Holiday trash could make your home a target for thieves

For the first time, Jackie Teran hosted family Christmas at her house in Cathedral City.

“We had about 40 people over. You can only imagine about how many bags of trash we had,” said Teran.

With bags filled with wrapping paper and empty gift boxes, she’s more careful about what she puts out at her curb during the holidays.

“Somebody could see what you had or have for the holidays and start scoping things out,” Teran said.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department warns that your holiday trash could make your home a target for thieves, saying it’s a bad idea to stuff your outside garbage with empty boxes and bags from those hot ticket items you got from Santa, including new electronics, such as that new flat screen TV.

“Crooks know people have new surplus of gifts,” said the department spokesperson Julio Oseguera.

Juan Perezchica, of Cathedral City, said he takes extra precautions to avoid putting his home at risk.

“If you leave out the boxes you basically advertise you got this gift or that,” he said.

Police encourage you to break down your empty gift boxes and put them inside black bags instead of clear ones.

If your garbage can is full, don’t place trash on the sidewalks, instead take them to a recycling center yourself or wait until the next trash pickup day to place them out on driveway.

“We bring them out that morning that way they’re not there overnight,” said Perezchica.

“Just be aware of your surroundings any unusual people. Notify the police department.”

Remember to keep your new prized possessions out of sight, out of mind and avoid blasting your Christmas presents over social media.

“With the Internet, people like to share, you can’t blame them but just use some common as to what they put out there for everyone to see,” said Perezchica.

“Someone’s always looking around,” said Teran.