Inside the Police Reports: Theft While Shopping

Each week, Lilburn Patch takes a deeper look into recent crime reports from the Gwinnett and Lilburn police departments. This week, we look at three incidents  along U.S. 78.

Stolen purse: In an incident that occurred the morning of June 5 inside the Lowe's on the 4800 block of Highway 78, a woman claimed her purse went missing while she was in the garden department.

The 50-year-old woman said that she placed her purse on the ground while she grabbed a few plants off the clearance rack and loaded them into her shopping cart, and when she looked down, her purse was gone.

She told police that she was gone for no more than five minutes, and the three people around her at the time didn't appear suspicious, although they were all gone when she went back to retrieve her purse. 

She and the Lowe's manager checked the store's lost and found but was unsuccessful in finding her purse. She told police that two Wachovia debit cards, one SunTrust card, one Discover credit card and her driver's license were inside the purse. Her cellphone, a BlackBerry Curve, was also in the purse, and police attempted to call the phone, but no one answered it. 

Thefts of Car Pieces: The owner of EuroTech Automotive on the 4500 block of Highway 78 reported someone breaking into his business over the Memorial Day weekend, possibly through the Yellow River.

The owner, 47, stole scrap metal, engines and transmissions, all together worth $3,550.

He noted that a male came into the business the Thursday before and asked to purchase the same items, but the owner told him that the inventory was not for sale.

He was familiar with the male because he came in occassionally, but the owner could not provide police with a name or address, just that the man lives in Lawrenceville and he buys and sells scrap metal.

Nothing further is available at this time. 

Sports Authority Theft: On May 31, a 20-year-old Stone Mountain woman called police to report her cell phone being stolen while at work one night at Sports Authority.

She said it was stolen from the break room of the 4200 block business, and she suspects a particular coworker of hers is the culprit because he's "mad at one of the managers," says the report.

He was not at the store when police arrived, and she could only supply police with his first name, so police told her to contact them once she knows more.