Police say wanted woman is a serial wallet thief

The woman police say walked into an empty Cobb classroom, stole a teacher’s wallet, then used her credit cards at grocery stores has pulled off similar crimes several times before.

Authorities in two counties have issued several arrest warrants for Teresa Lynn Owens for a string of credit card thefts.

On Thursday, Cobb police issued the third arrest warrant this month for Owens, who may now be in the Savannah area.

Most recently, Owens is accused of walking into Skyview Elementary School in Mableton on an April afternoon. She then entered an empty classroom and stole a teacher’s wallet, according to police.

Less than an hour later, a woman identified as Owens was seen on an ATM camera in a grocery store using one of the teacher’s credit cards. She used a second stolen credit card at another grocery store nearby.

The photo at the ATM caught the attention of Danny Sridej when he saw it on television news. The Oakwood detective immediately identified it as the same woman who committed similar crimes in Hall County. Sridej then alerted police in Cobb.

“She walks into schools and into an empty classroom, goes through the desk and looks for the wallet,” Sridej said Thursday.

Several warrants were taken out for her in the Hall County area, Sridej said. She once was arrested, served a few days but was released, he said.

Stridej said Owens, 44, stole credit cards from an employee at Marantha Christian Academy in February and Oakwood Elementary School in March. She was later arrested at a Home Depot in Flowery Branch.

The other two warrants out for Owens in Cobb involve the February thefts of two wallets from a church. Owens is accused of entering the choir suite of Mt. Harmony Baptist Church during the worship service and taking two wallets.

Credit cards from those two wallets were later used at nearby stores, according to police.

Randy Rogers with Cobb schools police said that state law mandates that public campuses have open doors during school hours. But teachers and other school employees can learn from the thefts.

“Lock your doors,” Rogers said.