Full Notification

(Thursday, September 27, 2012) The Gwinnett County Police Department is investigating a series of distraction style burglaries targeting elderly victims. So far in 2012, Gwinnett has had seven incidents attributed to the series. Several other metro-Atlanta agencies are investigating similar cases. At this time there appear to be 11 cases to date.

The suspects in these cases target elderly victims, usually women, who they believe are home alone. One of the suspects, usually described as a Hispanic or Slavic male of average height and weight, approaches the victim for a seemingly legitimate reason. This suspect is polite and dressed in a manner appropriate to his story. A common approach has been for the suspect to tell the victim he is building a fence for a neighbor and needs the victim to point out her back property line. The suspect who accompanies the victim to the back yard makes contact with a second suspect via Nextel or cell phone. The suspect usually has a brief conversation in a foreign language. While the victim is in the back yard with the first suspect, a second suspect enters the home through the front. The suspects usually take only jewelry.

These suspects operate throughout Gwinnett County and the metro-Atlanta area, not focusing on any one place. They have used several stories in addition to the example mentioned above, including that they are employees of a cable or utility company, and that they are present to inspect a deck. The story always requires the victim to accompany the first suspect to the back of the house. They have used several vehicles, including a white pickup truck, a black pickup truck, and a white van.

Anyone with information concerning incidents of this nature are asked to call the Morgan County Sheriff's Office at 706.342.1507.