Woman living in fear after car, purse stolen while pumping gas in broad daylight

ATLANTA — Atlanta Police are searching for the man seen on video stealing a woman’s car in broad daylight, as she stopped to get gas Tuesday afternoon.

“I had just washed my car. I found soap in the gas area, and I went to wipe it out and they had no towels, so I grabbed towels from my trunk,” said the victim.

She did not want to share her identity because she is still living in fear.

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

Surveillance video shows a man creeping up to her car while she is at the gas pump at the Chevron gas station on Moore’s Mill Road near Bolton.

The victim saw him out of the corner of her eye and went to confront him.

“I asked him what he was doing with his life and what was going on and why was he doing this because this is not how you live,” explained the victim. “He said nothing, he wouldn’t look at me.”

Her attempt at reasoning with the thief didn’t work. But she didn’t let go of the car door.

“He shut the door on me once and I got bruises from that but at the same time, I was trying to negotiate if I could get to my purse. Don’t do that, it was a bad idea,” she said.

Eventually, the thief did pull off in the victim’s car all while cameras captured him in action.

The victim said two witnesses came to her aid and helped her call 911 and pull up the tracking app on her phone.

She says it was just minutes later that Atlanta Police were able to track her car parked not far away. But the thief was gone and is still on the run.

TRENDING STORIES:

• ‘Year’s best meteor shower’: Geminids to streak across night sky
• Woman found with thousands in stolen items from across metro Atlanta. Police say she could have more
• 2 Georgia cities make list of top 50 places to live in the U.S. -- and one is #1

Now, she’s left with bruises, still living in fear because her purse, laptop and wallet were stolen.

“It’s not a fun situation when you realize someone has your address, knows where you live and has your stuff,” she said.

The victim said when she found her car, it was clear the tracking device was neatly cut from it in just that short time.

Even though she has her car back, it’s rekeyed but in storage, until she feels safe.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Major changes to begin at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport ahead of holiday travel

©2023 Cox Media Group