A gang is responsible for several vehicles being broken into, according to the South Boston Police Department.
The department has recently responded to and investigated several reports of motor vehicles being broken into at Town Parks and Recreation areas and Church parking lots.
In each incident, the victims have had their windows broken and credit cards stolen. The suspects then travel to local grocery stores to use the victims’ credit cards to purchase thousands of dollars in Visa gift cards. The suspects are known to law enforcement agencies across Virginia and North Carolina as the “Felony Lane Gang”.
The suspects were seen driving a newer model blacked-out, Dodge Charger with an out-of-state temporary tag on the rear of the vehicle which is believed to be fake to conceal the true registration of the vehicle. The suspects are not believed to be local to Halifax County and are known to commit these crimes across several states up and down the east coast.
The South Boston Police Department urges those who choose to visit these locations to keep your valuables with you, hide them in a location that cannot be seen from the outside of your vehicle, put them in the trunk, or leave those items that are not needed at that time at home. As always, remain vigilant of your surroundings and if you see anything suspicious, dial 9-1-1.
The department says that if you happen to become a victim, it is imperative that you immediately contact law enforcement and your bank to report the incident. After this, share what you can with law enforcement including credit card numbers, fraudulent purchase amounts and time frames, and other items that were stolen during the incident.
The suspects are very fast and will use the credit cards within minutes of the break-in. The quicker this information can be shared with law enforcement, the quicker the response, and hopeful apprehension of the suspects.
The South Boston Police Department also requests that all local retail and grocery stores verify the identity of individuals who are purchasing large amounts of gift cards to the names on the credit cards including those with self-service checkout. The majority of the suspects are concealing their identities from surveillance video footage by wearing hoodies, along with COVID masks.
Attached is video obtained from the Walmart South Boston which captured the most recent vehicle involved (black Dodge Charger with extremely dark window tint and loud exhaust with a temporary paper license plate on the rear bumper) and one of the suspects who used recent victim’s cards.
To view the video click the link below.