Fraud ring targets deployed soldier

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Master Sgt. Sylvia Simmons was dodging roadside bombs in Afghanistan while thieves were ransacking her Stockbridge home and running up her credit card bills.

Henry County Police said Simmons, 54, is the one of several victims of a multi-county burglary and credit card fraud ring.

Police are now searching for six suspects – four men and two women -- captured on several Lowe's surveillance cameras using Simmons’ credit card four times. One of the suspects is pregnant, Police Capt. Jason Bolton said.

Police aren’t sure when Simmons’ home was broken into since she has been deployed to Afghanistan since April.

Simmons’ daughter stopped by the soldier’s house in September to check on it and saw the door kicked in.

“My doors were busted in and the house was in shambles,” Simmons said.

Police helped the daughter board up the doors and windows, but it didn’t stop the burglars.

They returned the next day and took the rest of the items. Fingerprints confirmed it was the same suspects.

They took her new 63-inch TV, furniture, clothes and jewelry, including her deceased mother’s wedding band. They even took the sheets off the bed and her father’s dog tags from World War II, Simmons said.

“Those are the kind of things you can’t replace,” she said.

Simmons said she thinks the suspects knew she was out of town. She said thought she had locked all of her credit cards in a bank safety deposit box, but the next month she got a bill.

Thieves had charged $6,500 on a Lowe’s credit card. They bought power tools, generators and bolt cutters at Lowe’s stores in McDonough, Stockbridge and Riverdale.

“The Lowe’s card was in a drawer because I don’t use it that much,” she said.

Detectives reviewed the stores’ security cameras and captured the thieves on the camera.

“I’m just surprised the store let them pay for thousands of dollars of tools with a credit card and never ask for an ID,” Simmons said.

Police said the thieves also are wanted for several other burglaries, including one where they left Simmons’ license at a Stockbridge landscaping company.

Police fear the thieves will continue to hit homes and businesses in the area.

“They purchased bolt cutters and other burglary tools,” Bolton said. “It looks like they are upgrading their burglary tools with this victim’s credit card.”

Police are checking pawnshops, but doubt they will find Simmons’ belongings.

Simmons is home for two weeks before having to return to Afghanistan to finish her deployment, which ends in April. She is hoping police can capture the suspects before she heads back.

Simmons, a mother of three, has spent 30 years in the Army National Guard.

“Hopefully we’re going to break this ring down,” she said. “What makes me sick is that every day we’re in a combat zone fighting for these people’s freedom.”

Anyone with information about the suspects may contact Detective Wayne Bender at 770-288-8253 or Detective Mike Hardy at 770-288-8254.