Three men are accused of distracting a woman at a Johns Creek grocery store to steal from her, officials say.
The suspects were caught on Publix surveillance video late in June, Channel 2 Action News reported.
One man approached Judy Hoffman as she shopped for vegetables. That man asked her whether the onions were Vidalia.
“There was a sign this big saying these are Vidalia onions,” Hoffman told the news station. “I was thinking, ‘This is an odd question.’”
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As they kept her attention, the video shows another man crouched down by her shopping cart to rummage through her purse.
But because the man was polite and polished, Hoffman said, she wasn’t alarmed.
“When I checked out, no wallet,” Hoffman said.
She hurried home, frantic she’d forgotten her wallet.
Johns Creek police Detective Tyler Seymour said a third man was acting as a lookout and once Hoffman was gone the three men walked across the street to Target and ran up $2,000 on Hoffman’s credit cards.
“This is a common case of someone trying to be a good Samaritan to help someone out and being taken advantage of,” Seymour told Channel 2.
Police believe this trio is likely to strike again.
“It's a terrible thing,” Hoffman said. “Makes you feel so vulnerable that you're doing something so ordinary and so normal.”
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