Slider crimes persists despite increased arrests

ATLANTA - Police supervisors said in no time thieves who get locked up are replaced by new faces. They are known as "sliders" and the primary location for the thievery is a gas station.

Here's how it works, according to Atlanta Police Major Barry Shaw. Once a motorist gets out and leaves a car door unlocked, the slider slides into the vehicle.

Sometimes, Shaw said, the thief will drive off. More often than not, the criminal grabs a purse and other belongings and in seconds run to a trail car and speeds away.

FOX 5 News asked police officials in Atlanta for recent reports on a "hot corner" at West Paces and Northside in Buckhead. Police released several reports all with a similar pattern.

It is the same corner where a prominent state lawmaker Sharon Cooper had several items taken as she started to pump her gas. By the time she realized what was taking place, one thief drove away yanking the gas nozzle from the housing.

Shaw called it a crime of opportunity. In some of the reports from the intersection, the same trail car is listed. Police said even if a driver is right beside a vehicle and pumping gas, lock the doors.