A group of thieves stole ladies’ wallets from at least three different restaurants on International Drive, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies said.
On January 27th 2010, a group of Distraction Thieves hit the International Drive area. This group stole ladies wallets from at least three different restaurants. The thieves removed the ladies’ purses from the back of their chairs using a coat as a cover or distraction. Once they had removed the wallet they would return the purse to the back of the victim’s chair. By replacing the purse the hope is the victim will not realize his/her wallet was missing until they paid the bill at the restaurant or even later. This would allow the thief time to go to an area electronics or department store and fraudulently use credit cards from the stolen wallets.
It is believed that in one case several small electronics items to the tune of $950 were purchased and in a second transaction two gift cards for $1150.
The 3 suspects are described as (i) Black male close cut black hair, heavy set, with glasses (ii) Hispanic male short dark hair and (iii) Black male, bald, medium build.
Anyone with information on these crimes is asked to call Crimeline at: 1-800-423-TIPS (8477)
