Atlanta police investigating series of late-night car break-ins where automatic rifle was stolen

ATLANTA — Atlanta police are investigating a string of late-night car break-ins, where officers say two guns were stolen, including an AR-15.

Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was at the parking lot in Midtown Atlanta where the break-ins happened.

A woman called Channel 2 Action News to say her friends’ car was one of five broken into at a lot between Crescent Avenue and Peachtree Street.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

At the parking lot, there are signs which read “Please lock and remove all valuables from your car.”

It’s a message Atlanta police say they cannot stress enough.

TRENDING STORIES:

• People are losing their Social Security benefits after getting COVID stimulus checks, investigation
• ‘That’s where I’m at a lot:’ Cobb man says he can be on YSL jury since he stays at mom’s Fulton home
• 3 dead, including child, after murder-suicide in DeKalb County, police say

Avion Abreu and her friend told Channel 2 Action News they walked into the parking lot around 10 on Monday night, and what they saw horrified them.

“They broke into her car, ransacked her car,” Abreu told Mims.

“I literally went out for a great night with my friend, unfortunately, when we returned back to the parking lot, we noticed five cars, including my friend’s car, was unfortunately shattered, the glass was shattered.”

Abreu said her sense of security was also shattered. She said she and her friend frequently hang out in Midtown and have always felt safe.

“We did not expect that, we were parked underneath a very brightly lit street lamp,” Abreu continued. “We did not expect this to happen this way.”

Officer Anthony Grant, from the Atlanta Police Department, could not confirm to Channel 2 Action News that five cars total were targeted in the lot. He said he only had reports for two vehicles.

In both cars he received reports for, guns were stolen, and both were fully loaded. One car had an AR-15 rifle, while the other had a Glock handgun.

For Abreu and her friend, it wasn’t clear whether anything was removed from their car.

“But it was scary. As a woman out here, to go into the car, to see that your car has been ransacked, it was very scary. I felt very frightened, I was scared. My girlfriend and I were very scared,” Abreu said.

Grant said what’s especially disturbing about these break-ins is that two loaded guns were stolen. He said police are begging people not to leave guns inside unattended vehicles and to not leave anything valuable in plain sight.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Clark Atlanta brings updates to campus with 3 new buildings

©2023 Cox Media Group