By LeiLani Golden - bio | email
THOMASVILLE, GA (WALB) – A man entered more than 40 vehicles in a wealthy Thomasville neighborhood while unsuspecting residents slept.
Police say it's the largest number of car burglaries they've seen in decades.
Now they hope surveillance video of the crook will help them catch him.
During the day, the Place in the Woods subdivision in Thomasville is a peaceful site. But residents woke up Sunday to a startling discovery.
"I guess people in that neighborhood thought they were safe, but you just never know," says Detective Louis Schofill of Thomasville Police.
Someone had burglarized 42 cars in the neighborhood overnight. Residents found their belongings the burglar didn't want strewn about in yards.
"He was going through wallets and purses and stuff like that for cash and credits cards in these wallets. And he'd walk to the next car across the lawn and just drop stuff cause it wasn't his and he didn't care."
Police say the suspect didn't break into any cars. He only entered the ones with unlocked doors.
"It was a crime of opportunity," explains Schofill. "This person just started going house to house, car to car. Cars that were locked, he didn't try to gain access to or smash windows like you'd normally see. He just went on to the next one."
Judging by the amounts of cars entered and the area covered, police say the burglar didn't seem to be in a hurry.
"We believe he might have been out there for a couple hours. There's a lot of ground to cover. Quite a few streets. It's a big neighborhood."
But the suspect didn't wait around to spend his newfound money.
"He seemed to have gone to Chevron on Pinetree and bought some items then he bought some cigarettes at the B. P. Then after he got done there, he went to Wal-Mart and bought almost $400 worth of miscellaneous items."
Police are hoping someone will recognize the suspect seen in the surveillance videos as he used the stolen credit cards. He was also driving a dark-colored late 90's, early 2000's model Jeep Cherokee seen here.
Police say the stolen credit cards were used in Thomasville and Tallahassee.
Anyone with information can call Thomasville Crime Stoppers at 227-3305. You can remain anonymous and you could get a reward.
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