Montgomery County, MD – The Montgomery County Department of Police is investigating a series of jewelry distraction thefts that have occurred over the past several months.
“During these distraction thefts, the suspects appear to have targeted older victims of Asian or Indian descent, wearing gold jewelry,” the department said today. “During these recent thefts, the suspects, in a vehicle, approached the victim, who was walking in the area. A female suspect placed imitation gold jewelry on the victim to distract him/her while removing the victim’s jewelry from his/her person. In many of the cases the female suspect hugged the victim while committing the theft.”
according to police, in some instances, the female suspect remained in the vehicle and committed the theft by calling the victim to the vehicle’s window.
These incidents have occurred in both residential and commercial areas during daylight hours. The suspects’ descriptions and their vehicles vary but investigators believe that there are multiple suspects working together.