Nearly 30 businesses broken into in matter of weeks. Police hope new video will help catch a suspect

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Businesses in Stone Mountain said a man caught on camera is wreaking havoc on their neighborhood, damaging and stealing property.

Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco was on Memorial Drive Thursday, where police records show nearly 30 break-ins in a matter of weeks.

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One business was hit so many times, they had to move out.

Cameras caught him with his face showing in the middle of the day.

Lawrence Prescott said he stole a TV from his Caribbean LIfe TV studio.

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“He had a rock in his hand, this man just came up and scoped it out and went, ‘Boom!,’ Prescott said. “Went right here, reached in, broke the lock on the inside and opened the door.”

Prescott said the break-in happened at 7 a.m.

Two doors down, it was the same situation at Atlanta Event Creations, where the man stole another massive TV.

“He threw a brick through the window,” Shandrica Chandler said. “He actually snatched the whole thing off the wall within a minute and thirty seconds.”

Break-ins have happened four times just this month at the business plaza on Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain.

Nearly 30 break-ins have been reported within a half-mile and nine within 1,500 feet.

Carl Clark took his business’s sign down Thursday.

“They took our televisions and our monitors and computers,” Clark said. “It’s been our second break-in. We decided we just need to move.”

Prescott hopes showing the video will help police catch the thief so he can stay.

“I play to stay and fight it, whether it is extra security at night, patrolling,” he said.

The landlord said she needs help, because the break-ins could cause her to lose the building.

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