Montgomery County Police are looking for tips in a string of 14 thefts from distracted motorists at gas stations, including six in Bethesda and Chevy Chase.
The thefts — some involve stealing property from vehicles, others involve stealing the vehicles — have been reported over a two-month stretch at gas stations near the Beltway and the D.C. line.
In all cases, police believe suspects looked for a distracted victim. Examples include a victim who left her vehicle briefly to pay for gas and someone who was talking on her cellphone just outside of her car. In a press release on Monday, police said all but one of the 14 victims have been women.
“While the victim is outside of his/her vehicle and is distracted, the suspect quickly exits the suspect vehicle and enters the victim’s vehicle,” read the police release. “Often before the victim realizes what has occurred, both the suspect and victim vehicles have fled the area. In some incidents, only property has been stolen.”
In Bethesda, there have been three victims at the Exxon gas station at 10201 Westlake Dr., according to police.
On Aug. 24 at about 12:25 p.m., someone had her purse stolen out of her vehicle. On Sept. 21 at about 11:19 p.m., there was another stolen purse at the same station. On Sept. 26 at about 6 a.m., the suspects hit the station again, stealing a wallet, phone and laptop computer, police said.
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.
On Sept. 21 at 11:19 a.m., the suspects stole a vehicle from the Sunoco gas station at 8240 Wisconsin Avenue.
The easy solution: Lock your car doors, even if you’re simply filling your car with gas.
“Police urge residents to lock their vehicles when leaving them unattended regardless of duration and to leave valuables out of sight,” police said.
Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to call the department’s Centralized Auto Theft Section at 240-773-6370.
