View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2007 > June > 08 > Entry
Laziness may lead to loss of identity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We made four arrests this week involving people who were targeting senior citizens, females, shopping at the grocery store. This team of two, male and female, initiated a distraction where the female would get the attention of the victim, and the male would walk up from behind and take the victim’s wallet from her purse. They later used the cards at several locations. They were not that smart. They were caught on video and later detectives were able to track their movements through the use of the victim’s credit cards.
They had about seven other pieces of I.D. from previous victims. Each person in the group had a job. Two were distracting and taking the wallets. A driver was outside to pick them up and leave. A fourth person, a woman, was the one who drew money from this person’s account. She had a SSN card, credit card, and license to use as I.D. She withdrew about $14,000 from the victim’s account.
This victim’s credit and so forth will be restored in a short time. The money will be replaced and other victims will be located and hopefully more charges will be filed.
Here are some tips and please know that all of these things are simple: 1. Go ahead and check your credit history. Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax are the three major companies. It’s free. Don’t procrastinate. 2. Read carefully, your bank statements. Don’t be lazy. 3. Read carefully, your credit card statements. Don’t be lazy. 4. Look for small things, anything you don’t recognize, and then inquire about it. 5. Buy a shredder. 6. Use the shredder. Don’t be lazy. Use it. 7. Don’t mail out bills from your mailbox. The red flag is a cue for thieves to drive up and grab the mail. It takes only a couple of seconds. Use post office boxes. Don’t be lazy. 8. Be aware of people around you when you write a check or use the ATM. 9. Change your passwords on a regular basis. Be unsystematic with it. Do remember what the passwords are and stay away from simple things that could be guessed. For instance: 1,2,3,4. 10. Don’t write passwords or PIN numbers down on the card you use them for.
Try and stay on your toes with any sensitive numbers that you use. Thefts from cars frequently end up as ID thefts as well. Don’t leave purses and wallets in them when you are out, day or night. Don’t be lazy and don’t put things off.
Other arrests Arnulfo Jaramillo Sanchez, who refused to give his date of birth, was arrested for Possession of Methamphetamine following a traffic stop. I get asked frequently how we deal with people who refuse to give I.D. Fingerprint returns can be obtained so quickly now that it doesn’t do much good to refuse to give proper I.D. In the meantime, no bond.
A Sandy Springs woman was cited for running a business without a license. She said that she does spiritual healing for women only from her apartment.
Naomi Mae Hamann, age 25, from Alpharetta, was charged with Theft by Taking after she was confronted by management and loss prevention personnel at the Staples Store on Roswell Road where she worked. She is accused of making duplicate receipts on customer transactions, and then processing the returns and keeping the money.
A man reported that he was assaulted by his former employer after he quit the company. He said that the former employer owed him $1200 and when he went over to resign, the man pulled a gun on him.
Burglary
During the night of June 3rd, someone entered the garage of a home in the 7500 block of Spalding Lane and entered two vehicles. The resident said the garage and vehicles were unlocked. The perps then entered the home from the garage and took a laptop from the kitchen table. They apparently tried to take guns from a gun locker but the owner had it secured with a lock bar. The resident said the door from the garage to the house was locked. There was no mention if the alarm was on. This is called a cat burglar. There were three people sleeping in the home at the time. The thief or thieves did get an XM radio from one of the cars. Those of you in the Spalding Drive area remember when this was going on last summer. This fits the same M.O. as before. Please lock and alarm the garage and cars. Take all valuables out of the cars. Do report any unusual circumstances such as dogs barking when they normally don’t, neighbor’s alarm going off, or anything especially with suspicious cars or people you see walking during the very late hours. The two suspects, who we caught last time in that area, were caught as a result of an alarm that went off.
A 40-year old man reported that while he was at Mardi Gras strip bar, he paid the waitress for a private room and paid a dance for a private dance. He placed his wallet on the wooden shelf behind the couch during the lap dance. This was not a good move, especially since he said he had $600 cash in it. He said that later he found that the money was gone from the wallet. Well, who knows? Why did he have $600 cash in the first place and if he did, why did he not have it secured. That’s a lot of money to me. I’d have it in my pocket and the pocket duct-taped with crime-scene tape around it.
The victim reported that an i-Pod and cell phone were taken from her apartment while she was at the pool. She said that her roommate and some friends of the roommate were re-arranging the furniture when she left. It never hurts to put this stuff away, even if you’re going to be back soon. Even if you have a roommate and that roommate situation is good, it doesn’t hurt to have a private stash area in your room or somewhere in the apartment where you can put things for the time being. Out of sight and out of mind. My problem is I can’t find them again.
Stolen Vehicles A 1998 Chevrolet 2500 Series 2-door landscaping truck was taken along with the equipment that was attached. The driver said that he placed the keys under the seat of the truck while he worked. (It is ALWAYS the little things that get you. Take the keys and clip them on your trousers or belt or whatever but take them out and away from the vehicle.)
Other Stuff A man called the police and said that he was in fear of his life, of his wife, because she “aggressively brushed up to him.” He said as the day went on, things progressively got worse to the point that she was “snatching things away from him.” The officer recorded the complaint and then gave the man a brochure for “Man Camp.”
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By AR
June 8, 2007 6:24 PM | Link to this
I mail things from my mail box, but I never put the flag up. I put a clothespin on the outgoing mail and the mailman takes it. You have to mark it in someway because the mailman won’t remember if it is mail he’s already delivered. We get something every day, so it’s never a problem and I don’t worry about my mailbox being targeted.
By Jeffrey
June 11, 2007 9:24 AM | Link to this
AR,
Make sure you keep us posted when your mailbox is targeted. Is it not possible that the criminal could pull the clothespin on or is this a special clothespin that only the mailman can remove? Keep up your it will never happen to me attitude and I’m sure you will just skate through life LOL!
To Officer Steve. Keep up the great work. I enjoy reading your blog especially when it’s about these crackhead criminals and the people who have the same attitude as AR.
By Patrick
June 11, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this
I haven’t mailed a check to pay a bill from my house in nearly three years. I do online bill pay through each of the companies I pay bills for, including utilities and credit cards. It’s safer, more secure, and faster.
If I have to mail off a bill, I drop it in a USPS drop box, or else drop it off at the post office closest to me, which is usually the one in the town I work in. It only takes me about 10 minutes to get to that one, so I can just drop it off there then come back to the office or go somewhere for a quick lunch, hardly missing a beat.
By A. Consumer
June 11, 2007 11:43 AM | Link to this
Well maybe if our state government would allow us (consumers/voters) to put a freeze on our credit files a lot of these problems would be abated. But they do not want us to have that sort of power over our own personal info for some reason… Although New Jersey, Louisiana, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Nevada, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, North Carolina, Colorado, Texas, Vermont, Illinois, California and Washington allow their residents to do so.
By jj
June 11, 2007 1:47 PM | Link to this
My wife’s identity was stolen around 3 years ago. At the time, people were breaking into po boxes at her apt complex in Vinings. They took the “pay off your debt” checks from credit card solicitors and cashed them-have these stopped!!!!! They were using prepaid phones. If your identity was stolen, call and speak with the credit card companies. Ask for any phone numbers on the accounts. If they say it’s private, say “BS” it’s my account and identity—then ask for a manager. Call these numbers. I did and found that one of the places was a mortgage company that employed a male with the same name as my wife’s minus a vowel-on a hunch I asked for him. I figured the guy was in on it or had simply run his name via credit checks and pulled her info. I tried to give it to Cobb Co. SD but they have like 4 people to handle something like 40 new cases a DAY!!!!!! I imagine they were never caught. Nothing like having to check your credit all of the time. Ironically, the crooks actually IMPROVED her credit score by making payments by taking from one to pay another. I guess they didn’t want to be discovered.
For all of you crooks…karma is a beatrice!
By Evan
June 13, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this
I always wondered … if a woman threatens a man, he can’t defend himself. If he does, it’s spousal abuse and off to jail he goes. If he doesn’t defend himself, folks just laugh at him and give him books to man camp. So what are you supposed to do? Just take it, I suppose.