Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Aggressive panhandlers at Lawrenceville Highway shopping areas

These reports come via the Laurel Ridge neighborhood about a couple (man and woman) who have been repeatedly seen at Shamrock Plaza, Briarcliff Village, QT,  RaceTrac and CVS on Lawrenceville Highway. Medlock area residents have also encountered them.

They typically approach shoppers in the parking lot and ask for money, sometimes aggressively. They will not accept food donations. If you are approached, step away and call 911. Incident reports are listed below.



"Please be aware that there is a couple (a man and a woman) that approaches people in the Shamrock Plaza shopping center. When this couple approached me, I believe they made a point to be sure that my liftgate was up so there was limited visibility. The male asked me for money, when I politely said I didn't have any the man got visibly angry and moved toward me. I moved quickly, slammed down the liftgate and ran to Publix. I will admit that they seriously frightened me. While in Publix I spoke to both the manager and the police officer that works there in the evenings. The couple had walked very quickly around the corner of Publix. Ultimately they came out and the officer had a chat with them and took down some information.. I say all this to say that I saw the same couple yesterday. They are a white man and white woman. Both times I have seen them, they are wearing visibly dirty clothes and their hair very dirty as well. They have brown hair, the man's hair is about shoulder length and the woman had her hair in a ponytail both times I saw them. I reported it again when I saw them the second time."

"I know what couple you are talking about. They are also always at Briarcliff Village shopping center begging for money. I see them frequently walking up and down Law'ville Hwy. They have not approached me yet but I'm sure my time will come. I'm glad the officer spoke to them when that happened to you.....we'll see if it made an impact on them."

"I have also been approached about giving them money. The man said he and his wife were homeless and that Rehobth church was putting them up at the Masters Inn. As I help feed the feral cats there I see him often. The money he wanted was for food and I offered my $100 worth of groceries I had just purchased but he declined. Gave him some change and he walked off angry."

"The male is very aggressive in the pair that is being discussed. They also work the QT and new RaceTrac. I've seen the male walk up to cars stopped at lights. Dekalb PD knows of the them. They've stopped and talked to them. Supposedly, if they are caught on the property of S&N again they will be arrested for trespassing."

"I've called the police on that couple twice. Call the police if they approach you. tell the 911 operator that they are "aggressively panhandling...stopping cars, frightening people." That guy tried to sell me a bike once...who knows where he got it. I saw him scare a lady pretty bad in the Focus insurance parking lot. when i turned my car around to check on her he ran off. "

"I was approached by this couple in the CVS parking lot. I ignored the man when he started talking to me then he immediately went to talk to woman in the car next to me. Scary..."

"That couple has been hitting this area for a while. They frequent CVS, Shamrock plaza, and the QT at Brockett."

"yes, these two got me in the best buy northlake parking lot. i was actually scared not to give them money........they stood very close to the opened drivers side opened window.......they do indeed give a threatening vibe."

"They got me too at Publix luckily my husband walked up and they took off."