Breaks into car... as girl, 8, waits

A thief yesterday smashed the window of a car in broad daylight to steal a purse on the front seat as an eight-year-old girl was inside waiting for her mother.

The mother, a 31-year-old woman from Birkirkara, parked her Suzuki Ignis in Trejqet Sant’ Injazju in Sliema at around 12.30 p.m. and went to collect another daughter from a nearby ballet school.

Soon after the woman got out of the car, a man walked by and spotted the purse before breaking into the vehicle through the window on the driver’s side, sources said.

He leaned into the car to pick up the purse, probably not realising the young girl was sitting at the back, the police said.

Though startled, the girl tried to attract attention by leaning towards the front and sounding the horn. However, the man ran off with the purse.

After her mother arrived, a report was filed at the Sliema police station.