The holidays are coming up, and many of you may be hitting the malls to get a head start on holiday shopping.

But after a couple of incidents that happened at a few shopping centers in Concord, police are warning you to stay alert.

They’ll swipe them off tables, rip them straight out of your hand, and most recently, they’ve approached victims while they’re in their car, smash their windows, and reach in.

Recently, Concord has experienced a series of purse thefts along the Willow Pass Road and Diamond Boulevard corridors, according to police. 

As we approach the holiday season, shopping centers are becoming a target for thieves, but police say a number of incidents have happened in the last couple of months with the most recent one this past Monday.

“Black male, between the ages of 17 and 20 with a slender build, with a hoodie that’s pulled tight over their face so only their eyes are exposed,” Concord police Cpl. Summer Galer said. “In the incidents that happened in October, the suspect vehicle is a newer model black Honda, either a Civic or an Accord, and this last incident that occurred on Monday, it’s a white Mercedes SUV.”

Police say that these purse snatchers look for women who are alone and once they grab their purse, they get into getaway vehicles that have paper license plates.

They also say the incidents happened between the hours of 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:

>>MORE STORIES