Thief Steals Car, Then Sets It On Fire

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Gwinnett County investigators are asking for the public's help to lead them to a car thief and arsonist.

Arson investigators said a woman in a white hoodie hid behind the dumpster at the QT on West Pike Street in Lawrenceville around 10 p.m. on Nov. 30. Captain Tommy Rutledge with the Gwinnett County Fire Department told FOX 5 News the woman patiently waited until a Lawrenceville Police car left the QT.

Surveillance video then shows her walking to an unlocked white Chevy Impala. The woman waited for the car owner to go inside before she calmly slipped into the unlocked car and drove away.

The car owner told FOX 5 News she has no idea why anyone would steal her car. She also wondered why someone would then set the car on fire. Arson investigators say the car was found a few miles away with the inside burning.

Keiara Jackson told FOX 5 News that she saw the car burning just down the road from her home on Waterbury Drive in Lawrenceville. She said she saw a black SUV leave with the lights off after somebody got into the passenger side.

Investigators are trying to determine whether that's the same black SUV that dropped the woman off near the QT before the car was stolen then torched.

Captain Tommy Rutledge said it's unclear whether the car owner was targeted or the theft and arson was a random act.

The owner wondered if she needed to get some type of protection.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Georgia Arson Control Hotline at 1-800-282-5804. There could be a ten thousand dollar reward involved.