CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A Cherokee County jury indicted two women on charges of running a theft ring across metro Atlanta and even in other states.
Channel 2′s Michael Doudna was live in Cobb County off Cobb Parkway on WSB Tonight at 11 p.m.
Police say the women had a method to these thefts.
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The women singled out targets—finding accomplices ahead of each job so they could go and steal thousands of dollars of goods at a time.
For over 47 days, authorities say Daiana Anna-Maria Ionita and Claudia Hornea targeted Targets, stealing thousands of dollars of mainly makeup.
“To do that type of thing over and over, they have to have an operation,” said one Target shopper.
And the indictment says they did.
They would conceal items with a large box or tote bag nearby, they would get accomplices, sometimes enlisting kids, to act as lookouts. And every time they would have a driver waiting for them to help get away.
“I didn’t know how they thought they could keep getting away with it over and over again,” said another Target shopper.
According to the indictment, Ionita and Hornea hit at least 20 different stores.
They stole thousands from Targets in Dunwoody, Marietta, Canton, Acworth, Alpharetta, Roswell, and Woodstock. They also took their operation to other states, stealing from stores in Texas, Alabama, and North Carolina.
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The total retail value of their thefts was $103,000.
But this is far from an isolated incident. While filming for this story, police rushed to the scene of a Woodstock Target, putting a woman in handcuffs for shoplifting.
Ionita and Honea are now sitting behind bars, indicted on three racketeering charges.
Statewide research from Capitol One says Georgia retailers lost more than $2 billion from thieves in 2022.
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