Montgomery County Police say there have been three more car-related thefts at area gas stations, even after the department publicized a string of 14 of the incidents last month.
One of the three additional thefts happened at the same Bethesda gas station where thieves targeted victims filling up their gas tanks in August and September.
Police said a victim had her purse stolen from her vehicle as she walked away from it at the Shell gas station at 10211 Westlake Dr. The incident happened at about 6:36 a.m. last Friday.
Police said a victim had her purse stolen just a little more than an hour later at the Exxon gas station at 8384 Colesville Rd. in Silver Spring. The department also said thieves stole a vehicle on Tuesday morning from a victim at a 7-Eleven gas station at 7980 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring.
According to police, the victim left the keys in the vehicle while the victim entered the store.
Police again asked people to lock their doors at gas stations, even while filling up and even if they head into the store for a brief period of time:
Investigators believe that during these gas station thefts, the suspects look for a distracted victim; for example, a person who is outside of their vehicle paying for their gas purchase or who is talking on his/her cell phone. While the victim is outside of his/her vehicle and is distracted, the suspect quickly enters the victim’s vehicle. Often before the victim realizes what has occurred, the suspect(s) have fled the area. In some incidents, only property has been stolen. The gas stations where these vehicle thefts have occurred have been in close proximity to the District of Columbia and the Capital Beltway. The time frame for the thefts have been both morning and afternoon.
In October, police said the original string of 14 gas station thefts seemed to target women.
On Sept. 27, suspects hit two Chevy Chase gas stations about eight minutes apart, police said. Police are investigating a stolen vehicle at the Liberty Gas station at 8550 Connecticut Ave. Less than 10 minutes later, at 12:37 p.m., police said the suspects stole a purse and iPad from inside a vehicle at the Giant Gas station just down the road at 8500 Connecticut Ave.
The stolen vehicle victim commented on BethesdaNow.com about the experience:
I was one of the victims who had her car stolen at a gas station in Chevy Chase. I was lucky to get my car back the same day through the Mercedes service MBrace. Damage was incurred on the entire length of the the passenger side, so I don’t have my car back yet. It took a week to get corporate Mercedes to agree to send a special fob to my dealership so they could start the car and program the 2 new fobs I purchased. Now that the undercarriage has been examined for any other possible damage, it’s off to their body shop. I hope others were able to get their cars back and possibly personal items. Ladies, please put your purse out of view, lock your car and then pump gas. Also, be very aware of your surroundings and other people coming and going at the station. I wasn’t physically hurt, but having to through the different facets of protecting possible ID theft is mentally hurtful.
Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to call the department’s Centralized Auto Theft Section at 240-773-6370.
