Police investigating after purses stolen from 2 cars at same DC gas station in a week
Purses stolen from two cars at same DC gas station
D.C. police are investigating after two women had their purses stolen from their vehicles at the same gas station in Northeast.
WASHINGTON - D.C. police are warning all of us to be on guard for thieves targeting gas stations.
Two customers had their most important belongings stolen at the same place just days apart.
What we know:
Customers have been targeted by fast-moving thieves twice in the past week at the Shell gas station on New Hampshire Ave., NE. It’s right on the D.C.-Prince George's County line.
A security camera here at the gas station captured both crimes as they happened.
This first occurred last Friday, around 7 p.m. In the video, you see a woman heading off to pay for her gas when a young man in the car next to hers jumps out, smashes the passenger-side window and steals her pocketbook.
The victim told FOX 5 that she couldn't get over the audacity of the thieves and the inconvenience of having her cell phone, credit cards, prescription reading glasses stolen and her car window smashed. She says she’s furious.
Then, around 6 p.m. on Tuesday night, a woman was victimized by a young man who jumped out of that red car stopped in traffic along New Hampsire Ave., stealing her purse with everything in it while she was putting the nozzle back into the pump.
She spoke with FOX 5 on Wednesday, saying, "I didn't even touch the pump when this lady back there was screaming 'your purse! Your purse! They're taking your purse!' When I turned he was already in. I didn't even get to see the guy. He was already in the car and they just disappeared. It was just insane. Crazy. It's just disappointing. Really disappointing," she said.
Dig deeper:
D.C. police say it's possible the same person committed both of these Shell stations — so-called "thefts from auto."
The FBI says gas stations are the third most targeted locations by thieves across the country.
A local community activist says security cameras help but more can be done.
"If you have big signs saying you know, 'This is videotaped. You're going to be on camera,' that may change some minds. It may not, but it beats not having the signage up there," D.C. resident Rodney Foxworth said. "So prevention is a large part of this and then obviously having the tools and the resources to catch people once they commit crimes in our community."
What you can do:
D.C. police say these crimes are opportunistic—the two most recent victims did nothing wrong—but if you can avoid leaving valuables in your car, even if it's locked and you're gone for only a moment, that might help.