It’s the season of fulfilling children’s wishes, of family gatherings and overindulgence on sweet treats and shiny toys. The most typical crime: Spending too much on holiday gifts. Guilty as charged on that little piece of plastic.
But the magic of the season is wiped away in an instant when holiday criminals go to work. They steal packages from front porches, gifts from under Christmas trees, electronics and jewelry from major retailers. They even steal the Salvation Army’s kettles.
The holiday hooligans are on the loose.
In Barrow County, two burglars used a top-down approach at a Target store located, fittingly, in the little town of Bethlehem.
“They cut a hole in the roof at around 1:50 in the morning and dropped down into the restroom area,” Capt. Ryan Sears with the Barrow Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Once inside the store, the two went first to the ATM, which they broke into with a sledgehammer and crowbar, swiping a still-undetermined sum of cash, Sears said. With the closed store to themselves, the suspects went to the electronics department and helped themselves to four tablets valued at $150 each, plus a drone, device, also sold for $150. Perhaps they wanted to use the drone for reconnaissance of other store roofs.
Investigators haven’t determined what the two used to cut a hole through the roof, Sears said. But it may not have been the first time they’d dropped into a store. The same two may be responsible for similar through-the-roof crimes in middle Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia. Surveillance cameras captured glimpses of the Tuesday morning crimes in Bethlehem, but finding the suspects may be a tall order.
“Because of the drop from the roof, our investigators believe these individuals are at least 6 feet tall,” Sears said.
Stealing from charity
In 1891, a fund-raising idea to help feed the poor in one community led to an iconic symbol now visible around the world during the holidays: the Salvation Army's red kettles. The kettles are tended by bell ringers who use the jingling to bring in the jingle.
Sometimes, those bell ringers need a quick break. When the bells go silent, the kettle is placed inside the store, usually behind the customer service counter.
That’s what a bell ringer did this week at a Cobb County grocery store. But when he went back to retrieve the kettle, it was gone.
“They looked at surveillance video and found that someone had reached over and walked right out the door with it,” Salvation Army Capt. Chris Powell said.
Powell told Channel 2 Action News it’s rare for a kettle to be stolen, and there’s no way to know how much money was taken. But those donations would have gone to those in need living in the same community. The Salvation Army of Metro Atlanta said Thursday donations are down $500,000 this year compared to this time last year.
‘This is the biggest piece of fundraising people see, and it’s out in the public eye,” Powell said. “I’m not sure what was going through that person’s mind.”
Front porch burglars
For some holiday criminals, a simple cardboard box left outside is all that’s needed, except maybe a getaway car.
“There is a Grinch going around the neighborhoods all over taking packages from peoples’ doorsteps,” Atlanta police officer Lukasz Sajdak said. “At this time we could not say if this is one particular person and would not call it a trend specific to our area as this seems to be going on all over.”
Like many, Christopher Garber shopped online for holiday gifts, which were delivered to his Gwinnett County home while he was at work. The surveillance camera on his front porch has a motion detector, and Garber got an email and text when a UPS driver set packages down one morning.
Later that afternoon, Garber got a second email and text that someone was once again on his porch. This time, it was a young woman, who walked up, grabbed the packages, got into a car and left, Garber said. The Norcross resident says he’d never seen the woman until she showed up on his video footage.
Garber called police and was able to provide a detective with high-definition video of the thief. He was also able to get a refund and re-order the gifts, but this time had them shipped directly to their recipients.
“It’s a hassle,” Garber said. “And it’s the principle of someone stealing someone else’s things.”
‘It’s just so brazen’
A DeKalb County homeowner felt that same feeling this week when her security alarm alerted her to a burglary. At Laura Bolsen’s home, the burglars went further than the front porch.
From her classroom computer — Bolsen is a third-grade teacher — she watched three men, one wearing red pants, kick their way into her Northlake Creek Drive home, where they rummaged through her bedroom and even looked between mattresses. When they left, the three carried out $2,500 worth of Christmas gifts and electronics.
“They were in and out within three minutes,” Bolsen told Channel 2. “To think that people are getting robbed in broad daylight…It’s just so brazen, and they kicked in our front door. It really came as a shock.”
Bolsen, who later learned other homes in her area were burglarized not long after hers, is hopeful police can find those responsible. Neighbors have contributed to the reward her family is offering to find the suspects.
“I’m sick and tired of this,” Bolsen said Thursday.
With her family’s possessions, the three burglars got into a late-model Honda Civic with distinct rims on the wheels, she said. Anyone with information on the three is asked to call DeKalb County police.
HOLIDAY SAFETY TIPS
- If you're shopping in stores, don't buy more than you carry to your car
- Carry your purse or wallet close to your body or in a front pocket
- Wait until you must pay to pull out a credit card or checkbook to keep others from eyeing number.
- Don't leave valuables in your car that can be spotted through windows
- If you're shopping online, beware of sales that are too good to be true from unknown retailers
- Ask neighbors to watch for deliveries to your home and return the favor
- Report any suspicious activities or people to police
Source: www.crimemuseum.org and Atlanta Police
