Gwinnett County police are looking for a pair of men who attempted to rob homeowners -- both elderly women -- using the pretense that they knew the victim or were supposed to be at the home.
Two similar incidents occurred in the Peachtree Corners area during the past two weeks, said Cpl. Jake Smith, a spokesman for Gwinnett police.
The first incident occurred Dec. 28 at about 1:45 p.m., Smith said. A man knocked on the woman's door, addressed her by name and told her he was her former newspaper deliveryman. The suspect identified himself as "Michael Thompson," hugged the woman and acted as if they had known each other for some time, Smith said, but the intended victim became suspicious and told the man her husband was at home, at which point he quickly left.
He got into a older model copper-colored vehicle driven by a second man and left. Nothing was stolen in this incident, Smith said.
The second incident occurred Saturday at about 3:15 p.m.
A man entered the woman’s garage and rang the doorbell, Smith said. When she answered, the man asked her if she had received a note he claimed to have left at her home a few days earlier and said he was there to install a fence in the back yard.
The woman took the man to the back yard, where she spent several minutes with him, during which time he spoke on a walkie-talkie, once in English and then in Spanish. After the second conversation, the man walked quickly to the front of the home, Smith said, and got into a champagne-colored or light green Ford F150 pickup truck and drove away. The woman later discovered that several pieces of her jewelry had been stolen.
In the first incident, the suspect was described as a white man with blue eyes, 6 feet to 6-3 tall and medium build.
In the second incident, the suspect was described as a light-skinned Hispanic man, about 5-7, 175 to 185 pounds and clean shaven. He wore blue jeans and a white long-sleeve crew neck shirt and a white baseball cap.
Police are asking that anyone who may have dealt with these suspects, but not filed a police report, to call detectives at 770-513-5300. Anyone who encounters these suspects in the future is asked to call 911.
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