise our precious right by voting!