Mayor asks public for help identifying robbers targeting elderly women

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is asking the public for information related to a recent string of violent robberies committed against elderly women.

Three women have been attacked in their homes within the past month. Two live in the Ansley Park area and a third lives in Buckhead. No injuries were reported.

When asked at a press conference about the attacks, Bottoms called on residents for their help in locating possible suspects, including a man seen in video footage leaving a car that he had taken from one of the victims in Ansley Park.

Atlanta police are investigating possible links between these three crimes:

• On Dec. 20, a 72-year-old woman was robbed on her doorstep after returning home from a Publix ATM near Ansley Mall. The woman told Channel 2 Action News that a man shoved her to the ground from behind and grabbed the grocery bag she was carrying, which contained her wallet, before running off. Police believe the robber followed her home.
• Several days later, a 91-year-old woman was carjacked at knifepoint at her home in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood near Ansley Park. The suspect reportedly knocked on the door and demanded money, forcing his way inside when she tried to shut the door. The man made off with $400 and the woman's bronze Cadillac DT. Police later recovered the car on the 1500 block of Peachtree Street with the keys still in the ignition, but were not able to locate the suspect. Police released a video of the man, and describe him as being approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and 150 pounds. At the time he was wearing green pants, a blue vest and a red bandana over his face.
• A Buckhead woman in her 70s returned home from a friend's house on Jan. 5 to find an intruder waiting inside for her. The woman told Channel 2 the man tied her up, threatened her with a gun and stole more than $75,000 in valuables from the home.

Bottoms asked individuals who have security cameras on their homes and businesses to review their footage and report any information they feel might be helpful. “Even if you think it’s nothing, we would rather have APD vet that information,” Bottoms said.

“Mayor Bottoms is concerned about crimes against elderly women and our most vulnerable residents, as she stated in the press conference yesterday,” city of Atlanta spokeswoman Jenna Garland said. “The general public plays an important role in preventing crime and responding to crimes when they occur.”