Thursday, November 19, 2009

Tis the holiday season - be aware of your surroundings.



We wanted to notify everyone of a strong arm theft that occurred on Monday night at Perimeter Mall. A customer had just purchased a laptop from the Apple store and was leaving the mall. An unidentified, young black male, approached the customer from behind and grabbed their arm, causing them to drop the laptop. A brief struggle ensued and the black male picked up the laptop and fled the scene on foot. Video surveillance showed that the suspect was possibly in the store at the same time as the customer and followed them outside. This occurred at approximately 8:30pm near Maggiano’s.

We want to remind everyone to be diligent in their awareness. Suspects such as these target victims that they feel are not aware they are there. Remember to always make eye contact with those people around  you and look over your shoulder every once in awhile to check behind you. We are entering the holiday season and crimes such as this will increase. If you feel you are being followed, contact one of the security officers to escort you. As always, if you see a suspicious person or vehicle, don’t hesitate to call 911 and report it.

Thank you,
Officer W. Furman
Community Outreach Unit
Dunwoody Police Department
41 Perimeter Center East, Suite 100
Dunwoody, GA 30346
Office: 678.382.6913  Fax: 770.396.4655

3 comments:

Kate Goodhart said...

It's not just at the mall. On Wednesday, 11/18, one of the Kingsley parents' cars was broken into during a 10 minute timeframe when she had parked on the street to pick up her child as school let out. She'd locked her vehicle but left her purse on a seat visible from the outside. The criminal(s) broke a window and stole her purse. Whoever did this had to have been watching the driving/walking patters at the school as there's only a brief window of time when this could have been done without being seen, especially since the parent is well known and drives a fairly unique vehicle.

Mark said...

I'd like to relate a recent experience prompted by the encouragement of our council members and police department to call when we see people or vehicles that are suspicious or out of the ordinary.
A few weeks ago, maybe less, our door bell rang around 10:30 p.m. We weren't expecting anyone. I was in the shower and my girlfriend went to ask who was there. No one answered. She peeked on tip-toe out of the small window atop the door and could only see a baseball cap. Presumably, it was resting on a head. She repeated her request for identification but none was given. I got out of the shower and went to see if I might get a better view, being taller than her. By the time I got there, the person had returned to a car parked at the foot of our driveway. We watched the street from our window and saw the car drive to several houses around us, park at the foot, and then someone walking to the door. We couldn't see much else, though the person never stayed more than a few moments at each door. At that point, it occurred to me to call the police in the event the person was looking for an empty home to forcibly enter. I called the non-emergency number. The person answering was very nice and offered to connect me to Dekalb Dispatch. I thought that odd, but it got more odd when the next person answered, "Dekalb 911, what is your emergency?" It wasn't an emergency or I'd have called 911 from the start. The 911 operator was very nice and offered to send someone which I declined. We did not feel threatened, and they said they'd have Dunwoody dispatch an officer to drive through for a look. The next day, I happened to go through the front entrance and found a flyer for a missing dog. Why the person didn't respond is a mystery to me. I didn't call them to ask though I did consider it. The process seemed more cumbersome and confusing than I would have expected. It is almost as if no one has told the folks answering the phones that Dunwoody residents have been encouraged to call and report unusual sights.

Kate, you have my sympathy. I have accustomed myself to leave not even so much as an empty paper cup in my car any more due to the high incidence of "smash & grab" so prevelant in the area. It isn't just here, lest you get a particularly poor perception of Dunwoody.

Mr. P said...

On Thursday November 19th, in the wee hours of the morning, a smash and grab occurred in our driveway in the Kingsley subdivision. We never leave anything of value in our cars, but these goons walked up our driveway and did this.

My wife spoke with a Dunwoody police officer that morning and she was informed that there were several smash and grabs that night in our vicinity.

Let us all be diligent and aware of our surroundings at all times. Take your cell phones when walking/jogging and look out for our neighbors. Thanks,

CW