Rocky Mount police: Robbers targeting women in parking lots
Rocky Mount police are investigating reports of between one and three men in an SUV searching the parking lots of businesses for women to rob or defraud.
Posted — UpdatedPolice said the men have been driving either a black SUV or a 2007 midnight blue Kia Sorento, with N.C. license plate XNN 6802. They reportedly drive up to women in the parking lots of restaurants, grocery stores and other retail establishments and ask for money.
Investigators are trying to determine if a common-law robbery on Wednesday evening is linked.
A woman told police she was waiting in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel, 238 Enterprise Drive, while her daughter applied for a job around 6:15 p.m.
She noticed an SUV, possibly an Isuzu, circling the lot, police said. The SUV pulled in front of her, blocking her in, and a man got out. Police said the woman got out of her vehicle, and the man asked her for money. She told him she didn't have any cash.
A second man then got out of the SUV and told her to listen to the first man and follow him to the gas station, police said. He got into the back seat of her vehicle, and fearing for her safety, she followed the men's SUV to a Hess station on English Road and bought them $20 of gas.
The men then drove away, going west on English Road, police said.
If you observe any suspicious activity such as that described above, contact Rocky Mount police immediately at 252-972-1411 or call 911 for emergencies.
Anyone who needs to report fraud should contact lead investigator Detective Tim Hathaway at 252-972-1463.
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