First the thief tried to pry open the door of Nicki Lockwich's Jeep Grand Cherokee while she was in the Bally Total Fitness club in Penn Hills on a recent Saturday morning. Failing that, he smashed the passenger-side window and pulled out her purse, which she thought had been well hidden by a jacket under the back seat.

Someone must have been watching Lockwich that June morning as she hid the purse that held about $350 in cash, the typical array of credit cards and identification, said her husband, Bill Lockwich. The couple lives in Penn Hills.

But maybe, with the help of surveillance equipment Bally's has promised to install and the already stepped up Penn Hills Police patrols, the incident won't be repeated with the frequency it has occurred over the past year and a half.

"It just seems like an easy target," Bill Lockwich said of the Bally's parking area. More than 30 car break-in reports at Bally's lots have been filed with the Penn Hills police during the past 18 months, with two, including the Lockwiches' report, filed on June 4.

There were other incidents that went unreported.

A Monroeville woman spotted a man peering into her car's hatchback as she left the club one evening last week. As she approached, the man quickly got into a nearby car and sat there.

Kelly Flatley had heard about the vandalism and theft involving Nicki Lockwich's Jeep, so she had a heightened sense of awareness.

But she said she didn't call police because she didn't know what the man was doing. For all she knew, he may have been simply admiring her car, Flatley said. But once inside her car she did make a call to the club warning those on duty that someone was in the parking lot.

The whole incident was unsettling, she said.

Now when she goes to the club, she's more aware than ever.

"I kind of feel like: 'Is there someone watching?' " she said.

"Thieves do watch," said Dom Costa, Penn Hills' new director of public safety.

Costa was among those contacted by Bill Lockwich after the incident with his wife's car. Lockwich also complained to Bally's management and started a petition drive asking Bally's to step up surveillance in the three parking areas around the club, located along Rodi Road.

Costa, a former Pittsburgh Police commander only a few weeks into his new position, was ready to help. He said he knew police patrols had been increased.

But to take further measures, he met with Bally's officials and had telephone conferences with the head of Bally's security firm. He reviewed incident reports and talked with the Lockwiches.

On Monday, Bally's management issued a statement that they've begun work on a security system for the parking lot that will include at least three surveillance cameras and parking lot warning signs saying that the premises are under electronic surveillance.

The camera system should be in place in about three weeks.

"I thing we're on the right track," Costa said.

He said once the new system is in place, he'd like to meet with Bally's management to see how it's working and to educate Bally's 11,000 members on keeping safe.

Informational fliers could be used to do that, he said.

Costa said that people should be more aware of what they leave in their automobiles because public parking areas are prime sites for break-ins.

They should move their vehicles if they're shopping at a mall and want to drop off packages and go back to shopping. And if possible, women should leave a building in a group, he said.

Bill Lockwich is encouraged by the upgrades at Bally's.

"Things are definitely looking good," he said. He said he'll file away his petition for now. It had been signed by 62 Bally's members.

He also said he's a realist and knows how urban life is in the 21st century.

"You're not going to be able to stop everything 100 percent."

But Bally's move to install new surveillance equipment is a step in the right direction, he said.