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Woman targeted by mugger for Louis Vuitton as she left Lenox Square
A woman was mugged on her way back to her car as she left Lenox Square Mall. Atlanta police say the robber had his eyes on a designer bag the woman had just purchases at one of the stores. A safety expert discusses the options for shoppers.
ATLANTA - A thief mugged a female shopper as she walked to her car in the Lenox Square parking lot.
The crook had his eye on a designer purse she owned for only a couple of minutes having just purchased it inside the mall.
As she was walking to her car, a red Honda drove up and a man got out.
He demanded both the new bag and the purse she brought to the mall.
"She did the right thing," said Chris Rich, a security executive with Hawque Protection Group.
"As long as it is not a kidnapping -- don't ever get into a vehicle -- but an item you can replace that," Rich added.
He said some thieves take the risk even though Lenox, owned by Simon Properties, has the most extensive security of shopping complexes in the state. The robbers make a bet they can get to someone using force, before one of the security people or uniformed off-duty officers can locate and stop them.
A spokesperson for Lenox said one security feature -- license plate readers -- provided police with a tag number to check.