Congressman victim of growing crime trend in Atlanta

ATLANTA - A thief struck it rich when he picked the lock to an SUV. He made off with not one, but two weapons. The owner of that vehicle, left in a downtown parking deck, happened to be U.S. Congressman Tom Graves.

The chief of the Atlanta Police Department said, in addition to cash and electronics, the most sought-after items is a weapon. Last year, nearly 1,000 guns were taken from vehicles and Chief Erika Shields noted those are just the ones that were reported.

She made her remarks to the Atlanta City Council Public Safety Panel. So far this year, the chief said 40 percent of all incidents in Atlanta involve property taken from autos.

The next step for criminals after they grabbed a weapon can be violent and the chief said that is one of the things that keeps her up at night.