Police urge people to watch for thieves stealing from shopping carts

A tandem of thieves lurking in Athens stores are hunting for older women shopping alone.

In the past two weeks, two women were victimized at the Publix on Barnett Shoals Road, according to Athens-Clarke police reports.

“We are seeing an increase in these types of thefts,” police Detective Nathan Franco said Wednesday.

One of the victims, a 78-year-old Watkinsville woman, told the Banner-Herald on Wednesday that she was shopping when approached by a woman with a foreign accent.

“This lady distracted me by asking me questions,” she said. “But then all of a sudden she says, ‘never mind.’ By that time whoever was picking my purse was finished and she was ready to go.”

When this unidentified woman gained the victim's attention, her companion, a man, reached into the woman's purse in the shopping cart and took the wallet.

The thieves went straight to Walmart on Lexington Road in Athens, where they used the stolen debit and credit cards to purchase three $500 gift cards.

Police officer Joseph Impeduglia responded to investigate.

“The security is really good at Publix," the victim said. "We asked them to check the video right away and they did and said, ‘Here’s what happened.’”

The video showed the unidentified woman distracting the shopper, while a man reaches his hand into her purse and removes the wallet.

“I was distraught,” the woman said about the theft. “I felt I was wary of things like this, but apparently I’m not.”

“These subjects look for elderly women and follow them around the store waiting for a chance to reach into their purses and steal their wallets,” Franco said.

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Most of these crimes involve teams of at least two thieves and victims report they have heavy accents, according to Franco.

“It is believed that these suspects are of European descent and these crimes are organized and are believed to be committed by these organized criminal groups across the country,” the detective said.

The thieves also park their personal vehicles a distance from the store, which makes it difficult to link one to a suspect, according to Franco.

After the theft, the thieves immediately go to another business and start using the credit cards to purchase pre-paid gift cards sometimes amounting into the thousands.

Franco advised the following: