Thieves Steal Purses From Cars Outside Daycare

The Cherokee Sheriff's Office is investigating three cases of entering autos in which one thief may have tried to use a stolen credit card at a metro Atlanta big box retailer.

The agency early Monday morning received multiple reports of entering autos at the Little Red School House, located at 3045 Univeter Road just outside of Canton, in which three women told deputies their purses and bags were snatched from their vehicles.

One vehicle had its front passenger window shattered, and the other two vehicles had no damage since their doors were left unlocked, according to an incident report from the sheriff's office.

The first woman, whose vehicle had the window smashed in, said her purse was stolen. Inside the purse were her driver's license, a debit card, two credit cards and two USAA cards. 

The second woman, who she "unfortunately" left her doors unlocked, told deputies her black Coach purse, cell phone, her checkbook and "numerous charge cards" were all taken from her vehicle.

Later in the day, the same woman told deputies that she spoke with her credit card company, who confirmed that someone tried to use her card at Target, located at 5570 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.

The woman said she spoke with a security manager at the store, who said a woman tried to use the stolen card to purchase gift cards that totaled $200, but the card was declined.

A third woman reported to deputies that her work bag, which included two checkbooks and an Apple iPhone 5, was taken from her vehicle.

The woman, who told authorities she also left her doors unlocked, said before she went inside the school, she noticed a black Jeep Liberty parked next to one of the other vehicles that was targeted. 

She said she noticed a woman was standing next to the jeep "acting like she was putting something in the back seat and when I returned outside to my vehicle, I noticed my bag was missing," according to the report.

The woman told authorities the woman she saw was a white female with curly brown hair that was pulled back.

This latest report comes on the heels of the sheriff's office investigating similar cases of purses being taken from unlocked vehicles at daycare centers in Towne Lake and smash and grab incidents at several other locations.