ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) -Staff at The Georgia Hemp Company said several thousand dollars in products were taken from a smash-and-grab that was caught on their cameras.
They said it happened in the early morning hours of June 24th. Katherine Mclemore said she believes the person who did it is still on the run.
“You would think because we have security footage and DNA, that this person would be found, but they haven’t been yet, so I hope that they don’t snatch and grab at another business,” Mclemore said.
Surveillance video obtained by Atlanta News First captures a man shattering the front door of the business with a rock.
“Someone took a rock, and broke in through the glass window,” Mclemore said. “Just classic snatch and grab. Took a substantial amount of hemp flower,” she said. “He went to the counter and then went back into our inventory room and filled trash bags of product,” she said.
She said hemp flower is a federally legal product, that looks and smells like marijuana.
“It was alarming. It’s sad for our patients who come here for their medicine. You know it can affect the availability of what they’re coming here for,” Mclemore said. “It was several thousand, but we’ve restocked, but it’s mostly about the people who have cancer. Who comes in here and needs their medicine,” she said.
Staff at Pizza Hut and AT&T said they were victimized a couple of weeks too.
“My manager had sent me a picture of our door glass being broken,” said Marcus Black, who works at Pizza Hut. “But it was bulletproof so they couldn’t get, but we ended up seeing the next day, AT&T their door has had wood all over,” he said.
“It is like every other weekend, it’s something happening. Like do I even want to work here,” Black said.
Some in the area said they hope this doesn’t happen again.
“There’s not much that can be done which is why everybody should stay vigilant, especially if they’re selling products that people need in their daily life,” Mclemore said. “This was the first time anything like this has happened which is good, but hopefully it doesn’t happen again. We’re taking all the precautions to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’ve increased security,” she said.
“We love our police force here, but I do wish there were a little bit more proactive so that it doesn’t happen to any other businesses around here. It’s definitely an epidemic of smash and grabs, break-ins, burglaries in Atlanta and across the United States, but especially here,” Mclemore added.
Atlanta News First reached out to the DeKalb County Police Department about the incident at the Georgia Hemp Company, and we’re still waiting to hear back.
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