Lakewood car prowl victim says 'joke is on' thief who stole his watch

LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- Blake Patjens says he never ever forgets to lock his car -- except for Saturday night.

"I realized I was missing a watch first of all, and I went and looked for it, and it was gone," Patjens said Wednesday.

He had left the watch in the center console of his truck.  Curious, he checked his home security videos.

"And I saw the guy. Somebody broke into my truck and I had footage. And I said, there goes my watch right there," Patjens said.



With a hoodie hiding his face, the thief also stole Patjens' cologne and some change out of the truck.

But he didn't stop there.

After rummaging through the truck, the thief casually walked away, but then came back and started rummaging through Patjens' neighbor's cars across the street.

Patjens said he filed a report with police, and, even though he's the victim, he's still going to get the last laugh.

"It's a fake Rolex," Patjens said of the stolen watch.  "I was gonna give it to a friend as a gag gift, so the joke is on him (the thief) when he goes to pawn that sucker off."

He hopes his experience will remind others to stay vigilant -- the lock the doors of their vehicles.

Anyone with information on the thefts is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222 tips.