Laptop thieves target coffee shop customers

Throughout metro Atlanta this holiday season, police are tracking the thieves behind a troubling trend: crooks snatching laptops from people sitting and working at coffee shops. 

The latest victim at the Starbuck's off Piedmont Road in Buckhead told FOX 5 News, he ran after the thieves but got kicked in the face, as he tried to wrestle the laptop from them.

Police said the ordeal happened Tuesday afternoon, as two men burst into the coffee shop and grabbed the laptop of a woman and another man FOX 5 will identify only as "Dan."

As the thieves lost one of the laptops, Dan said he ran after the thieves, who still had his and tried to get into a vehicle.

"He leaned back, gave me a good swift kick to the jaw... was able to screech away as I lost grip of my computer," Dan said.   

This is far from the only incidents investigated by authorities around the metro area. Last month, both on November 2, DeKalb County Police and Atlanta Police investigated a laptop snatch theft at the Starbuck's on Briarcliff and La Vista roads and Ponce De Leon Avenue. The locations sit four miles away from each other. 

Starbuck's did not return requests for comment, on how customers should keep their items safe. As this crime trend has spread across the Metro and across the country, police advise people at coffee shops to take the following precautions: 

  • Download tracking software to your computer. 
  • Never confront a laptop thief and try to chase them down. 
  • Sit facing the exits to see people coming and going. 
  • Pick a spot furthest from the doors. 
  • Avoid using headphones or earpieces in public places.