Three suspects were in custody early Wednesday after thieves broke into dozens of cars in a south Cobb County neighborhood.
The break-ins happened overnight in a community off Oakdale Road in Mableton, just across the Chattahoochee River from Atlanta.
About 3:15 a.m., a resident called police and said a couple of suspicious individuals were walking around the neighborhood, breaking into cars, Cobb police Capt. Jeff Adcock said.
“Two officers responded and got into a foot chase with three of [the suspicious individuals],” Adcock told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution just before daybreak. “Caught one almost immediately. A little while later, caught the second. And we just caught the third one.”
Cobb police spokeswoman Alicia Chilton said late Wednesday morning she didn’t have a final count on the number of cars hit, but “the last number that I heard was upper 30s.”
The Rev. George Jones said two of his family’s vehicles were broken into, but the thieves didn’t take much because there was nothing valuable left in the cars.
“We might keep a little change in the console,” Jones said. “Other than that, nothing valuable.”
Jones gave kudos to police for making quick arrests.
“They took it very seriously,” he said. “They were on the job. We appreciate them.”
Wednesday morning's break-ins were the latest in a recent rash of such incidents from Buckhead to East Point and Cobb County to Gwinnett County.
“Since about late June, all across metro Atlanta, there’s been an incredible uptick in cars getting broken into,” Adcock said. “As much as a 50 percent increase in what we’re used to.”
Police have not released the names of the suspects taken into custody Wednesday or said if they are suspects in any other car break-ins.
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